Here comes the Carnival

Mark Yee has given
Kia some inside swag
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

When playing coach Manny Pacquiao openly declared that his Kia Motors Carnival (then Sorento) is in the PBA to compete and serve as a reflection of his boxing fire, many brushed it off as false bravado. Admittedly, we were just waiting for any trade patterns so we can proclaim this expansion team as yet another "farm" team for the PBA powerhouses.

Well, guess we were wrong on that one.

They managed to win a game versus Blackwater in the PBA Philippine Cup before, predictably and expectedly, sucking the rest of the way. This conference, they brought in a giant of an import in Puerto Rican behemoth P.J. Ramos (who is better than advertised, props to his agent Ms. Sheryl Reyes) while adding some firepower by way of former ASEAN Basketball League MVP Leo Avenido and point guard Rudy Lingganay-- so yeah, they're not in this league to simply make Pacquiao an even bigger household name than he already is. They're actually in the PBA to win games and compete (which a few years ago shouldn't be an issue, but thanks to the likes of Barako Bull, GlobalPort and the original Air21, is already a feat in itself nowadays).

So how are the Carnival doing?


With head coach Glenn Capacio taking a break, assistant coach and former NCAA blue chipper Chito Victolero has promptly taken over to lead a retooled roster that now features Avenido (24.8 mpg, 8 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg) and Mark Yee (25.9 mpg, 7.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.8 apg) adding that much-needed veteran presence and poise. The former ABL duo's steady play combined with import Ramos' dominance in the paint (40.9 mpg, 32.8 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 2 apg) has also allowed upstarts like JR Buensuceso (24.9 mpg, 8.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3 apg), JR Cawaling (23 mpg, 7.7 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.3 apg) and LA Revilla (24.4 mpg, 8 rpg, 3.3 rpg, 2.8 apg) to flourish and be comfortable out on the open court.

Nowadays, when a Kia game is on, we don't find ourselves looking for the remote and channel surfing. The Carnival's improved play, though still lacking in multiple areas, is actually quite bearable to watch and could even lead to exciting finishes. Nowadays, we don't just watch them in anticipation of a courtside huddle with Coach Manny that would definitely lead to a meme.

The way the season's going for Kia, they actually do look like an independent team that is out to win and market their brand. If they manage to land a Top 1 or 2 pick (which in theory could be any of the following: Bobby Parks, Jr., Kiefer Ravena or Moala Tautuaa), they can really make some damage in the PBA moving forward.

So, it really does seem that Coach Manny KNOWS.