Life at the crossroads

Is Almazan the future for RoS?
(Photo credit: Sports5.Ph)

Before we begin, we would like to share with you a piece of trivia from Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk manga about a team that made it into the Inter-High competition. No, we will not touch on Shohoku's triumphs but rather the team that they first faced in the IH-- Toyotama.

In the series, Toyotama is a rough and tough team from the Osaka prefecture. They were known for their run and gun offense, which helped them through the years with previous head coach Kitano Jiei. Problem is, making it into the Inter High and finishing in the Top 8 was as high as the team could go for years and years until Coach Jiei was removed in favor of a defensive minded coach.

Let's stop with the trivia right there, and switch to real life, PBA action.

The Rain or Shine Elastopainters under head coach Yeng Guiao has continued to be quite the competitive squad in the PBA. They've made at least 1 PBA Finals appearance in the last three or four seasons, and have almost always finished deep in the Playoffs before bowing out to some Team SMC/ MVP super group. They employ a run and gun strategy, anchored on hard-nosed rough and tough defense but not the Xs and Os type.

This year, they managed to barge (yet again) into the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals only to lose in seven games to Talk'n'Text. Another PBA Finals appearance, another down-the-wire finish, but yeah, another loss.

While we don't see the RoS management replacing Coach Yeng like Toyotama did Coach Jiei, the team needs to ask themselves: are they happy with being perennial bridesmaids (though very competitive) or will they shake the roster up and add big pieces in order to win a championship?

Looking at the team right now, Paul Lee is the only guy who would legitimately start and play huge minutes for any other superstar PBA team. Gabe Norwood may not get as much minutes elsewhere, since waiting for him to score or make an impact in games is like waiting for rain. Jeffrei Chan is a specialist, a three point shooter, but little of everything else. Beau Belga can't run and rebound to save his life. Those are RoS' best guys, the others would be lucky to be part of another team's regular rotation and not play spot minutes.

The Elastopainters can add a nice piece in the coming 2015 PBA Draft, but not high enough to snag the guys they need the most - a Moala Tautuaa or a Troy Rosario 4-5 man who can eventually supplant Belga and buddy JayR Quinahan to form a nice, "sampayan" pairing with Raymond Almazan.

But isn't this the same scenario years back, pre-Paul Lee? That RoS is and was a solid team, that was only 1 guy short of being a legitimate contender?

Should RoS consider breaking up their Gilas-topainters core of Lee, Chan, Norwood and Belga?

Or are they happy with simply being competitive and working with their allowed PBA salary budget? That being said (or asked), how many max contracts can RoS hand out? Lee and Belga are reportedly receiving near-max contracts, Chan is in the middle of negotiating for one... not sure about Norwood, but he's been the centerpiece of the franchise from the minute he joined so...

Where do we go from here, RoS?