Blood on the water

Unstoppable
(Photo credit to the owner)

There is blood on the water yet they do not fear. A harbinger of undeniable destruction to all things. They make water spinach jokes when they should be at unrest. They do not see the greatness that is blossoming right before their very eyes.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, still incomplete and sloppy in games, has reached the 0.500 mark in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup. Their head coach, Tim Cone, has dismissed any notion of his team being favorites or Finals shoo-ins. Their play suggests that much-- that there is still much to do and learn before they could entertain such glorious thoughts. He is right.  But then again, it does not take much prodding for a lackadaisical beast to go on rampage. It does not take that big a hole to destroy an already filled to the brim dam.


Sleeping giants Japeth Aguilar (33mpg 19ppg 10rpg) and Greg Slaughter (38mpg 24ppg 17rpg 4apg) have already been awakened. They know where they are most effective now and have been made to understand that they are the Alpha and Omega of the team be it on offense or defense. Old guards L.A. Tenorio (33mpg 7ppg 5rpg 5apg) and Mark Caguioa (27mpg 7ppb 3rpg 1apg) have accepted diminished roles on offense, even if their hearts tell them not to. Even when they appear lost at times because of old habits developed from having to bail Ginebra out time and again for so long. Even new acquisition Joe DeVance (19mpg 4ppg 3rpg) understands his role, although his current modest numbers will surely go up as the season progresses.

The writing is on the wall.

As Coach Tim tinkers with his rotation to see who fits where, there is a light of hope that keeps shining brighter and brighter for the Ginebra faithful. Sure, they have traded away their old identity for a winning culture, but who really cares about history when the present promises to be so much better?

Who cares about war stories of failure and heartbreak, when you could be part of a possible dynasty?

Should they trade some guys?

Let us see how far they can go with the current lot first. Rookie Earl Scottie Thompson is starting to look every bit like the basketball prodigy coming out of the NCAA ranks. They were only able to add former UAAP MVP Jervy Cruz just recently. Sol Mercado has yet to hit his stride under the context of the Triangle Offense.

But just imagine how good this team will be, once everything falls into place.

Who can stop them then?