On the wings of love

Trade looming?
(Photo credit to Rappler.com)

With the recent acquisition of Barako Bull Energy Cola by newcomers Phoenix Petroleum, we cannot help but feel the budding romance in the air.

Romance, in the sense that the next two conferences (and or more) will probably be a Team San Miguel Corporation lovefest by way of most of the guys on the Phoenix roster being sent “back” to the one they truly love be it San Miguel, Ginebra or Star. This in turn will corroborate and confirm everyone’s hunch that yes, Barako served as a true farm team and that most of its players were simply out on loan (remember Joseph Yeo’s “Gentleman’s Agreement?”).  Bye-bye Barako farm team, the players get to be sent to winning franchises and we are finally (hopefully) rid of lopsided trades from here on out.

Unfortunately, not everyone will enjoy a happy-ending, or we don’t see ALL of the guys from Barako going back.

Here is their roster from last conference:

PG
Josh Urbiztondo
Emman Monfort
Jeric Fortuna
Chico Lanete
Jens Knuttel

SG
James Forrester
RR Garcia
Paul Sorongon

SF
JC Intal
Mac Baracael

PF
Prince Caperal
Yutien Andrada
Willy Wilson
Michael Miranda

C
Mick Pennisi
Rodney Brondial

Intal and Garcia had breakout runs this PBA Philippine Cup, so you could very well bet that those two will be the first ones to go. Veteran power forward Willy Wilson was putting up double-doubles, but his height and age makes him a bit of a hard sell for any of the 3 SMC teams. Hopefully, his being a high-character guy will be enough to get him a roster spot at least.

Next would probably be Urbiztondo, Baracael and Brondial. The first two have been on and off for the most part of their PBA careers and failed to make the most of their runs/ return with Barako, while Brondial has a lot of upside as a hard-working, stockier Marc Pingris in the post.

Five players out of the 16 on the roster. We’d love to make a case for Monfort, but Ginebra, San Miguel and Star are all filled with taller, skilled point guards (Brian Heruela is even the 3rd guy on the rotation at SMB and he averaged 10 points 5 assists per game his rookie year!).

That leaves us then with:

PG
Emman Monfort – gritty point guard who is deceptively strong for his size, has range and high IQ
Jeric Fortuna – high IQ but lacks speed and defense
Chico Lanete – combo guard who shoots first, passes uh, no, just shoots
Jens Knuttel – he’s still in the league???

SG
James Forrester – even on a team like Barako, Forrester couldn’t get any minutes. Even with his coach Koy.
Paul Sorongon – who???

SF

PF
Prince Caperal – project.
Yutien Andrada – even bigger project.
Willy Wilson – high quality end-of-the-bench guy on a contender
Michael Miranda – project.

C
Mick Pennisi – can still knock down open 3s, 6”9 + 6 fouls… that’s it.

Still, can you feel the love? We are pretty sure that the guys who are already making headlines as shoo-ins to be "harvested" are all lovey-dovey.

Who do you think will stay/go and where? @kilikilishot