KKS Trade Reaction: STAR Reloaded

Garcia the STAR
(Photo credit: Interaksyon.com)

Once there was a wide-eyed young man named Jason who was given a champion car by his parents, who were both established champion racers. At the prodding of his parents, Jason quickly signed up for a race with the same car only to find himself falling short-- again and again.

That was when Jason realized that it might not be as easy as inheriting a simple champion car. That maybe, the driver needs to be up to that level as well.

Which brings us to the STAR Hotshots.

If you are a STAR fan who had to endure two conferences worth of abysmal coaching and subpar play, then please allow us to congratulate you. Your team was supposed to suck for a few more years owing to the title romp you enjoyed under the Tim Cone (and Joe DeVance) era. That was supposed to be the tradeoff for all those championshipsssss. But well, head Coach Jason Webb just found himself a few more "championship" pieces, young ones at that, to hopefully get back in the title race.
STAR
RR Garcia, PG/ SG
There are three definitive stages in Garcia's basketball career: B.T., D.T. and A.T. (read: Before, During and After Terrence). We are now in the A.T. period, which sort of resembles the B.T. only with a more mature Garcia able to play both guard positions rather than simply being a scorer. What separates him from his contemporaties like Terrence Romeo and Carlo Lastimosa is his efficiency which is already an upgrade over Mark Barroca's backups Justin Melton and Alex Mallari.
Grade: A

Keith Jensen SF
Finally, a wing defender (with the occassional three-ball) to balance out STAR's slew of scorers. We love this trade for STAR because it gives them a guy who is quick enough on his feet to stay on the opposing team's wings/ hybrid fours no matter how big or strong they are. At the moment, STAR has often relied on 2x PBA MVP James Yap and emerging Allein Maliksi at the SF spot which is pretty great on offense, but overall terrible on the other end.
Grade: B

Rodney Brondial PF
An understudy for veteran Marc Pingris who has been greatly limited by the new "no arm bar" rule given his lack of height and heft. If Pingris could somehow pass his tenacity, tricks, and overall mental wiring to Brondial, then this would pretty much be the poor man's version of when Ginebra basically ransacked the Coca Cola franchise and got Johnny Abarrientos, Rudy Hatfield, Rafi Reavis and Billy Mamaril.
Grade: A

GlobalPort
Yousef Taha PF
Another role-playing bruiser to rebound the basketball and set screens for Romeo and Stanley Pringle. Tenacious and gritty, but lacks a reliable offensive game to merit any meaningful playing time.
Grade: B

Ronald Pascual SF
The forgotten man out of the NCAA's storied and feared Pinatubo Trio. Maybe Coach Pido Jarencio could get him going. Or maybe he's just another Jojo Duncil: awesome college run, blah in the pros.
Grade: C

Phoenix
Jon Uyloan, PG 
Pesky and fearless player on both ends of the court. Uyloan just keeps on coming at opponents, something he developed while having to earn his rotation spot over at Rain or Shine. There are guys that Yeng Guiao magically fields in out of nowhere, then there are the "regular" guys who you expect to at least log in 15 minutes a night. Uyloan earned that right, and he showed how reliable he was over at GlobalPort though he had to refer to Romeo and Pringle.
Grade: A

The AntMan cometh
(Photo credit: Slam.ph)

Mark Cruz PG 
Uyloan. Simon Enciso. Chico Lanete. Josh Urbiztondo. If you thought life was hard for Cruz over at STAR, it is about to get even tougher to crack that projected four-man PG rotation of Koy Banal's. Cruz' only shot here is if Urbiztondo and or Enciso are moved up to the SG spot, or if Coach Koy just wants to go "hippie" and have him play 30 a night. Solid pick-up, bad situation.
Grade: B

Norbert Torres C
The over-rated "Bear" who is built like a young Beau Belga, has the same jumpshot/ three point weapon, but lacks all of the important basketball IQ. Maybe Coach Koy can work some magic here and develop him into a useful rotation big. Then again, it's not like Prince Caperal and Mike Miranda were getting any minutes from Mick Pennisi.
Grade: C

STAR definitely won this one by way of highway robbery, but don't sleep on Phoenix just yet. Your thoughts?