Back on track

Sol Train cometh

Historically speaking, we have always been pretty hard on Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's Sol Mercado. If you were to check our Twitter posts about him, we almost always critique him for being the same damn player today as when he entered as the 5th pick in the 2008 PBA Draft.

But that is only because we saw a lot of tools in the Biola University product which could have made him one of the premier players in the league. Hell, he even looked like he was ready to break through the glass ceiling that one season with the Meralco Bolts before they inexplicably sent him elsewhere. Last year with Ginebra, we thought that he could contribute under then head coach Frankie Lim. Not a lot, but there is always some use for a power guard in a league that is known for its physicality.

When Tim Cone took over, we all thought that Mercado was going to be on the trading block sooner rather than later. His numbers were unimpressive (20mpg 6ppg 2rpg 3apg), he couldn't help space the floor for his bigs Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, and that he simply looked out of sync most of the time.

Well, let us just crumple all that up together and throw it in the bin since it all looks like "growing pains" for Mercado who has had to learn to play under the Triangle Offense rather than being the designated focal point.

In the on-going PBA Governor's Cup, Mercado's numbers have improved to 26mpg 13ppg 2rpg 4apg while looking more and more comfortable with his role on the offense. He is making the open shots, he is taking advantage of smaller defenders and he is also looking to pass the ball to his teammates. Mercado has been so good off the bench as of late, that he is quickly becoming the spicy heir apparent to former PBA MVP Mark Caguioa (who has been elevated full-time as a starter).

It seems as though Mercado has also figured out how to play with promising rookie Scottie Thompson. When in the first two conferences they would clash and be dumbfounded as to who should run the 2nd unit's offense; now it is clear that Mercado is the scorer while Thompson is the floor leader.

Or maybe, it is because his buddy Joe DeVance is seeing a lot of action lately with Slaughter being sidelined. The PBA's "Brotherhood" members (a close, off-court "family" of Mercado, DeVance, Gabe Norwood, Josh Urbiztondo and Chris Ross, if we are not mistaken) are very familiar with each other's strengths and weaknesses, and it shows on the court whenever they are together. DeVance handles a lot of the point-forward/ anchoring of the Triangle Offense, while he also makes sure that Mercado gets his touches at his favored spots.

Back to Mercado and the hard work that he's obviously put in. We hope that he stays put at Ginebra since the door is slowly closing on Caguioa's illustrious PBA career. Can he help the team reach the PBA Governor's Cup Finals? Well, things are looking quite good at the moment with import Justin Brownlee. Plus, Slaughter hasn't even suited up yet.

It's good to have the Sol Train back on track.

Now if only he'd holler at us on Twitter like he used to... @kilikilishot