The Ginebra Blueprint (Part 2)

Team continuity and good looks help too.
(Photo credit to the owner)

(... continued)

Here’s a rundown of the PBA teams who could try to be like Ginebra/ build a fanbase like Ginebra (if they haven't already):

Alaska – they almost came close to becoming the new Ginebra until Management decided to pull in the reins a bit and go back to their identity as prim and proper, clean-cut subdivision basketball players (aided by a few trabahador imports, of course).

Blackwater, Phoenix, Mahindra – young franchises who; if they play their cards right and not be involved in lopsided deals, could build on young, proven collegiate talent + established veteran names who are looking for one last shot at the limelight, could  go somewhere. Manny Pacquiao's popularity certainly gave Mahindra a bit of an early lead though.

Globalport – the pieces are there with kanto boy Terrence Romeo and “laid back” Stanley Pringle posing as the new age Fast and Furious combo

Meralco, NLEX, TNT – the PBA’s Euro teams are in it to win it, though TNT is trying very hard to add some masa appeal. Maybe if they decided to cut down on their Fil-foreigners a bit, local fans would love them more. Everyone loves Jimmy Alapag, until they interview him and he speaks in full-on English which alienates quite a number of people. Also, how the hell do you expect fans to stay interested when you spend every single off-season/conference trading players?

San Miguel – they are the PBA’s crown jewel, not just SMC’s. They have a huge following, because of their winning tradition. Fans? They come in huge droves come PBA Finals time. Why they don’t watch games as passionately as Ginebra fans? Well, they expect to win every single time so why bother?

Star – when the PBA’s glamour boys started winning under Cone, their fans started growing even more than before. Same formula as Ginebra: keeping cores together for much of their primes (Dindo Pumaren, Alvin Patrimonio and Jerry Codinera followed by PJ Simon, James Yap and Marc Pingris) while slowly investing in young pieces. Basically, before this disastrous Jason Webb season, Star was pretty much Ginebra-lite. For kids and teens.

Rain or Shine – so if Ginebra were PG and Star the kiddie version, RoS is Ginebra X-rated. In terms of Jaworski’s Ginebra’s playing style, RoS is arguably the closest. Even their players appear to be cut from the same cloth. They are rugged and physical, just like Ginebra’s 80s and 90s enforcers. But the reason why their fans are mostly adults (and or men) is simple: they are brash and cocky mafakas. Yeng Guiao voices his displeasure much like Jaworski, but other than the “cut throat gesture” we don’t remember the Big J ever flashing a digit at the refs, fans or players (though we wouldn’t be surprised if he did). Lately, RoS has been trying to tone down a bit to draw in more fans with names like Chris Tiu, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan and Jericho Cruz in the fold, but overall they’re simply too intimidating as a unit to be universally liked as Ginebra.

Hopefully, the PBA could do more to help showcase other teams, coaches and players while the teams themselves put in more effort to become more accessible to their fans.
At the end of the day, more fans mean more revenue. So the PBA should not sit pretty and wait for the next Jaemark Tordecilla to come up with another “Manila Classico” ploy.

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