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| The Face That Runs The Place (Photo courtesy: philstar.com) |
The Favorites
San Miguel Beermen
The defending PBA Philippine Cup champions will once again rely on 3x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo to spearhead their title defense, with veterans Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and Marcio Lassiter all ready to chip in. Honestly, the way the league is being officiated at the moment, there is just no way to stop Fajardo in the post. This basically means that teams will have to keep more than one guy on Fajardo, which in turn opens up the floor for SMB’s shooters to pick their spots. They lost little used Ryan Arana but somehow ended up with former high school phenom Keith Agovida AND, more importantly, UAAP MVP RR Garcia. Arnold Van Opstal won’t be a threat right away, but anytime you can have another warm body—standing at an athletic and well-cut 6”9 at that, is always a plus.
Alaska Aces
The “stubborn” Aces will try to “get over the hump” once again, hoping that their decision to infuse more youth (Kevin Racal, Ping Exciminiano) into their rotation would finally pay off. While we agree that they have a sound defensive system, the team often sells itself short when in comes to trusting their key guys: Vic Manuel and Calvin Abueva in playing longer minutes. They are bringing in Carl Bryan Cruz from the Gilas Draft and we hope that he could be of help right away to the Aces’ shallow frontline.
Rain or Shine Elastopainters
Losing Yeng Guiao to NLEX is big, but it’s not like the team lost everyone. There is truth to what Coach Guiao once said, that "RoS was not built around any or one superstar (Paul Lee, who is now with STAR)" and this will be the real season for the team to prove it. We have followed Coach Caloy Garcia’s coaching career and we hope that he has picked up a lot of stuff from Coach Guiao. This isn’t like Jason Webb taking over for Tim Cone at STAR, since Garcia’s pretty experienced and has been calling the shots for RoS whenever Guiao’s not around (elections, suspensions, traffic, etc.). Adding 2x PBA MVP James Yap and Jay Washington should be pluses offensively, and should the same “spread out minutes” system be ran, then they’ll be just fine in spurts. Keep an eye out for our boy Jericho Cruz.
The Darkhorses
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel The newly-crowned PBA Governor’s Cup champions are considered as “darkhorses” instead of “favorites” for now because of two reasons: 1) they will be without do-it-all, clutch import Justin Brownlee AND 2) they will also be without 7”0 slotman Greg Slaughter. Now, Coach Tim Cone can still augment this by going “big” with Joe DeVance enjoying more minutes alongside Japeth Aguilar, they could also add Jervy Cruz and Dave Marcelo in the mix, but we feel that they still need a little more firepower to really be considered as “favorites.” Adding Kevin Ferrer from the Gilas Draft and Paolo Taha via trade were nice, but it also hints at possible “growing pains” for those two kids who will most likely be part of Coach Tim Cone’s regular rotation moving forward. Lastly, we hope that Japeth Aguilar continues on this “rebirth” of his, and becomes that multi-dimensional basketball freak we have all envisioned him to be (like a taller, young Arwind Santos).
NLEX Road Warriors
Don’t be surprised if NLEX struggles early under Coach Yeng Guiao, though we think that this team will be ready come the 2nd and 3rd conferences. The young duo of Kevin Alas and Garvo Lanete are probably itching to run and gun after being shackled by former coach Boyet Fernandez. Adding Carlo Lastimosa adds even more depth, with veteran Jonas Villanueva also on the roster. Why we think NLEX will be a tough assignment next season even for the “favorites” is because of their suddenly deep and “mighty” frontline that once only featured aging slotmen Asi Taulava and Rico Villanueva. Now, they have added rookie Alfonso Gotladera, former Mahindra man-mountain Bradwyn Guinto to help out other bigs Rob Reyes, Eric Camson and even Glenn Khobuntin. If Sean Anthony can slide down to the three position and work on his 3-ball, this team should be quite a handful in the Playoffs.
GlobalPort Batang Pier
Can team consultant Franz Pumaren be announced as the head coach already? Or do we have to spend another season with John Cardel “calling” the shots on the sidelines? The team added a lot of quality role players: Mike Cortez, Nino Canaleta and JayR Quinahan which gives them more depth on both ends of the court. They lost Joseph Yeo, but we don’t think that it would hurt the team as much as long as they have Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo in the fold. With those two slashing and splashing, it makes the game relatively “easier” for a spot-up shooter like Canaleta and even Quinahan. Don’t forget that they also have some bruisers on the roster like Doug Kramer and Billy Mamaril so this team isn’t exactly a “donut.” For Von Pessumal fans, you’ll probably have to wait a bit to see him (be asked to) contribute.
TNT Katropa
This team did what we all thought they should’ve done maybe a conference or two ago: sack Jong Uichico and find a coach that can work with the roster. Sure, we didn’t like how TNT management pulled the rug from under Coach Jong, but we also felt like his “old school” iso-ball approach was just not fit for such a loaded team like TNT. He was building everything around star Jayson Castro that he completely forgot about guys like Matt Rosser, Larry Fonacier, Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario and turned Ranidel de Ocampo into a sidekick instead of 1b. Sure, those guys were able to contribute somehow, but not as efficiently as they would under a more “spread out” offense like TNT used to run. We always saw TNT as the league’s pioneer in terms of the “Euro-game,” and with Coach Nash Racela in the fold we hope to see a return to the “old” TNT, even if it comes at Castro’s supernatural stats’ expense.
The Underdogs
Blackwater Elite
On paper, BW should be good enough to give the high caliber teams a challenge with their young and promising core of Roi Sumang (if he ever gets the regular minutes and trust from Coach Leo Isaac), Art dela Cruz, Ael Banal and Mac Belo. However, everything hinges on just how good Banal will turn out in the PBA and if they could somehow continue to perform on a high level the moment Belo gets a Gilas duty call-up. There are a lot of holes on the roster with only veteran point guard Denok Miranda standing out, so expect another rough season for the Elite as they continue to build their team’s identity in the pros.
Mahindra Floodbusters
We feel sorry for Coach Chris Gavina and L.A. Revilla. Then again, Revilla would most likely be out of the league/ stuck on a bench somewhere if not for Mahindra while this was the best way for a relatively unproven assistant coach like Gavina to get a shot in the PBA. They basically traded away four of their five starters: Canaleta, Taha, Aldrech Ramos and Guinto for guards and picks which will help them run, but will also leave them at the mercy of the PBA’s giant-sized teams. We would’ve been okay if they kept or added shooters to replace the bigs that they lost, but the guards that they acquired: Ryan Arana and Alex Mallari, are slashers by trade. The bigs left? Jeckster Apinan, Mark Yee, Jason Ballesteros and rookie Russel Escoto. It is not going to be pretty in the post, that much we can guarantee.
STAR Hotshots
They acquired Paul Lee who should be transitioning from playing the point at Rain or Shine to the two spot so he could leave all the full-court running and defending to resident star Mark Barroca. Coach Chito Victolero had a nice uptempo system at Mahindra before he was (mysteriously) replaced, so expect more of that. We hope that Ian Sangalang continues to return to his old form, and that he could lead the Hotshots’ frontline with new recruit Aldrech Ramos. Problem here is, the team has been adding a lot of perimeter-playing stretch fours with maybe only Marc Pingris (undersized) and Rafi Reavis as natural post-playing centers. Coach Chito has his work cut out for him, but they should be in the thick of the fight once a giant-sized reinforcement comes in the 2nd conference, with all their stretch 4s going back to their normal spots (a pity they can’t play all at the same time but hey).
Meralco Bolts
Much of the Bolts’ success in the PBA Governor’s Cup, though they lost to Ginebra, was because of Jimmy Alapag. The moment Alapag was not around to give his teammates that extra boost of confidence, they simply started to unravel and was led to the mud by the ill-experienced Anjo Caram, Baser Amer and the ill-equipped yet gutsy John Uyloan. Though they have added more firepower through the draft and trades: Joseph Yeo, Ed Daquioag and Jonathan Grey, the Bolts success will fall mostly on having a point guard who can set the table properly enough for everyone to be successful. Sure, Coach Norman Black has been able to run his system with so-so guards in college, but we’re not sure if he can do the same in the pros. Also, expect Chris Newsome’s star to continue shining as we expect him to play point from time to time.
Phoenix Fuel Masters
Coach Ariel Vanguardia added a lot of rookies, point guards to be exact, and with good reason: Simon Enciso is still feeling his way into the PBA while the released pair of Mark Cruz and Josh Urbiztondo aren’t exactly “point guards” to begin with. Now he has a lot of Grade A point men in Gelo Alolino, Pao Javelona and Achie Inigo who are all coming from Grade A college programs. This will give Coach Ariel a lot of options, while also being able to find the right guys to run with Cyrus Baguio, JC Intal and ABL ASEAN MVP, Gilas rookie Matthew Wright. Honestly, we like how Phoenix is slowly starting to build a sound team without having to sacrifice/ serve as a farm team to the bigger franchises.
Who do you think will be the favorites to win it all in the Ph Cup? This season? Hit us up @kilikilishot on Twitter!
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