Who you gonna call?

UGH! APPLE-PEN!
(Photo credit: Paul Ryan Tan)

Don’t call it a comeback.

Veteran star Gary David is reportedly all set to sign a nine-month contract with the Mahindra Floodbusters after being left without a team on PBA opening day.

From a personal standpoint, we are thrilled that David is able to land another job which will allow him to secure the future of his family (if he hasn’t already). At day’s end, these free agents are providers whose sole source of income is the sport that they have come to know and love since their youths. No matter how we ridicule certain players about the way they play or look, we still respect them overall and show them love.

From a basketball blogger/ analyst’s standpoint, well, don’t expect too much out of the man dubbed “El Granada.”

Here is a guy who’s had a clear decline in stats the last four seasons: 34m 19p in; 35m 16p; 25m 13p; and finally 20m 10p last season with Meralco/San Miguel. It should be noted that his minutes went from 29m to 13m (even less) when he was traded. As for his famed shooting touch, think 40.2% from 2 and 32% from 3—solid, but not great.

We are calling this certain stat of his out, since he is supposed to be able to stretch defenses with his outside shooting. Just to check, those whose names have been stringed alongside David’s in terms of being “Gilas outside specialists:” San Miguel’s Marcio Lassiter is a career 38% shooter, Rain or Shine’s Jeffrei Chan is at 35% while Larry Fonacier is at 36%, all fare a lot better than El Granada.

Simply put, we are not too sold on the idea that he could help take the pressure off Mahindra’s L.A. Revilla. Not when the opposing team’s defenses can simply zero in on both guys because they do not have much firepower as we speak.

Is he done as a player? Honestly, David’s not the type who can break down defenders one-on-one. Maybe he could during his younger days, when he was primarily a slasher, but definitely not in his late 30s. He can still make shots, but playing defense is going to be tricky. If he could split time with Michael DiGregorio at SG, then maybe he could conserve some of his energy.

How can Coach Chris Gavina make this signing (alongside Rey Guevarra) work? By letting Revilla do the playmaking as always, and just have David ready to fire. Hell, if Revilla could make a respectable player out of Aldrech Ramos, then what more a proven veteran like David?

We just hope that David comes in determined and focused, accepting whatever role is given him and simply “follow the coach’s orders” during games.

Silver lining here is, if David plays his cards right and averages around 10p+ while playing solid defense, other teams might come knocking once again for his services.