Another day, another L for Batang Pier

Tough luck for Sol
and his "Most Improved" campaign

When was the last time the pre-Commissioner's Cup favourites GlobalPort Batang Pier won a game?

That was on February 15, a masterful 89-80 victory over the then still clueless Barangay Ginebra San Miguel led by an even more clueless Herbert Hill. After that, the Batang Pier would go on one of the ugliest, nay, horrendous losing streaks in all of Philippine basketball by dropping all 11 of their next assignments mostly in blowout fashion.

Weren't they supposed to be the dark horses? Actually, with the souped-up line-up featuring Gary David, 2x PBA MVP Willie Miller, Japeth Aguilar and Sol Mercado plus promising rookies Jason Deutchman and AJ Mandani and a solid bench-- they were more than just dark horses. Hell, they were playoff picks by just about every one who knows their basketball.

PBA 2012 Draft: More busts than stars?

Is "The Muscle" too small to dominate the PBA?

While this year's PBA Draft will go down in history as the Year of the Fajardo/Abueva (depending on which camp you happen to be cheering for), it should be noted that of the 39 players selected (in an eye-popping 6 round draft thanks to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's binge shopping for point guards), only a handful are still in the league and about five to six of them to actually be relevant.

On top are Petron's Junemar Fajardo, the first overall pick, inconsistent but very mobile and impressive for a guy his size and Alaska's Calvin Abueva, a sure lock for the year's top Rookie prize given his impact on his team and how he is able to carry his "beastly" game over to the pros with relative ease (and how he's managed to get in the heads of a lot of veterans when it's supposed to be the other way around).

After those guys, it's really a toss up on who else is going to be a star or at the very least-- "useful" for his team in the long run.

Time to break up the MMDA (?)

Hi, I'm Jason Deutchman.
I averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds
in only 20 minutes last conference.

Nine games into the GlobalPort Batang Pier’s PBA Commissioner Cup campaign and we’ve pretty much figured that this team won’t make a run at the next round—not with an abysmal, cellar-dwelling 2-7 win-loss record.

Granted, the team underwent an almost drastic reinvention mid-season, bringing in lead point guard Sol Mercado and athletic beanpole Japeth Aguilar. Though they won their first game and looked mighty impressive on offense thanks to their knack for spectacular, showtime-esque plays, it’s on the defensive end where this team finds itself lacking.

GlobalPort losing steam

I have an idea, let's do away
with the only guy who plays defense
and get a scoring import - JB

For what it's worth, the GlobalPort Batang Pier had to do something to address their current slide. Despite having the most electrifying starting unit in the whole PBA, the scoring bunches, flashy dunks and killer crossovers weren't translating into thus the recent exodus of defensive-minded import Justin Williams.

Williams was reportedly pulled out by his local handlers after hearing how GlobalPort head coach Junel Baculi was not too pleased with the 6"10 Chicago native's offensive output. We would like to remind everyone though who shares Baculi's view that William has and was always a defensive stopper-- and arguably the most logical choice to backstop a team that already features scorers Gary David, Sol Mercado, Willie Miller and even Japeth Aguilar. We're not too sure that those guys would be too happy  (or effective) had they been given a ball-hogging scorer down on the block or even an import such as Air21's Michael Dunigan who is just a beast and arguably the best among all the imports we've seen thus far.

Live by the three, die by the three

Mandani's D makes him better suited
to play alongside David, Mercado

For a minute there, the Global Port Batang Pier appeared to be poised to run roughshod over the competition this PBA Commissioner's Cup.

Ace player Gary David is back to his deadly, gun-slinging ways from deep, rookie AJ Mandani continues to impress and prove to be the steal of this year's PBA draft and new recruits Japeth Aguilar and Sol Mercado are fitting in seamlessly with the latter further solidifying his claim to Most Improved Player of the Year (if they win a title or two this year, Mercado's our vote to cop the Most VALUABLE Player title- real talk). Then there's solid import Justin Williams who has a tremendous work ethic let alone a mean defensive streak dow low (averaging 5 blocks a game) plus grizzled coach Junel Baculi throwing in some of that Pinoy old school macho swag we love and tip our hats to-- yep, the Batang Pier are as solid as they come.

So why the 2-3 start?

What's up Boss Mikee?

Hey Coach Glen, let the kids play!

The PBA's leading scorer the last two-three seasons, Gary David, is finally back for the GlobalPort Batang Pier following a bunch of missed games due to nagging injuries. Though David came up with another brilliant scoring display last Friday versus the struggling Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, it wasn't enough to give the Batang Pier their 2nd win in 9 games.

Expect David to burn the twine yet again alongside 2x PBA MVP Willie Miller and the 2012 PBA Draft "steal"Jason Deutchman-- these three guys can all bury the shot from deep all day when given the go signal. But that's not where we're going with in tonight's entry. We'd like to focus more on the wishy-washy handling of the rotation and the players that are starting to get more minutes on the floor.

New blood for Batang Pier

Loving the hustle of Mandani and co.

Finally. Though PBA neophytes GlobalPort Batang Pier are currently languishing at the bottom of the Philippine Cup standings with a 1-4 record, there's a lot of excitement in the air for Coach Glen Capacio et.al. because of the youth and excitement they're bringing into the games as of late.

At the forefront is old reliable, 2x PBA Most Valuable Player Willie Miller defying father time and even making up for the absence of last year's MVP bride's maid Gary David. Though it took a game or two for Coach Glen to figure it out, it was pretty obvious that Miller as a team player is a better fit for the Batang Pier squad rather than mainstay and team owner Mikee Romero's so-called "franchise player" David simply because he does more (when he's motivated and not running on dead legs).