PBA Philippine Cup Finals: Ginebra (1) vs TNT (3)

Author's note: Before we proceed, we would like to once again take this time to thank everyone who made the PBA Philippine Cup bubble. Sure, we made fun of certain teams and players on social media-- but that doesn't take away from how thankful we all are for being able to have something 'normal,' and how it took our minds away from this pandemic (if only for 3-5 hours a day).

So here we finally are. The PBA Philippine Cup (Bubble Season) Finals match-up pitting the Barangay Ginebra versus TNT Giga. The clear-cut favorites, going into the season following the injury to San Miguel Beer's living legend Junemar Fajardo which put a halt to their mighty romp.

On one side, you have last season's PBA Governor's Cup champions Ginebra which lost 7"0 slotman Greg Slaughter but ultimately gained another conference's worth of chemistry with ace guard Stanley Pringle. Where super scoring import Justin Brownlee left off, Pringle pretty much picked up together with new recruits veteran lefties Jared Dilligner and Jeffrei Chan. 

In the off-season they added promising rookie Arvin Tolentino and during the bubble Coach Tim Cone made full use of his roster by giving extended minutes to his younger players which allowed back-up center Prince Caperal to showcase his wares.

Then there's the TNT Giga.

They added the man we dub as 'The Natural' in Ray Ray Parks, Jr. And followed it up by adding much-improved defensive big Poy Erram while giving away next to nothing.

That's it. End of conversation.

Amazing Arwind

The Pinoy Spiderman
(Photo credit: Inquirer.net)

When it is all said and done, the San Miguel Beermen’s do-it-all forward and former PBA MVP Arwind Santos will undoubtedly go down as one of the best ever.

Is he a small forward? But he rebounds the basketball and often makes his best defensive stops around the paint. Is he a power forward? But he shoots threes, runs the floor and isn’t exactly built like a stocky one as per Filipino traditions.

All Ineligible/ Anti-Gilas

#whatif Anti-Gilas
(Photo credit Sports5.ph)

While we await the official announcement of Coach Chot Reyes’ Gilas 24-man pool (with the 12 former Gilas cadets already shoo-ins), here is an interesting thought: why not create a “practice team” of “FIBA ineligible” PBA players who are also, mostly, Gilas-caliber?

We are not trying to create any drama here, just that we feel that these guys could readily give Gilas a run for its money considering their overall talent and global experience pre-PBA.  Just to make it even more interesting, we would want maybe Coach Norman Black or Tim Cone to handle this roster:

Alex Cabagnot
Chris Ross
Stanley Pringle
Chris Newsome
Chris Banchero

Quoting Mark Twain

#TheFaceThatRunsThePlace
(photo credit: sports5.ph)

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

When the Rain or Shine Elastopainters received 2x PBA MVP James Yap and former PBA Finals MVP Jay Washington in separate deals, it was met largely with criticisms and doubt. After all, we are talking about two legitimate PBA superstars who have probably seen their best days behind them.

Yes they are old, but they sure as hell aren't dead.

Washington, in four games, is averaging a solid 23m 7p 8r while Yap, who had to sit out RoS' first game, isn't far behind with 20m 12p 4r. There are a lot of guys who actually play more minutes than these two "elder statesmen" that do not even average anything close to those numbers.

Now that's impressive.

Come Rain or Shine

Southern Sharpshooters
(Photo credit to the owner)

What now, Rain or Shine Elastopainters?

First, Coach Yeng Guiao opted to bolt for the NLEX Road Warriors which basically offered him the real difference between an RoS “max contract” and that of a well-financed team. No, there was no under the table scheming here and there. Only an opportunity for Guiao to work on other things “outside of the basketball court” such as handling NLEX’s Corporate Social Responsibility program which would most likely help him win (back) a political seat in the future.

Second was JayR Quinahan, this season’s most consistent player and leading scorer at times, being dealt to Globalport Batang Pier for Jay Washington. The beefy forward reinvented himself this season, in hopes of securing a longer deal perhaps, averaging 14 and 7 as compared to Washington's 8 and 8. When the negotiating period came, both sides couldn't agree on the length and well, here we are now. We respect Washington's body of work, but Quinahan's intimidating defense and shot blocking will be missed.

Finally, came the biggest trade of them all: 27-year-old superstar guard Paul Lee for the “face of the PBA,” 34-year-old, 2x MVP James Yap.

PBAPC16 QF: 5 GlobalPort vs 8 Barako

Photo credit to PBA.Inquirer.net

R.R. Garcia just cannot seem to catch a break in his young PBA career.

After being pushed to the backseat by former college and pro teammate Terrence Romeo, Garcia was finally able to show his old UAAP MVP form for Barako Bull this Philippine Cup. Unfotunately, he suffered a shoulder injury just a few weeks back which has kept him on the sidelines going into this Quarterfinals match-up with, hey, Romeo and his GlobalPort squad.

Had Garcia (29mpg 17ppg 3rpg 2apg) been healthy, he and Romeo (30mpg 23ppg 4rpg 3apg) would have been the clear focus of this battle of recognized SMC farm teams (from a fan boy's standpoint, it could have been our "what if" Jayjay Helterbrand vs Mark Caguioa dream scenario... guess we will have to wait a bit longer on this one).

On the offensive

Your team or mine?
(Photo credit to the owner)

How many players does it take to score a basket?

This is going to be Coach Pido Jarencio's biggest challenge as he leads a retooled Global Port Batang Pier squad that does not only feature elite scorer Terrence Romeo and the promising Stanley Pringle, but also veteran assassin-by-trade Joseph Yeo, trigger happy point man Jonathan Uyloan and rookie Roi "I'm not a basketball diva" Sumang. 

Granted, the Batang Pier squad enjoyed some success when they played a three guard unit with Asian import Omar Krayem-- but that was more to Krayem's versatility and efficiency than Coach Pido's Xs and Os. Krayem pretty much covered for Pringle and Romeo, sliding comfortably at the small forward spot.

Yeo? We are not too sure he can play defense like Krayem. We don't think he will have any troubles deferring to the younger guys on offense (having played with Mac Cardona early in his career), but it's on defense where this Romeo-Pringle-Yeo troika might fail. Remember, Batang Pier had Krayem AND Denok Miranda last conference to "save" Romeo and Pringle.

Small moves, new beginnings

Still waiting for Jervy to live up
to his Baby Patrimonio potential
(Photo credit to the owner)

Finally, a couple of PBA off-season deals that we could write about!

Who would've thought that it would be the GlobalPort Batang Pier squad of Boss Mikee Romero doing all the wheeling and dealing off/ pre-season? And no, it's not to serve at any of the two giant corporation's pleasure even but to actually try and continue building a legitimate darkhorse contender for the coming season.

There are rumors however that this is only the beginning, and that more trades will follow suit. No worries, the more trades and transactions there are going into next week's 2015 PBA Draft, the more copies we can write, rave and rant about!

Tuloy ang ligaya kahit off-season!

Jervy Cruz to GlobalPort, Jewel Ponferada + 2015 PBA Draft 2nd round pick to Rain or Shine

PBACC The Quarterfinals: Talk'n'Text vs Barako Bull

Buddy and Sol(s)
(Photo credits to the owner)

A long-established league powerhouse battling the playoffs' darkhorse/ underdog/ "they're not supposed to be there!" A team with so much firepower, you could field in their 2nd unit and have them play 3/4s of the game and they'll probably still be good enough to score 90 points at least. A team with so little firepower, they are actually forced to play two point guards and hope one of them feels like scoring game by game.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet your favorites to make it to the next round: Jayson Castro's Talk'n' Text Tropang Texters versus the over-achieving, Sol Mercado's Barako Bull Energy Cola.

Trial and error

What now for "consultant" Pido?
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

When Pido Jarencio made the leap back into the PBA, this time as head coach, it was met with a lot of positivity and with an "it's about damn time" hoopla. After all, he pretty much rebuilt the UST Growling Tigers men's basketball program and was able to turn it into the UAAP's Ginebra to counter the DLSU and ADMU (Purefoods and San Miguel-like stature) programs.

Unfortunately, he found himself in the wrong situation and maybe with the wrong franchise.

Jarencio was handed the keys to an up-and-coming GlobalPort Batang Pier squad with a passionate, win-now owner in Mikee Romero. However, he was unable to get the right kind of players that would fit his, uptempo, old school system (we're giving him the benefit of the doubt here, thinking that Jarencio would want to run his UST sets with the Batang Pier).

But could you really blame Jarencio for "failing?"

Ang Angas ng Pilipinas

Hindi lang ito tungkol kay Paul Lee, na siyang nag hatid sa Pilipinas ng kauna unahang  medalya ng bansa sa FIBA Asia Cup na ginanap sa Wuhan, China kontra sa home team.

Tungkol ito kay head coach Chot Reyes at sa mga players na sina L.A. Tenorio, Kevin Alas, Garvo Lanete, Gary David, Jared Dillinger, Jay Washington, Japeth Aguilar, Ranidel de Ocampo, Beau Belga, Junemar Fajardo at Marcus Douthit.

May mga pagkakataon na parang hindi naka angkla sa panalo ang koponang binansagan natin na Gilas Pilipinas. Minsan, parang naglolokohan lang sila. Minsan, parang wala ung kumpyansa at tiwala sa sarili. Minsan, parang payag sila na matalo na lang ng basta basta at isugal ang pangalan ng bansa.

Papunta naman na tayo ng Espanya, bakit pa nga ba magpapakahirap?

Gilas Pilipinas gears up for FIBA Asia Cup

Gilas call-up after 
Year of redemption for JWash

If we are to be taken seriously by other countries as a resurging basketball power, then we should move on from last year's inspiring silver medal finish in the FIBA Asia Championship Cup (which is also the last of its kind in terms of being a FIBA World Cup Qualifier).

It begins with consistency, and we're not talking about finishing 3rd or 4th time and again. We're talking gold or silver at worst for Gilas Pilipinas or whichever incarnation of the country's men's basketball team follows suit. Iran is definitely a lock, China has been having some coaching and personnel problems but they'll always be there. From the third spot down, it's an open field.

For the coming FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China in July 11 to 19, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes has opted to bring in some of his pool players/ new recruits in an effort to keep his cards close to his chest and keep his core guys well rested.

The holdovers are Ranidel De Ocampo, LA Tenorio, Gary David, Japeth Aguilar, June Mar Fajardo and naturalized center Marcus Douthit (in what might be his last tour of duty should NBA center Andray Blatche suit up in the FIBA World Cup). Out from the 2013 Silver Medal team are Gabe Norwood, Marc Pingris, Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier and Jeff Chan.

Cabagnot Conundrum

The Crunchman Saveth?
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

A few weeks ago, we felt that it was rather unfair for Global Port Batang Pier's neophyte head coach Pido Jarencio to single out his starting point guard Alex Cabagnot amid their losing ongoing losing streak.

If you walked up to us and said that the Batang Pier lost their first eight games because Cabagnot was averaging 10.38 points to go with 5.88 assists per game, we'd have laughed at your great and admirable grasp of the sport. Looking back at Cabagnot's career since 2005, the man's averaged 11 points and 5 assists.

Yes, he's had incredible, clutch games here and there, but overall, Cabagnot is an 11 points and 5 assists man-- which isn't bad on the PBA level mind you, given the years of consistent play.

KKS' Picks: The PBA All Star Reserves

What might've been for Gilas Pilipinas.
(Photo credit: Sports5)

This year's PBA All Star game hopes to serve as one of many tune-up matches for the Gilas Pilipinas men's basketball team. On paper, the game promises to be a blockbuster, heavyweight match-up between those who were chosen to represent the country versus those who were not as fortunate for one reason or another.

Already named to the PBA All Star Starting Five are: Mark Barroca, James Yap, Chris Ellis, Mac Baracael and Greg Slaughter.

Of the five starters, only Barroca merits to really be called an All Star starter given his performance in the PBA Philippine Cup en route to a Finals MVP trophy. Yap only returned to form somewhere in the semifinals and finals, while the troika of Ellis, Baracael and Slaughter largely benefited from what one may call as the equivalent of the NBA's Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady's "China" votes (only in this case, "China" is "Barangay Ginebra.")

Based on stats alone, we could name three guys who could easily supplant the above-mentioned and we're more than happy to give them their due as we name our PBA All Star Reserves to round out the Magic 12. To be clear, we're not trying to make any predictions here, since the selection of the reserves will fall onto the PBA coaches' shoulders led by PBA All Star team head coach Tim Cone, but we're going with the guys who made a name for themselves in the recently concluded PBA Philippine Cup and at the very least, deserve a look.

1) Arwind Santos (SF/PF San Miguel Beermen) 17.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg
For all the social media negativity cast on the REIGNING PBA Most Valuable Player about him being a "stat-padder," you can't call out a player for hauling down over ten rebounds a night. The points, yes, probably. But rebounding is a different art form altogether that, when approached timidly or lackadaisically, you could easily get your mouth popped by someone more tenacious (think of it as going for a 50/50 rebound versus a Marc Pingris-- yeah, you need to be alert on that one 24/7). Santos made a good account of himself last conference, proving that while he lacks the superstar one-on-one iso game people expect from a league MVP, he is still pretty solid nonetheless.

The Fireman and his Batang Pier

I never really got to watch the "real" Pido Jarencio. The man, the legend, the UST Glowing Goldie and PBA "Fireman" whose shooting was almost (legend has it) at par as PBA Hall of Famer Allan Caidic.

Instead, my mental image of Jarencio was a short-shorts wearing veteran who would come in to either spell a winded Vince Hizon or Jayvee Gayoso and knock down a "legs wide open" three from the corners every now and then for Barangay Ginebra in the mid-90s. He was out of basketball shape, appeared to be on his last legs, but was just a feel-good favorite because he looked like someone I'd bump into in pick-up games (you know, that village vet who is always hanging by the playground waiting, preying on the young ones).

When he finally retired and resurfaced as a head coach in college, it was during my 2nd year with the Black-Gold, Black-White. He took a team of several unheralded wingmen and a center to the Finals, much to the surprise of the college ranks (and every single Thomasian who weren't expecting much post-Cyrus Baguio and Alwin Espiritu or better yet, post-Aric del Rosario).

Heart and Sol

Follow the leader
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

There are hundreds, nay, thousands of approaches to the sport of Chess. Some prefer to attack early, others, to lie in wait while a few choose to read the person seated before them. One strategy is to allow your offensive pieces to do the brunt of the dirty work, to have your Pawns, Bishops, Knights and Rooks wreak havoc before unleashing the Queen as your ultimate closer.

Think of the GlobalPort Batang Pier, now carrying an unexpected 4-3 winning card in the PBA Philippine Cup, as something of the sort. While neophyte scoring prodigy Terrence Romeo and “buddy” Ryan Roose Garcia earn praises and headlines with their high-level offense and PBA-ready game, when the games are tight and the chips are down—that’s when we see who the team’s real “anchors” are on both ends of the floor: the Fil-Am veteran pair of Jay Washington and Sol Mercado.

Life after Petron

Different jersey, same game.
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

When Anthony “Jay” Washington first came into the local basketball scene, people noticed him more for him being LeBron James’ “kalokalike” in more ways than one. Not only did he resemble the Basketball Hall of Fame bound NBA superstar, but he also played the game in an almost similar way (with James’ playing it inter-galactic, across the universe, notches higher of course).

So when the Talk’n’Text Tropang Texters (2006-2008) and later on San Miguel Beermen now Petron Blaze Boosters (2008-2013) took him to the fold, you just knew that this guy was special—special in the sense that he could decide the outcome of any game in whatever capacity or role is given him.

The Romance of Terrence Romeo

Rise and tune out the semantics
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

In last Wednesday evening's main game, a GlobalPort Batang Pier rookie decided to make a name for himself. That being said; he didn't make a name by appeasing his many, amateur career haters-- no. He made a name for himself by simply playing the way he has the last few years.

Thy name is Terrence Bill Romeo.

High-octane, fast-paced, fading away, crossover, spin move three, one-on-one, one-on-two... one-on-five basketball. What he gave up on inches, he made up for with grit and a will to win. How many point guards can you name that would nonchalantly drive into the lane and absorb Street Fighter Zangief piledriver style contact from both Junemar Fajardo AND Arwind Santos? He was blocked several times and had his shot altered by Petron Blaze's bloodhounds, but this didn't deter him from who and what he was.

Stay the course

Bigote. Slick back pomade hair.
Sunglasses. Neon green shirt.
#THATSG.
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

With a respectable 4-5 win-loss slate, the Global Port Batang Pier have found themselves in the PBA Governor's Cup Playoffs hunt thanks to a potent four-man scoring machine and the "old school" hand of head coach Junel Baculi.

They found a solid import in Markeith Cummings to go with their awesome foursome of Sol Mercado, Gary David, Willie Miller and Jay Washington. They have some rough and tough ninjas in youngsters Marvin Hayes and Kelly Nabong, plus an assortment of role players that can contribute when given enough daylight (Belencion, Lingganay).  Honestly, when owner Mikee Romero envisioned bringing his success in the amateurs to the pros, we all thought that it would take at least two years for them to do so (by languishing early and rebuilding via the PBA draft like most cellar-dwelling, "new" franchises do).

J-Wash's New Groove

No longer No. 23
(Photo courtesy of PBA InterAKTV)

Displaying the all-around game expected of him since being selected 1st overall in the 2005 PBA Draft, Jay Washington is off to a good start with new team Global Port Batang Pier after last night's 101-94 drubbing of the Air21 Express.

The 31-year-old backstopped high-scoring import Markeith Cummings (who scored a crazy 37 points in just 41 minutes), finishing with a superb stat line of 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists in 36 minutes which is arguably the most he's played in recent memory. While we've maintained that Washington isn't a go-to-guy, he is a great complimentary piece when paired with an elite scorer. In this shooting guard-type import-laden conference, Washington will be able to be just that.