Four-team trade gets greenlight; JWash to Batang Pier

For the record, our favorite "scooperoo" and arguably the most polarizing local sports commentator Mr. Snow Badua reported it first as a "deal in the works."

Just a few hours after Talk'n'Text sent National team campaigner Jared Dillinger to Meralco, another trade has been green-lighted by the PBA this time involving some of the more popular and promising young talents in the land.

Where did THIS J-Wash go?

Barako Bull Energy Cola

Elmer Espiritu

Let's all be honest here, who expects Espiritu to actually break BB head coach Bong Ramos' rotation? With the recent acquisition of high scoring guard Ronjay Buenafe, JC Intal and Allein Maliksi are bumped up to their natural small forward positions. Having the same body type, Espiritu will be the third man out. We'd love to think that the former UE Red Warrior could get minutes at the four spot, but his thin frame doesn't help his case one bit.

Grade: B-

What if Choke-gate never happened?

What if Balkman kept his hands to himself?

Would the Petron Blaze Boosters be enjoying a nice, comfy seat in the semifinals waiting for the Ginebra-Rain or Shine winner instead of Talk 'n' Text? Would everything that has gone wrong for the Boosters the last one and a half conference be forgotten and dismissed as mere "growing pains"-- justified and vindicated by the team's success?

And finally, was the ouster of Renaldo Balkman really that big of a deal considering their opponent, TNT, changed imports just as much as they did?

From a team chemistry standpoint, on the floor at least, yes. Balkman was that versatile four that Arwind Santos forgot to play like and Jay Washington never was. He brought intensity and hustle that allowed his teammates to just feed off it. Rookie center JuneMar Fajardo was left to fend for himself (with much success) as the team's anchor at the five spot guarding imports his size or bigger. Balkman was not an established scorer ala Air21's Mike Dunnigan or Meralco's Eric Dawson, but he sure as hell brought it night in and night out with tremendous energy and passion for the game.

Petron proves there's life after Balkman

Sonny Thoss can kiss his default
"Best Center in the Philippines" title goodbye

In their first outing after the whole Renaldo Balkman episode that has reached global proportions, the Petron Blaze Boosters finally looked like the team that they were supposed to be considering their elite local starpower.

Playing in front of a sold out Panabo City crowd (controversy, as the years will tell you, creates monetary opportunities for all), the Boosters were able to take solo 2nd in the ongoing PBA Commissioner's Cup by beating the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 87-79. At the forefront of the victory were rookie Junemar Fajardo who finished with a stellar 20 points and 13 rebounds output and sophomore Marcio Lassiter who chipped in 14 points (12 in the deciding 4th quarter to finally breakaway from the E-Painters).

Hustlin' Harder

Everyday he's hustlin'
(photo courtesy of Inquirer.Net)

There’s more to the Petron Blaze Boosters’ impressive 3-1 start this PBA Commissioner’s Cup than just their heavily tatted (his “Hustle Harder” eyelids included), NBA caliber (and Team Sheryl Reyes) import Renaldo Balkman.

Granted, Balkman is lording it over with team-leading averages of 27.75 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.75 steals and 3.75 blocks a night, but there’s a huge difference in the team’s overall approach to the game. No, head coach Olsen Racela didn’t earn a high level degree in coaching overnight, they are simply back to playing basic, helter-skelter basketball.

The value of role players

Petron needs more guys like Pena

Another day, another mind-boggling loss for the stacked Petron Blaze Boosters this time at the unimaginable hands of the rag-tag Air21 Express. It would've been acceptable had the Boosters lost by a couple of points or on a heart-breaking play, but they were just flat-out embarrassed this afternoon by a team whose most household name is their Coach who did all his winning (at the moment) back on the college level.

Losing 97-76, the Boosters looked more erratic than awful on the court. They were trying to make the extra play, revived by the solo coaching job of one Olsen Racela, guys like Joseph Yeo and Alex Mallari appeared to have that extra pep in their steps. But they were just being outperformed by the Express which has appeared to have hit the lotto by opting to go for a more traditional set-up.

Taskmaster Toroman Steps Back for Rah-Rah

Ikaw, pala'y, salawahan

The writing, in thick, bold neon hot pink colors, was on the wall. It was just a matter of the right people taking a step back to see the big picture, that their proposed "coaching partnership" was the equivalent of what we'd all say as being "a great proposal/ thesis, but hardly probable executable."

Serbian and former SMART Gilas Team Pilpinas head coach Rajko Toroman has finally opted to take a backseat from being the annoying, overly hands-on assistant coach/ team consultant of the struggling Petron Blaze Boosters. From here on out, as far as the team is concerned, it's going to be head coach Olsen Racela fulfilling his duties to the letter: supervising drills in practices and drawing plays in-game both offensively and defensively (as what a head coach should be doing in the first place).

While people were quick to point out that this shortened partnership could've mirrored the highly successful "mentor-protege" pair of former San Miguel Beermen head coach Ron Jacobs and understudy Jong Uichico, this writer argues otherwise.

Lead by example

Remember when Arwind was THIS good?
(It wasn't THAT long ago folks)

After calling out his Petron Blaze Boosters teammates, his point guard Alex Cabagnot in particular, Arwind Santos lived up to the drama by submitting his most dominant and all around game in recent memory finishing up with 22 points and 17 rebounds to lead his team to a 98-95 win over Ginebra.

Cabagnot, seemingly the missing key to the Boosters' puzzle, finished with 7 points, 8 assists and 5 turnovers while playing third most minutes (38) after Santos (39) and Chris Lutz (45). To say that Cabagnot has been playing without any "heart" would be an understatement. The guy is simply not competing at all (there was one loose ball play wherein he lost his man L.A. Tenorio right in front of the basket for an easy deuce).

Checks and balances

Time to break the duo up?

For a star-studded team that's obviously built around "professionalism" and a business-like approach, the Petron Blaze Boosters sure does an awful way of auditing themselves.

There's one of the three captains, Arwind Santos, speaking his mind after their 88-86 loss to the Alaska Aces, calling out his point guard Alex Cabagnot. The mere and simple fact that they have THREE captains should be cause of concern. And how they all managed to overtake veteran Danny Ildefonso from the picture is also an obvious display of how they want to move forward.

They're far from being sentimental, they know who the stars on the team are, those are the captains. Captains who are expected to take the lead. To bring the fight night in and night out and not let anything shake them in the endgame.

Calvin Abueva's beastly debut

Masaya kung akilala da ka

Dondon Hontiveros had one of those vintage MBA Cebu Gems performances in the 4th quarter. Cyrus Baguio had the most efficient game we've seen of him EVER. JVee Casio was being his usual, steady self at PG-- not making great reads or finds, but not turning the ball either.

But make no mistake, it was one debuting Calvin "The Beast" Abueva who stole the show and brought the Alaska Aces back with his hustle and energy to salvage an 88-86 win over the confused Petron Blaze Boosters.

12 points on 5/17 shooting, 16 rebounds (10 defensive/ 6 offensive), 1 block, 1 assist, 4 fouls and 2 turnovers in 27 minutes.

Every man for himself

Where'd this guy go?

The Petron Blaze Boosters finally looked like a team on the floor last night, dominating the hapless Barako Bull Energy Cola 98-89 and just running and executing under neophyte "coach" Olsen Racela.

Leading the way were Chris Lutz, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos who all appeared to strive under the transition game. Lutz, who topscored for the Boosters with 22, was his usual "silent assassin" self-- getting to his spots on the floor and just letting the game come to him. Why Mico Halili et. al. hasn't tagged him as the PBA's "The Natural" ala the NBA's Brandon Roy, we'll leave to them.

Santos also bounced back from an abysmal first game against Rain or Shine while Cabagnot provided the heroics and closing efforts when the Boosters opted to take its collective "foot off the gas" so to speak and allowed the Colas to come back in the 4th quarter.

SMART Gilas 2 needs to muscle up

Doug Kramer deserves a look

What's done is done, and yesterday's loss-- no matter how painful, will and should be treated as just another learning curve that our SMART Gilas Pilipinas men's basketball team has to go through to reclaim our once mighty status this side of the world.

Though the loss cost as a shot at the FIBA Asia title, let's all remember that there's still the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships which serves as qualifier for the FIBA Worlds. Let's not get ahead of ourselves now, and just stick to trying to win in Asia no matter the level of competition or play. Here are some guys, Team SMC or MVP, who should or deserve a look when it's time for Coach Chot Reyes et. al. to reassess the team and see where we need beefing up.

Hopefully, when we say "reassess and build," Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan is still at the forefront of our courageous efforts and not divorcing the program like he did with his Alma Mater.

Lito Alvarez: Hari ng Padala

With Alvarez back on board, no one's safe.
The guy managed to trade all the household names
in this picture for nothing.

Just for the sake of parity and respect, this writer won't even bother with returning Air21 Express team governor Lito Alvarez' non-basketball (read: political) interests and ventures. Let's just stick to how we fans know him: someone who'd trade his own mother if it meant making more money and getting future picks (which in turn will end up being traded, again, for money) all at the cost of his team being remotely decent.

Star complex or poor coaching?

Should Ato step aside for Rajko?

The Petron Blaze Boosters were once again on the losing end of a crucial PBA Governors Cup semifinals game, this time bowing to their rivals Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters 103-94. Though they made a mini-rally in the third quarter, the game was never really theirs as the Texters regrouped in the fourth to salvage the victory.

Going into the conference, hell, the season even, the Boosters were pretty much pencilled in to make continuous deep playoff runs behind its unmatched roster. While the Texters enjoy a bevy of elite and athletic Fil-Ams, they still have holes to fill as far as getting a true small forward and center are concerned. The Boosters? They have two interchangeable starting units that was only strengthened when they brought in rookie Marcio Lassiter and the returning Dondon Hontiveros this conference.

E-Painters' Hustle and Flow

Yeng Guiao has his team ready 

Despite last night's 90-88 setback to the Petron Blaze Boosters, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters need only to win two of their remaining four semifinal assignments to make a run at the PBA Governor's Cup Finals. That, plus they sure as hell made a valiant comeback from 23 points down and were maybe three to four missed free throws from stealing the game.

Though they started the game rather slugglishly while the Boosters were shooting the lights off the gym, the E-Painters never really looked out of it. The team kept battling, forcing turnovers and making it difficult for the Boosters to score inside specially in the third and fourth quarters.

The Petron Puzzle

Pinoy LeBron: He's back.
But is it a good thing?

For such a stacked team, the Petron Blaze Boosters' current placing on the PBA Governor's Cup standings would make one reconsider if they really have the league's best-- in terms of players, coaches and overall make-up.

As far as firepower is concerned, it doesn't get any better than the likes of Alex Cabagnot, Joseph Yeo, Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter, Dondon Hontiveros and Jay Washington. On defense, you have elite-level guys like FEU buddies Denok Miranda and Arwind Santos, and the usually steady Noy Baclao (if he could ever find minutes for himself consistently).

Still, they are under performing and losing to teams who don't even feature a quarter of the Boosters' star-power.