Meralco solves Ginebra's Gulpi de Gulat style

No Asi, No problem for Bolts
with Hodge a.k.a. Kelly Williams 2.0

Gulat kayo no?

To the weak of heart, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's newfound run-and-gun, "let all hell break loose" open court style would mean an immediate end to whatever fight one could muster. After all, what's there to do when L.A. Tenorio brings the ball downcourt in a little under 5 seconds, finds Allein Maliksi cocking for a jumper, Chris Ellis looking for an alley oop, Rico Maierhofer doing all sorts of crazy and energetic things and Billy Mamaril waiting for drop passes.

And if that wasn't enough, reigning PBA MVP Mark Caguioa is just waiting in the wings like the king lion of a pack followed by buddy Jayjay Helterbrand, Kerby Raymundo, Rudy Hatfield and solid role players Mike Cortez and Willie Wilson.

Tip of the iceberg for Ginebra

Showtime L.A.

The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings are going to run the competition to the ground.

If tonight's 110-90 massacre of the GlobalPort Batang Pier is to serve as a preview of things to come, then the good Lord almighty have mercy on the souls of whichever team dares face the souped up Kings with reigning Most Valuable Player Mark Caguioa and National team ace point guard L.A. Tenorio leading the charge.

It's bad enough that Caguioa seems like he's in for another solid run after dealing with nagging injuries the previous years, but now teams have to contend with Tenorio-- arguably the most cerebral and efficient court general (not a fan of GIN-eral but okay, whatever), running the show and making life easier for his guys. With the Kings, outside of Caguioa and sophomore guard Allein Maliksi, there are no legit scorers/ creators one-on-one. What the team has in droves however, are a bunch of guys who are highly athletic and skilled enough to finish at the rim. (Kerby Raymundo used to be a solid one-on-one guy, but we're still waiting for him to come back at full strength.)

Unimaginative offense dooms GlobalPort in debut

Kamay ko inalat!

Jason Webb touched on it during the half time break by saying that the GlobalPort Batang Pier, who were in the middle of an ass-whooping from the hands of the souped-up Barangay Ginebra San Miguel squad, have yet to find their identity on the basketball court.

Are they a run-and-gun, fastbreaking, uptempo scoring team or a grind-it-out defensive team?

Well he got 50% of it right. With guys like Gary David, Rabeh Al Hussaini and new recruit Willie Miller, the Batang Pier squad SHOULD be a high-octane team that can hold their own against a team like Ginebra. David's coming off a stellar,nay, supernova-like season. Al Hussaini's finally gotten his chance to shine as the lead power forward, and Miller looks to be in the best shape he's ever been in the last three years.

Ginebra picks Chris... Ellis (over Tiu)

Solid pick-up... for the future

Potential versus prime, promise versus reality, necessity versus want.

When Barangay Ginebra San Miguel head coach Siot Tangquincen was asked weeks back who he'd like to pick 6th in the PBA Draft 2012, the fiery Thomasian uttered the name "Chris Tiu" all without batting an eyelash. There was no hesitation in his answer, and it pretty much played into the Ginebra faithful's liking.

Here was a guy who spent the last couple of years wearing PILIPINAS on his chest as a starter, knocking down shots and holding the fort as a back-up point guard. THAT, plus his other praise-worthy endeavors such as TV host, model, brand(SSssss) ambassador and being an all-around good guy.

Validation for The Spark

Did you know that there are only three active players left from the top-thin 2001 PBA Draft?

The People's MVP

The top pick soon became Rookie of the Year and 2x PBA Most Valuable Player. Another guy, still in his prime, established himself as a Super Sub but is currently making waves as a solid starter. The third, and the most popular of all, has won several accolades and has gotten close to winning the MVP on two-three separate occasions only to fall short by some vote-selection technicalities.

That third guy, picked third overall, is none other than the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings' Mark Caguioa. Then un unheralded, 6"1 faux blonde guard out of Glendale Community Collage-- so unheralded that the trivia-happy Quinito Henson was reduced to blurting out "he's a cousin of Chino Trinidad." That's it. No "his girlfriend is..." or "his hairstyle was inspired by..."trivias out of Henson, which surprises this writer even to this day.

The Silent War Dream Match

Who's the #1 PG in the PBA?

Just for fun and since most of the teams are on hiatus save for the PBA GovCup finalists Rain or Shine and BMeg, this writer has always wanted to tackle a big "what if" scenario starring the country's two basketball powerhouses-- Team MVP and Team San Miguel.

While both have ransacked the league of major names in hopes of trumping the other-- to the point that they'd even hold out "sponsored" amateur players/ investments from entering the league if there was a possibility that he'd land on a non-Team MVP/SMC squad, both parties have been nothing short of exemplary in their conduct so far. Yes, there's "The Silent War," but that's pretty much it so far. Silent. Just a healthy game of business one-upsmanship and letting one team have its day in the limelight (MVP) while the other rebuilds (SMC).

Since we've been treated to two awesome basketball spectacles in a span of two years (SMART NBA All Stars vs PBA All Stars/ SMART Gilas and the PLDT All Stars vs the PBA 90s Hall of Famers), how about a match pitting Team SMC's best versus their Team MVP counterparts? For parity's sake, this should be held at the Ynares Center. Or even the Cuneta Astrodome. Hah.

After Jawo and Before Caguioa, there was Bal

Jawo entrusted Ginebra
to The Flash

Props to the San Miguel Corporation, the Philippine Basketball Association and everyone who was involved in this evening's successful and nostalgic tribute/ retirement ceremonies for the fabled "Living Legend" Robert Jaworski, Sr. But if there was one thing that stood out among the Jawo-related hoopla, it was the crowd's reception to another guy who doesn't even enjoy a quarter of his old mentor's accolades.

That guy is the 5"9, University of Santo Tomas alumnus, Bal "The Flash" David known best for steering Jaworski's Ginebra/ Gordon's Gin squad in the late 90s that peaked in 1997 by winning the Governor's Cup title. It was an insult when someone (now traded) wore the Number 1 jersey a few years back. And even Mike Cortez (who sported the number before going back to his standard 11) wasn't getting that much love from old school fans for it. To many, Ginebra, and the jersey number 1 belongs to just one guy much like Number 7 is Jaworski's and his alone.

Recognizing A Different Era for Ginebra

No Underdog in Caguioa

Now that we're just a few days away from celebrating and paying tribute to the man who is/was widely recognized as the face of Philippine basketball, it's high time to set the record straight when it comes to the team that he left behind and the immense popularity that they enjoy to this very day.

We're talking about no less than the legendary Robert Jaworski, Sr., whose jersey will officially be retired not by his mother team but by the Philippine Basketball Association as a whole. We're also talking about the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, the only team he has ever played for/ coached outside the Toyota days.

Is chemistry really the issue for Ginebra?

Chemistry issues? Nah.
Talent redundancy is.

Three games into the PBA Commissioner's Cup and the crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings find themselves sitting pretty with a 2-1 slate. Thanks to a powerhouse line-up that is once again being bannered by prized wards Mark Caguioa (18 ppg) and Jayjay Helterbrand (5.5 apg, 1 spg) plus 7"1 import Chris Alexander (24 rpg), it seems that there's just no stopping the Gin Kings.

Still, chemistry-issues have been raised by no other than Gin Kings' coach Siot Tangquincen.

Based on what we've seen so far and already know, chemistry issues has never been a concern for this team. Had it been hastily assembled or made of newbies ala Air21, then yeah, but it still features the same old backcourt and anchor in the paint (Eric Menk) and even its newest additions-- Kerby Raymundo and the returning Rudy Hatfield are at one point or the other, all played competitive ball together either in PBA All Star games or, better yet, the country's national team.

Kerby to Ginebra?

A 10-time PBA All Star, Kerby went from being
"The Kid" at Red Bull to "The Man" at Purefoods/ BMeg

At 31 years old and coming off a season of knee injuries, Kerby Raymundo of the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados is reportedly on his way to joining sister team and the "other" crowd darlings, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings for perhaps JC Intal and Rico Villanueva.

Rumors have it that the 10-time PBA All Star requested for a trade following an unsteady relationship with one of his teammates. Observers have pinned the blame on the Llamados' 2x Most Valuable Player James Yap, but we'll leave that as is because it's normal for star players to clash from time to time (specially when the other guy won his 1st Most Valuable Player plum *of two* over you because of showbiz-media votes).

Onto the impending trade then.

How big would Kerby be in the Gin Kings' scheme of things? Will we ever get to see the old "Kid" back with his best performance being in 2005-2006 and when he won several Purple Hearts from Pinoy fans during his National Team campaign? Or will he sit in favor of the shorter yet grittier Willie Wilson, or even the returning Rudy Hatfield? Can Kerby even steal minutes away from Eric "Major Pain" Menk (IF he comes back healthy next conference of course)?

Honestly, we're at a loss with the whole shake-up. Weren't the Gin Kings bent on developing their young guns? Was the move to reacquire Hatfield a sign that they're going to give it one last push behind their veteran core of Hatfield, Menk and guards Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa?

In limited minutes, and since they'll be playing with returning 7"0 import Chris Alexander at center, a power forward rotation of Menk-Hatfield-Kerby would just be downright nasty. Menk brings in the muscle. Hatfield comes in and brings the energy. Then Kerby comes in and does his finesse thing and drop buckets on fools.

Of course, everything will still fall on coach Siot Tangquincen's shoulders. If he'd even bother to use Kerby at the pivot (Siot and even coach Jong Uichico prefer a more perimeter-based attack).

Hopefully, Kerby finds a new home with the Gin Kings and plays like "The Kid" of years back. Dude's paid his dues in the league and is one of the better power forwards around.