KKS Trade Reaction: STAR Reloaded

Garcia the STAR
(Photo credit: Interaksyon.com)

Once there was a wide-eyed young man named Jason who was given a champion car by his parents, who were both established champion racers. At the prodding of his parents, Jason quickly signed up for a race with the same car only to find himself falling short-- again and again.

That was when Jason realized that it might not be as easy as inheriting a simple champion car. That maybe, the driver needs to be up to that level as well.

Which brings us to the STAR Hotshots.

If you are a STAR fan who had to endure two conferences worth of abysmal coaching and subpar play, then please allow us to congratulate you. Your team was supposed to suck for a few more years owing to the title romp you enjoyed under the Tim Cone (and Joe DeVance) era. That was supposed to be the tradeoff for all those championshipsssss. But well, head Coach Jason Webb just found himself a few more "championship" pieces, young ones at that, to hopefully get back in the title race.

Pido Redux

Depensa muna bro
(Photo credits to the owner)

"Pride, puso, palaban."

These three words served as Global Port Batang Pier head coach Pido Jarencio's battle cry when he first made a name for himself, outside of playing amateur and pro-ball, along the sidelines with the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers from 2006 to 2013 (with three UAAP Finals appearances and a championship to display). The same battlecry was what Jarencio said he will bring into the PBA when he was hired by the Batang Pier in 2014, only to finish the season with an abysmal 2-16 win-loss record.

They "fired" him, brought him back as team consultant, and is now promptly back calling the shots in the PBA Governor's Cup wherein the Batang Pier are surprisingly ahead of the pack with a 3-0 win-loss slate which is arguably the best start in Pido's young PBA coaching career. For stat lovers, the Batang Pier are averaging 94 ppg on 42% 2-pt, 40% 3-pt, 52 rpg and 18 apg (with 15 topg) versus their opponents' 79 ppg, 37% 2-pt, 13% 3-pt, 47 rpg, 14 apg and 16 topg.

So what changed between Pido's first time out and this one?

PBA 2012 Draft: The Do-Over

What if teams were able to make a do-over?
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

And so we have come to the (near) end of another great professional basketball season for Philippine hoops: the country (behind some of its best, pro-players) was able to re-establish itself as a contender in the region, all the concerned basketball parties are in (or at the very least, seem to be) in unison and new names have come out of the collegiate and amateur ranks that will carry the winning tradition and proud Filipino fighting heart for the next decade or so.

Here we rank the 2012 PBA Draftees (1st round plus some promising names) based on how well they have performed this season (and going forward) vis-a-vis the team that should've/ could've picked them if they were able to go back in time. 

1 Petron - Calvin Abueva 

51 g 26.41 m 12.25 p 9.37 r 1.82 a 

The numbers, the minutes, the intensity-- it speaks for itself. At a modest 6"1 1/2 we dare you to name us anyone of the same height the last five years who can put up the same numbers AND change the tempo/ mood/ feel of the game simply by checking in OFF THE BENCH. As loaded as Petron is, you just cannot argue with talent and heart. You don't pass up on a guy like this, you make room for him and trade away the others to fill in whatever hole you have. Yeah. The Beast is here to stay, ROY-MVP or not.

2012 PBA Draft pick order: 2nd, Alaska

Ginebra needs some tweaking

Tenorio-Caguioa partnership is going
through some rough patches

See, this writer has never been a fan of the so-called "Never Say Die" mantra of the post-Jaworski Ginebra. The moment the former senator left the fold, his long-time assistant turned heir to the coaching throne Rino Salazar was duly replaced by Allan Caidic and all the mid 90s guys "Jawo" brought in went looking for greener pastures, Ginebra lost a lot of its charm because it became a powerhouse.

It took only about a year or two for San Miguel Corporation to really turn things around, from a rag-tag group to a team brimming with All Stars led by Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk. Jayjay Helterbrand came back and soon established himself as one of the league's best, so did the inclusion of names like Rodney Santos, Johnny Abarrientos, Rudy Hatfield, Ronald Tubid, Enrico Villanueva and so on at one time or another.

No need to panic

Props to Romeo Catap for the artwork

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, it's legion of fans at that, need to chill with all the panicking, heckling, critiquing and whatever drama rises out of the woodwork. The team is just fine folks, nothing to see here. Nothing worth blowing Twitter up about or calling for head coach Siot Tangquincen's head to be served on a silver platter... at least not yet.

With the acquisition of elite point guard L.A. Tenorio and high-flying rookies Chris Ellis and Keith Jensen (who's proving to be more of a knockdown shooter than dunker), expectations were insanely high. After all, there's reigning PBA MVP Mark Caguioa looking healthier by the day, old reliables like Jayjay Helterbrand, Billy Mamaril, Willy Wilson, Kerby Raymundo, Rico Maierhofer and Rudy Hatfield. Plus the rising Espana Express duo of Allein Maliksi and Dylan Ababou among other names (teka, si Elmer Espiritu na lang ata di ko nabanggit) to fill up the roster.

PBA Draft Class 2012: Young and restless

The Kraken more role player than star?

Now that Calvin Abueva, picked number 2 overall by the Alaska Aces and arguably the most feared/ revered player of the lot, made his PBA debut with last night's 88-86 triumph over the Petron Blaze Boosters, we can proceed with an initial report on how the rookies have fared so far.

1. June Mar Fajardo (Petron)
He's been solid, but obviously still raw. Not to say that he doesn't know what to do with the basketball unlike big guys before him such as E.J. Feihl, James Walkvist and Samigue Eman, but right now it would be safe to say that Fajardo is more on the track to be the next Sonny Thoss than Danny Ildefonso (not that it's a bad thing). Petron's been wasting some of its sets in trying to get the big man ready down low, but they're better off running and Fajardo doing the dirty work.

Pinoy Cup Finals Preview? Ginebra wins dogfight over Rain or Shine

That. Was. Intense.

Ginebra won 98-94 over RoS.
E pano kung naglaro tong 2 to?

So intense that we had to give it a day to sink in and just look at the ramifications of it all. Here are the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, fresh off a title romp and an utter and complete domination of season favorites Petron Blaze Boosters, looking to add another souped up team to its "hit list" (and we use that term very loosely).

Then there's the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel squad, brimming with athleticism, superstar/ household names and a fanbase-count that would make PNoy's 2010 voters blush with envy. The game was rugged, physical but highly entertaining. It was eerily reminiscent to the early days of reigning PBA MVP Mark Caguioa's Barangay Ginebra and current RoS' head coach Yeng Guiao's old spit-firish Batang Red Bull Thunder team.

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.)