When you wish upon a STAR

Keep on
(Photo credit: Inquirer.net)

Other than Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Japeth Aguilar, we have grown fond of mocking and ridiculing STAR Hotshots head coach Jason Webb at every chance we get on social media. To be clear, we are making fun of them NOT as human beings, but rather as ill-equipped basketball personalities.

Aguilar being the “has all the athletic gifts of an NBA talent but the IQ of a JV player” and Webb, well, let us talk about how Coach Jason’s first season as a legitimate PBA head coach went shall we?
To recap, STAR finished the season with a 10 wins and 19 losses record: 4-7 in the Philippine Cup, 5-6 in the Commissioner’s, and finally 1-6 in the Governor’s. It could very well be concluded that the mid-season acquisition of RR Garcia, Rodney Brondial and Jake Pascual distorted whatever mediocre-level chemistry was present in the team. Sure, Garcia suddenly emerged to play big minutes, but it is not like they gave up any of their core rotation guys to acquire his services (they traded away rookies Mark Cruz and Norbert Torres if we remember correctly).

Should everything be blamed on Coach Jason?

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.

PBA CC Playoffs: 1 San Miguel vs 8 Star

Ngiting Gary D.
(Photo by: PBA Inquirer)

It is funny how life, truly is, shaped like a wheel-- or a basketball even.

One day you find yourself atop, enjoying the warm sunshine and the loving caress of a well-trained and highly-skilled athlete, the next you are making ugly, brutal, anal sex with a sweaty, smelly, slimy, hard court with spit, shit and dirt on it.

That is how we can best describe the lives of both the conference-leading, Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel Beermen and the "happy to just win games and save face" Star Hotshots. Just a few years ago, Star was atop the mountain while the Beermen were caught in an ugly basketball-novela.

Now?

A ringing endorsement

The struggle is real for Star
(Photo credit: PBA.Inquirer.net)

When Jason Webb took over the Star Hotshots’ bench in the preseason, we had a feeling that things might get rough at first. Still, we believed that everything will be just fine since he is taking over an already-made group of champions (grand slam ones, at that) and did not really need to make a world of adjustments.

A conference and two games into the second of the PBA season we are just as worried as the next Star fan.

Out of focus

Looking for the D
(Photo credit to the owner)

This is not how a "liberated" Grand Slam team should be performing.

Flirting with disastrous start to the season, rookie coach Jason Webb and his STAR Hotshots are currently sitting ugly with a 2 wins versus 6 losses slate in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup. It honestly seems that while people were so busy looking at how Webb was supposed to run some Golden State-like, high-octane offense, the team forgot its championship defense somewhere in the middle of exorcising the Triangle Offense from their system.

For the numbers-hungry, STAR is averaging 91 ppg 46 rpg 16 apg while giving up 95 ppg 47 rpg and 19 apg to opponents. They are also committing 19 turnovers a match, which by itself tells you that this team has a lot of problems on so many fronts.

#PlayMeOrTradeMe

Nice shirt.
(Photo credit to the owner)

Indefinite suspension.

That is the punishment handed down by STAR Hotshots' management on their young small forward Allein Maliksi, after the former UST Tiger posted (now deleted) one of Nike's statement shirts on his personal Instagram account.

Let this be a lesson to all millenials: social media is not a platform for you to be ranting about the work place. Specially if your account is public AND more so if you are a celebrity of sorts like Maliksi.

Back to the one we love

The PBA is BACK!
WOW! Fantastic baby.
(Photo credit to the owner)

Though we were definitely upset over all the drama that still, fortunately, led to a silver medal finish for our Gilas 3, there is no point in denying that we will always be fans of the Philippine Basketball Association by default.

One; because we do not really see another Metropolitan Basketball Association rising out of the woodwork (until of course either Team San Miguel or Team Manny V Pangilinan pulls all of their teams out of the Asia's first basketball league), and two; because Filipinos in general are a fickle, forgiving lot (we are generalizing here, because this basically explains how and why troublemakers and borderline idiots get seats in the government).

So yes, we forgive you PBA for the Gilas 3 drama. But only because we are left with no other alternative (at the moment, once the NBA starts holding Global Games in Manila then all bets are off). Now that you've named a 17-man pool for the Olympic Qualifiers, we kinda, sorta, hate you guys less. We still hate some of the guys in charge, but not as much as before.

And we will forgive you for making up-and-coming emcee Abra look like a complete tool last Wednesday.

On to STAR vs Rain or Shine, NLEX vs Blackwater and Alaska vs Talk'n'Text then.

The PBA is BACK!

Free Rein

Make or break
(Photo credit to the owner)

It is a great time to be a fan of STAR Hotshots basketball.

Sure, you can look at it from the other end of the spectrum since they recently lost their grand slam coach Tim Cone and the walking mismatch that is Joe DeVance, but then you should consider that no triangle means more running and gunning. More points. More fun.

At the very least, that is what we feel Coach Jason Webb is going for.

To infinity and beyond

Sino Coach ko ulit?
(Photo credit: Sports5.ph)

Where do we go from here, STAR Hotshots?

The architect of your 1st PBA Grand Slam (plus two other titles during his tenure), Tim Cone, is now officially out of the door and with him-- his greatness, coaching philosophies, Triangle Offense and so on. In his place will be Jason Webb, as announced in a joint press conference that should've been exclusively for Cone-- but hey, it's San Miguel Corporation, who has little to no coaching experience both in the amateurs and professional ranks.

Great. Just great.

Here is a guy who, among all of Cone's deputies, has the least experience and doesn't really look like he's meant for the part. There's always that one guy who, in team meetings, school group projects, who is the leader. Then there's the other guy, the second guy, who just pushes the rest and makes it happen. You see it in basketball, during timeouts. The coach does his thing and gives instructions, the lead assistant whispers in the ears of the rest. Eggs them on. Tells them what to do. Clarifies things. There are guys in the huddle that would make you think "ah, this guy will be a head coach someday."

But Webb?