New breed

Green reunion at Gilas
(Photo credit: Spin.ph)

When Coach Chot Reyes said that we should be ready for a few surprises once he announces the 24-man Gilas pool, he didn't mention that we were in for a full-on youth movement altogether.

Still, he made a great point in saying that we are looking at the big picture which is 2019-2020 FIBA competition, while also utilizing some of the younger players who were part of his original Gilas silver medal program (and then some).

We are already quite familiar with the Gilas cadets and the following names such as Calvin Abueva (Alaska), Japeth Aguilar (Ginebra), Terrence Romeo (GlobalPort), Junemar Fajardo (San Miguel), Paul Lee (Star) and Jayson Castro (TNT), so here is our take on the "new guys" who were added into the mix to form a more youthful pool.

PBA GC QF 4 Meralco vs 5 Mahindra

Don’t be surprised if this match-up will largely go under-the-radar, basketball hype-wise, considering the styles of both teams involved.

The Meralco Bolts, though they have athletic wonders Chris Newsome (32mpg/13ppg/4rpg/4apg) and Cliff Hodge (32/12/7/2), mostly rely on their blue collar approach on the defensive end while the Mahindra Enforcers, still cannot (and most likely will not) shake the shadow cast by their “head coach” Manny Pacquiao.

Still, this should be a fun and exciting match-up if you consider how Enforcers’ point guard L.A. Revilla (30/9/4/5) will be pitted against veteran Jimmy Alapag (27/9/3/6). In wrestling parlance, if TNT Katropa’s Jayson Castro is the current gold standard, Triple H, then Alapag would be Ric Flair. Batista (the next-in-line) would be a toss-up between Ginebra’s L.A. Tenorio and San Miguel’s Alex Cabagnot while Revilla would be the wide-eyed, snot-nosed kid Randy Orton.

*High-fives to all of our sports-entertainment brethren*

The joke is on us

Showtime L.A.
(Photo credit to the owner)

Earlier this year we wrote about how Manny Pacquiao, playing-head coach of the Mahindra Enforcers, (then Kia Sorento/ Carnival) was a big joke. Granted, we still think that he is a joke when it comes to basketball but his team-- coached by Chito Victolero, definitely is far from being one.

Though they are currently at the bottom of the PBA Philippine Cup standings with a 1 win 3 losses record, the Enforcers have looked like a serious basketball team this season as they did near the end of their maiden campaign. They received a lot of heat from trading away the 2nd pick of the 2015 PBA Draft to Talk'n'Text which they turned into Troy Rosario, but you could hardly tell the effects of the trade since they were able to get instant value right away with the strong performances of Aldrech Ramos (21mpg 13ppg 6rpg) and Nino Canaleta (22mpg 11ppg 4rpg 2apg).

Add to that holder L.A. Revilla (32mpg 17ppg 4rpg 6apg) who continues to flourish as one of the PBA's up-and-coming floor generals and the steady plays of Karl Dehesa (24mpg 11ppg 4rpg 2apg), Mark Yee (11ppg 8rpg) and Hyram Bagatsing-- who no one really thought would have a pro career, let alone shine, coming out of the DLSU ranks.

Here comes the Carnival

Mark Yee has given
Kia some inside swag
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

When playing coach Manny Pacquiao openly declared that his Kia Motors Carnival (then Sorento) is in the PBA to compete and serve as a reflection of his boxing fire, many brushed it off as false bravado. Admittedly, we were just waiting for any trade patterns so we can proclaim this expansion team as yet another "farm" team for the PBA powerhouses.

Well, guess we were wrong on that one.

They managed to win a game versus Blackwater in the PBA Philippine Cup before, predictably and expectedly, sucking the rest of the way. This conference, they brought in a giant of an import in Puerto Rican behemoth P.J. Ramos (who is better than advertised, props to his agent Ms. Sheryl Reyes) while adding some firepower by way of former ASEAN Basketball League MVP Leo Avenido and point guard Rudy Lingganay-- so yeah, they're not in this league to simply make Pacquiao an even bigger household name than he already is. They're actually in the PBA to win games and compete (which a few years ago shouldn't be an issue, but thanks to the likes of Barako Bull, GlobalPort and the original Air21, is already a feat in itself nowadays).

So how are the Carnival doing?

PBA Dispersal Draft: Kia Motors

Manny Knows.
Photo courtesy of Rappler.com

When it was announced over the grapevine that world boxing icon Manny Pacquiao was going to try his luck in the PBA as a possible playing coach, we dismissed it as a publicity stunt more than anything. We were not worried because we fully expect Pacquiao to serve as token team mascot/ crowd drawer while Kia Motors gets its feet wet in the pros.

We were not worried because while no one will ever confuse Pacquiao for Talk 'n' Text star Jayson Castro or newly-minted Grand Slam San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone, we knew that Pacquiao and Kia would probably get the best available names to form a competitive line-up come the PBA's 40th season.

Well, we're not so sure about that any more.