PBA theme song: Let’s get physical

It should be noted that after Sir Jaemark Tordecillo of FireQuinito’s beloved basketball personality (and I say that with all the sarcasm in the world based on the tone of their somewhat grade school-ish Twitter battle) Noli Eala was stripped of his Philippine Basketball Association commissionership, the league has entered or reverted back to its old “physical” style of play.

First up was Sonny Barrios, whose first mandate was to shy away from all the pussy handcheck fouls being called and let the PBA players show just how good they are. This led to a lot of complaints from all sides, and the league did tighten up a bit—but still allowing extra force here and there (refer to Denok Miranda’s in your face, lips to lips, betlog sa betlog defense on Willie Miller and later on James Yap during Santa Lucia’s title run).

By the time Barrios tendered his resignation, the league was able to win back a bunch of fans who were turned off by the excessive showmanship and lack of gung-ho, machismo that Filipino basketball has been bred to be by the Loyzagas, Fernandezes, Ongs, Jaworskis and so on. Case in point, the only “old school” enforcers left in the league, are, well, point guard Wyne Arboleda of Air21 (who was rightfully suspended for blowing a gasket during an exhibition game).

In my opinion, by letting the defense play with more physicality, fans were turned on or stimulated to watch. It’s like that old adage of good versus evil. If James Yap (the most overrated player since Danny Seigle) could somehow slice into the lane versus the demonic pine trees of whatever team was out there. If the bad guy, Mac Cardona, would prevail over the Ginebra good guys (in which Ronald Tubid is largely miscasted, LOL.). It gave fans something to cheer about, plus, it distanced the players from the amateur leagues.

This is the PBA. A game for men. Flashy guards or athletic wings who can get away with slicing into the paint and bailed out by referees and sent to the line are eye candy yes, but not something we Filipinos appreciate.

Sa Pilipino, mas mahirap, mas masarap!

It’s been a week since the league opened, and I must say that at the rate things are going, we’re bound to see a fight breakout at some point. Ali Peek, a former Sportsmanship Awardee, almost blew his top the last timeout. In tonight’s game, Jimmy Alapag got tangled with Arwind Santos and we were treated to a mild staredown before cooler heads prevailed. We’re still waiting when Yeng Guiao is going to challenge a player to a fistfight, and whoever among Arboleda, Tubid, Yeo, Cardona and other hot blooded stars start a melee this conference.

How insane are the non-calls brought about by this new, subjective, “No harm, no foul” rule?

Well, I saw about fifty non-calls in the first half alone of the Talk N Text-San Miguel game. ALL IN THE FIRST HALF.

Guards were driving and getting smacked by the bigs, and the bigs were throwing elbows around almost like I was seeing the disciples of Ramon Fernandez and Robert Jaworski.

Don’t get me wrong here, I appreciate some mild violence as stated above, but there has to be some control. Or at the very least, the rules should be carefully reviewed.

Cardona: Long time coming

When James Yap came into the league, he was groomed as an instant superstar ready to take on the national basketball scene with his F4-worthy good looks, combination of size, shooting and speed. To his credit, Yap was hailed as the best player from the South and so on. It also helped that he was linked and then married (and now separated from) to media-attention whore(for a lack of a better term) Kris Aquino.

What people fail to realize is that his two Most Valuable Player awards are quite dubious (teammate Kerby Raymundo should’ve won the first one, and do-it-all forwards Jay Washington or Kelly Williams the second last year). His shooting percentage is at an abysmal 39.5% and his three point shooting, which people say he is so good at, a mortal-like 31.9%.

It should also be noted that for such a “great” player, he spent most of his UAAP days “cramping up” in the fourth quarter of tight games that his team, the University of the East Red Warriors, needed to win (Ronald Tubid was the best player on that team, Artadi comes in at second in my book).

Now, while all that is happening, people forgot about Yap’s contemporary who was basically the most dominant two-guard in college. Not only could he score at will, but he also played defense like a dog (a very annoying, pesky one at that). Perhaps the credit he deserved was lost because he played for such a prestigious school with a great basketball program. Or because quit simply, his is a face, swagger and attitude that is just hard to love/ accept if you’re not a fan of the game or an alumni.

Yes, I’m talking about Mac Cardona.

When he was taken into the league by Air21 and later on traded to Talk N Text, Cardona had to share the spotlight with Willie Miller. Once Miller was out of the way, Cardona still had to defer to established veterans Jimmy Alapag and Asi Taulava, when Taulava was traded, TNT brought in a slew of scorers which forced MC to defer yet again.

But now that he is with the Meralco Bolts, we are finally able to see who and what Mac Cardona is all about. Forget all the fruity words his new coach Ryan Gregorio says, the career averages don’t lie: in 28.9 minutes per game, Cardona is good for 46.6% from the field and 34.3% from deep.

That’s a huge improvement over Yap who plays more minutes, shoots more and misses more from everywhere on the court (so much for the “Man with a million moves” tag huh?). What Meralco has with Cardona is a proven fighter and winner, someone who isn’t afraid to keep on pulling the trigger, and is a tribute to the scorers of old who are not worried about this new international trend of “pass-the-ball” basketball.

Hell no.

If you’re a good scorer and has a patented shot that can’t be stopped, then by all means, be that guy. Be the new Nelson Asaytono.

But you know what’s good about Cardona (who I always thought was Terry Saldana’s lovechild when he was still bald, with the headband and high socks for DLSU. Lol), is that he has proven time and again that he plays both ends of the court. He is not a great one on one defender, but he is as pesky as they come. To his credit, he also doesn’t gamble on defense and stays locked on his man or at whatever zone he is assigned to.

Now if only other teams could let loose the reigns on Joseph Yeo and Gary David—the other two last “pure” scorers in the PBA.

Opening salvo

Greetings!

Welcome to the new (and slightly) improved home of Off The Bench - Pinoy Basketball ATBP. While it saddens me (not really, but the phrase adds drama so kindly let it be) to leave my old Blog provider, I feel like there are a lot more that I can do (and avoid - like online vendors that have infested Multiply) here on this site. Provided that no insane hacker stumbles upon this humble hobby-basketball-blog of mine, then here's to ranting, lauding, laughing, sharing and writing in general!

Cheers!

AV