Fire Baculi/ Free Ababou and how TNT stopped Paul Lee

Give me my minutes!

After opting to sit SMART Gilas benchwarmer Dylan Ababou in Barako Bulls' first game of the 37th season, head coach Junel Baculi finally decided to let the former UAAP Most Valuable Player see the light of day against the heavily favored yet slowly retooling Barangay Ginebra Kings in a game that they surprisingly won.

Was this the "Return of Super Ababou" that most UST fans have been waiting years for? Did his debut benching light a fire under his ass to prove himself to local basketball fans and show that he's not on the same boat of fellow SMART Gilas alumni and Meralco pick Jason Ballesteros?

Who knows, but his 20 points, 8 of 13 showing, against Ginebra's JC Intal, Nino Canaleta, Ronald Tubid and Willy Wilson shows that he has enough wherewithal to play in the PBA. It shouldn't be a surprise really, because back when he had his UAAP MVP year, everyone was pretty much convinced that Ababou was ripe for the picking (daresay that his choice to play for SMART Gilas hurt his stock more than it helped). He had the speed, IQ and size to play small forward in the PBA as early as 2006. From then until 2011, just like you, I have no idea what the hell happened to his swagger.

Is this something that we should continue to expect from Ababou? Yes. I believe in Ababou being PBA ready, and while I'm convinced that he's an overall softie who only plays hard when peeved and not on a consistent basis, he's still a match-up nightmare for most SGs and SFs in the league.

If Baculi had half a brain, he'd do away with everyone's infatuation with the veterans Willie Miller, Danny Seigle, Mick Pennisi and Dorian Pena (who are all either over the hill two games in or are just waiting for a trade to happen) and let the young ones play. A starting five of Paul Artadi, Allein Maliksi, Dylan Ababou, Leo Najorda and Jondan Salvador doesn't look half as bad as Shopinas' or even Powerade's (which stockpiled on PGs, forgot to secure polished post players and let go of Rob Reyes without a fight).

How will that team win? By running and hustling for the basketball. Something their more popular teammates not named Dorian Pena (last season anyway) forgot five years ago.

Ginebra fans shouldn't put much into this game since it's still early and they're missing a post presence (Eric Menk AND Rico Villanueva). If anything, it looks as though Mark Caguioa's healthy and ready to go yet again-- leading the Kings with 22 points and backstopped by Rob Labagala. Seriously though, this team needs someone to play in the post and stop relying on their guard agency.

Tabi ka muna idol, ako naman

In the first game, Talk 'n' Text managed to upend the upstart Rain or Shine squad behind superb performances by Ryan Reyes, Harvey Carey and Jayson Castro (whose knees are looking much stronger nowadays and is almost back to his near-MVP form last season).

How did they do it? Well, it's not like we didn't expect them to win over RoS who were simply riding the coattails of rookie Paul Lee. Yes, the Elastopainters had that all around, brilliant second game, but Lee was carrying much of the bulk and calling the shots for them. Once TNT snuffed out the other guys and allowed defensive ace Ryan Reyes to take care of Lee, the game was all but over.

To his credit, Lee still managed to put up 17 points but fizzled out in the second half thanks to TNT's defensive rotations. Beau Belga put up a fight as well but all the post moves in the world can't help a guy who's a bit on the chunky side beat an athletic workhorse like Harvey Carey.

Will this loss start a trend for RoS? I doubt it, since they're clearly the league's darkhorse with all the solid rotation players on the bench, Lee and the unpredictable Yeng Guiao at the helm.

What's striking here is that, Japeth "The Kraken" Aguilar only scored a measly 7 points despite being the tallest and most athletic guy on BOTH benches (he also has a couple of pounds over his closest competitor, Gabe Norwood who once again put up a pedestrian 12 points). He probably didn't want to get owned by Belga again, that's why he didn't force it as much. Sigh.