After seeing perhaps one of the more memorable seasons of the PBA, for me, I’m excited for the upcoming season’s surprises. I’ve never paid attention to the PBA as much as I’ve paid attention to college hoops, NBA, and US college hoops this past decade, but last season was really exciting to watch. There was Talk n’ Text trying to do a feat teams have failed to do so, which is earning a grand slam, last achieved by Alaska in 1996.
For one, with the recent shake-ups and the return of a tenth team, talent is once more ably distributed thanks to one more large pocket named Bert Lina. Long have I languished that the talent is horribly unbalanced to two teams, namely Talk N Text and Petron, formerly known as San Miguel. Well, you can’t blame them since they are the only teams capable of supporting such a large payroll that comes with a bevy of stars. Come to think of it, even the Texters’ second unit boasts of starter-caliber players if they were on other teams.
Another thing I’m excited for is how the new crop of rookies would do, especially the Gilas mainstays. The Gilas players would definiteley have an advantage over the likes of Paul Lee, Allein Maliksi, among others. Why? They got to play as a guest team in the PBA already and have an idea of the different kinds of veteran moves the current stars employ. Another is that, by going against hardy international players, they’ve been trained in the more physical aspect of basketball where no quarters are given and where a foul is not whistled until a player falls down. Not to mention, Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter are good shooters and lockdown wing defenders while Ababou has MVP pedigree.
But to take nothing away from Paul Lee, he’ll be a perfect fit for coach Yeng Guiao with his superb defense, even better offense and his knack for creating plays, something that RJ Jazul lacked. Now, Rain or Shine will have a legit creator who can score, reminiscent of Sol Mercado. And one more thing, playing with Elmer Espiritu all those years, look for Lee to find Gabe Norwood on lob passes for the jam. He’ll probably be the best all-around rookie with this batch that includes Gilas players. For a guard, his ability to board among big men is an asset.
So far, the PBA commissioner Chito Salud is running things smoothly, not counting that Dubai fiasco, and bringing back the three-conference format is a good call. However, I hope he’d be more open to the prospect of expansion. The talent level per team is definitely saturated, and this would probably invite more skilled players acroos the country if we had new teams. Then again, you’d need rich owners and as I see it, only Lucio Tan and Manny Villar and the Ayalas don’t run a team in the PBA. In hoping that they’d do, man would that make the league a nicer and happier place.
Another factor is that Manny V. Pangilinan, owner of the Talk n’ Text franchise and numerous companies across the countries and an avid sports fanatic, has put up his station to broadcast the PBA games on a dedicated channel. Sweet! No offense to Studio 23, but their schedules are iffy at best. Even the UAAP had to change their time bloc so that they can accomodate the PBA games when the elimination rounds were progressing. This is indeed a welcome development. And knowing MVP, this might end up bigger than the Ultimate All-Star Weekend he recently staged.
Then you have the coaching carousel that happened. Franz Pumaren has returned to the coaching world with his entry to Shoppinas.com Clickers. However, the shocker is Tim Cone, who has stepped down as head coach of the Alaska Aces after 22 years. One may wonder where he’ll end up. Reports say he’s going to B-Meg, but then, B-Meg is reportedly pursuing Jong Uichico. If Tim Cone ends up in B-Meg, it’s kiss and make up with Joe Devance who should get back in groove playing the triangle offense once more. It’s also interesting to note how James Yap would respond to an offense that would not be centered on him, as compared to recent years. At least this time, he’ll have lots of help with a healthy Kerby Raymundo, Joe Devance, Peter June Simon, Rico Maierhoffer, Roger Yap and rookie Marc Barroca. However this turns out, I bet it will be worth following.
With that said, here’s to another slam-bang affair when the PBA opens shop for its 37th season.