Cabahug in Air21's sights

With crack guard Ronnie Matias recuperating from knee surgery and expected to sit out the coming PBA second conference, Air21 team manager Allan Gregorio said the other day the Express is considering to sign up free agent Patrick Cabahug.

Matias tore his ACL in a game against San Miguel Beer in the Philippine Cup eliminations last Nov. 26 and has since been out of commission. He won’t be back for another four months. Depending on his rehab progress, Matias might be reactivated in time for the start of the playoffs in the third conference.

“We’re not rushing Ronnie,” said Gregorio, the Express interim coach. “He’s doing therapy now. His injury is serious, the kind that a recurrence could be the end of his career. That’s why we want to make sure Ronnie is 100 percent ready to play when the time comes.”

Gregorio said Cabahug is an option to fill in for Matias. He’s now playing for the Kuala Lumpur Dragons as an import in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) which is close to ending its second season. Cabahug is averaging 13.4 points for the Dragons. Last Jan. 5, he hit 25 points, including 6-of-11 triples, against Singapore.

Cabahug, who turns 27 this Sunday, applied for the PBA draft in 2008 but wasn’t picked. That was the year when Gabe Norwood, Jared Dillinger, Jason Castro, Rob Reyes, Sol Mercado, Mark Borboran, Beau Belga, Bon-Bon Custodio, Larry Rodriguez and Kelvin Gregorio were selected in the first round, in that order. Cabahug hopes to join Mark Yee, Lawrence Bonus and Nat Cruz as that year’s undrafted cagers who went on to play in the PBA just the same.

 The sweet-shooting Cabahug earned his spurs at the University of Visayas and Adamson University. In 2007, he played for the Philippine team that won the gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games. A former UAAP scoring champion, Cabahug was a Toyota Otis standout in the PBL and also starred for Misamis Oriental in the Tournament of the Philippines. His uncle Elmer or Boy Cabahug played nine PBA seasons from 1989 to 1997.

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Air21 has been a refuge for undrafted players like Josh Urbiztondo, Erick Rodriguez and Lou Gatumbato. If Cabahug signs up, expect him to go all out in trying to prove he belongs in the pros.

Gatumbato applied for the 2004 draft but didn’t make his first PBA appearance until last December. He played four games for the Express, taking over from Marcy Arellano who was out with a stress fracture in the leg. In one outing, Sweet Lou tallied 12 points.

“When I coached Pampanga in Liga, Lou played for Taguig and I saw he could play in the PBA,” said Gregorio. “He’s now 31 but he’s not over the hill. He plays with a lot of poise. Whether we’ll keep him in the active list or as a practice player depends on many things. We have to balance our lineup. With Lou, we have a match-up problem at point guard when we play a team like San Miguel Beer with a big guy like Denok Miranda.”

Gregorio said Arellano went through therapy for two months and should be ready to play. “His stress fracture isn’t like Yao Ming’s,” said Gregorio. “Marcy’s our J. V. Casio and Olsen Racela. As for Josh, we want him to be a better finisher on the break. Right now, he’s more of a spot up shooter. He’s working very hard to improve his game. He took his Christmas break in the US but came back early this month to train on his own.”

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Gregorio said he couldn’t be happier with Air21’s three rookies – Noy Baclao, Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Rey Guevarra. “Noy is a prospect for any team, a shot-blocker and tough defender,” he went on. “Rey is like J. C. Intal. We want him to be more self-confident, to shoot without hesitation like he used to with Smart Gilas. Rabeh is challenging himself to dominate inside. We want him to change shots, to control the boards and to improve his passing. We want Rabeh to play tougher defense, to be a factor in blocking shots and rebounding. When we’re in the fourth quarter and Rabeh still has no fouls, you wonder how hard he’s defending because he’s our last line of defense.”

Baclao, known as Mr. Swat, is the league leader in blocked shots with a 2.5 clip. Al-Hussaini is a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in his first pro conference.

Gregorio said he has high hopes for J. R. Quinahan. “He’s only 26, he’s 6-5 and he’s got a soft touch,” he continued. “J. R. can be like Ali Peek. He can dominate inside. He’s got long arms.”

As for Wynne Arboleda, Gregorio said the “Snatcher” is Air21’s leader on the court. “He’s Captain Wynne,” added Gregorio. “He has experience. He matches up well against anybody and makes you feel pressure on defense. He’s hard-nosed. He plays hard and doesn’t mind physical contact.”

Then, there’s Air21’s go-to guy Ronjay Buenafe who shot .414 from three-point range and averaged 17.1 points this conference. Also in the Express roster are Wesley Gonzales, Carlo Sharma and Leo Najorda.

By the first week of February, Gregorio said Air21 team owner Bert Lina and PBA governor Johann Ramos will have decided on a new coach to succeed Yeng Guiao. The Express’ import will have also been named.