Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Last Home Shoot Around of the Gilas

Last night so many Filipino basketball fans got mad when The Last Home Stand did not happen. The NBA was KJ or killjoy for these loyal basketball fans. The game between the Philippine National Team against an NBA selection was cancelled.  The organizers tried to salvage the event by making the basketball players perform practice drills. Many got annoyed and Manny V. Pangilinan was man enough to apologize and offer refunds to fans who bought those very expensive tickets just to watch legitimate NBA players play in local soil.

It is sad but here are some good things coming out from the cancellation of the game:

  1. At least Filipino fans will not see how poorly the Gilas would fare against the NBA selection.  What if they lost by 40 points? It definitely will not inject some confidence in them as they will face much more tougher competition in Spain.
  2. No injuries.  The Gilas will have a team at full strength going to more meaningful games.  The NBA players also can resume their vacation without risking their million dollar NBA careers.
  3. No highway robbery. The tickets were very expensive for an exhibition game that has no real relevance. An NBA preseason game would have been better.
Big Losers because of the cancellation:
  1. Filipino Basketball Fans - The hype was there. Expectations were high. Once it was cancelled, it became like 5 stages of grief in an hour. The organizers got DEPRESSED, the fans got ANGRY, the hosts and the marketing people were in DENIAL, the players held a practice to BARGAIN with the fans, and in the end everyone ACCEPTED that it was a total failure. The fans from the provinces can only have their tickets refunded but how about their fare, accommodations, food, and the emotional damages. How about those who bought from scalpers? They can only be refunded with the face value not the actual price of their tickets. 
  2. The organizers - They have to admit it was a TOTAL FAILURE and people will be wary the next time they hold such events. They did not deliver their promise. It sucks and they have to do a lot to get back the fans' trust and confidence.
  3. NBA - They suck.  They are greedy. Filipinos have looked up so much to that American league that many of the fans know the NBA player guests rather than our very own Gilas. The majority were not there for the Gilas. NBA is NBA and they broke the hearts of some of their biggest fans in the world.
The shoot around at least gave us a glimpse on how these players practice. Although most of them never took it seriously there were many comical scenes. The NBA players were too good and I commend most of them for trying to salvage the night. As for the Gilas, they have to play more memorable scrimmages against unfamiliar people.   They have to know that they need to improve on so that they would not embarrass themselves in Spain. 

If the game happened, I would have wanted to see this:
  1. How our guards cope against bigger and faster guards.  Having a traditional Filipino PG that is like below 5'10 and having a quickness slower than an NBA Center will not cut it. It is our disadvantage if we cannot set up our plays or outran our opponents, our chances of winning 1 game in Spain is close to ZERO.  We might have the talent but most of our players settled with their current skills just because they are already best in the PBA. If only we have multitudes of people who have the attitude of an Asi Taulava.
  2. Junmar Fajardo being outrebounded or dunked on by Lillard or Jennings.  Our newly minted PBA MVP must know that he should try harder in international competition.  He is not going to be against 6-5 centers there. Many are taller, bigger, faster, and stronger than him. The refs do not even know him. He has to know that many guards can actually outjump him in rebound plays. 
  3. Pingris vs. Harden, Chandler - Our best defender knows that he will be facing players way better than the imports that he is used to. He might have the toughness but can he really shutdown the best forwards in the world?
  4. 3-point shooting - The only way for us to win is to win it outside.  Gone are the days with us having a Caidic who inspires fear from our opponents. While fans would love to see dunks and highlights, ball rotation and outside shooting can easily beat a team of the best wing men and dunkers.  Chot Reyes must learn from the Spurs and our shooters should work hard to be the next Caidic.  A sub .400 3 point shooting average is not enough to make the final cut for the Gilas.
So, we move on with our lives and forget last night happened. The Last Home Stand was an epic fail but the world is not stopping.  Let's learn the lessons and not expect too much in something we do not have any control. Last night, it might be truly the Last Home Stand with this batch of Gilas. Next year, there could be a different group with new players, coaches, and an SMC management.  The organizers just probably made a self-fulfilling prophecy. :(


Other Recent PBA related posts:

KIA and their draft pick named Pacquiao
The Jurassic PBA Draft Lottery

And the First Pick of Kia will be ....

The first pick in the second round of the 2014 PBA Draft will be ... the Pambansang Kamao Congressman Manny "The Pacman" Pacquiao!

What the ....

It can happen you know. As long as Kia is in the Philippine Basketball Association, anything as in anything can happen.  After their application for a PBA franchise was approved, the team appointed Congressman Pacquiao as their Head Coach. And now Manny, who could also a future Philippine President, is applying in the 2014 PBA Draft so that he can be a playing coach for KIA just like the Living Legend Jaworski who was Ginebra's playing coach a generation ago.

PBA where amazing  err RIDICULOUS happens! 

The 2014 PBA Draft would be the a perfect time for Gerald Anderson, Jose Manalo, Vice Ganda, Piolo Pascual or any other famous John Does to apply as a  PBA player because there is a big chance that KIA will draft them because of their star power.  Bobby Pacquiao can actually join the fray to make KIA more of a family affair. Heck, Mommy Dionisia could even join just make the KIA family complete. If ever this showbiz line-up materializes, I would call the team as KIA Carnival or Karnabal to make it more Pinoy and sound appropriate. 

Until now, I cannot fathom why KIA joined the PBA but here are some outrageous conspiracy theories:

  1. KIA is financed by Floyd Mayweather because he wants Pacquiao to just concentrate on coaching and playing basketball rather than challenging him every time the Greatest Filipino Boxer gets interviewed about boxing. It is in the interest of Mayweather that Pacquiao will risk having a high ankle sprain while defending a Mark Caguiao crossover. Maybe Mayweather will probably next pay the Extra Rice pair of Belga and Quinahan to give Pacquiao a rude welcome.
  2. KIA was ordered by the South Korean Government to destroy the PBA brand of play. The South Koreans are still brokenhearted because they are not able to participate in the 2014 World Cup in Spain. They were eliminated by the Smart Gilas during the FIBA Asia Cup semifinals which a win would have sent them to the World Cup. 
  3. KIA actually stands for Kilusan ng Intelihenteng Atleta which will become a national party in the 2016 elections. Manny Pacquiao will run for President under the KIA banner.  His VP candidate will be Jaworski. His senatorial line-up will include Bata Reyes, Paeng Nepomuceno, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Phil Younghusbang, Cong. Yeng Guiao, Onyok Velasco, Jimmy Santos, and Joey Marquez. 
KIA is fast becoming my favorite team and I will devote so many posts in this blog for the PBA's Koreanovela (KIAnovela). Petronovela is so 2013. In a marketing standpoint, KIA is actually doing all the right moves. The are probably the most talked about team in the PBA right now save for the Gilas whose supposed "Last Stand" became a glorified warm-up. 

I wonder how many wins will KIA get in their first season? Will they be KIA every night? KIA meaning Killed In Action???  Will they be the "UP Maroons" of the PBA?

I have so many questions now about KIA that I will definitely write about as the season goes.
  1. Who will have the ignominy of being the first ever team beaten by KIA? 
  2. How many seasons will pass before KIA ever beat San Mig Coffee? 
  3. How many points will Pacquaio make this season?
  4. Who will be guarding Manny Pacquiao when he scores his first career point in the PBA?
  5. Who will have the guts to be the first to foul, block, and steal the Pacman?
  6. How much Pacquiao's insurance against injury?
  7. How many wins will Pacquiao have as a coach?
  8. How many years will it take before Pacquiao gets fired or retires from either coaching or playing?
I have so many questions already and I am very excited that it will all be answered soon. I really hope that Ginebra San Miguel will not spoil the master plan of Kia by drafting Pacquiao in the first round since they can claim that Pacquiao is also an endorser of their product. They might just do it and hold Pacquiao hostage and force KIA to trade their first round picks in the next 3 years to get Pacquiao. 

What would stop them? Well, anything can happen in the PBA and the league has grown leaps and bounds with the entry of Kia! Mabuhay ang KIA!!!

**This post is a satire and a result of an imaginative mind

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Contreversial PBA Draft Lottery and Rain or Shine's season

Was it a magic trick gone bad?

Looking at the video it is very that your franchise's future is in the hands of the PBA Commissioner with a 3 balls and a cartoon.  This year's lottery draft got a lot of flack because it was done in a very crude manner.  It was like a town mayor drawing lots on who will take the top pick in the Town Fiesta Basketball Tournament.

Here are two mistakes of the recent draft:
1.  The materials used - How much is a PBA franchise now? P100 Million pesos??? Yet the draft materials used cost around 300 pesos. For a league supposedly making lots of money, that's pretty Jurassic. A ringside ticket price could even cost more than the materials used.

2. The Commissioner putting his hands in and not letting it out to show that he is not holding a ball. A magician knows how to pretend he is not holding a coin.  Commissioner Salud should have showed his empty hands before drawing a ball.

The defense of Salud is good faith and I do not think he is being bribed by Globalport.  Globalpart has 2 balls while Rain or Shine who holds Meralco's right has only one.  Why would the one with 66.67% chance would want to cheat.  Unless, they would want 100% chance.

Rain or Shine's year of 2nds

After losing the draft and getting the No.2 pick, the Rain or Shine franchise lost to Grand Slam Champs San Mig Coffee Mixers in the finals a few days later. It was a good year for Rain or Shine for a team that did not have the star power compared to Talk 'N Text, Ginebra, and San Miguel Beermen.  It was full of second place finishes.  If you are the owner would you be happy?  Finishing second is probably is one of toughest positions in life.  Nobody usually remembers the second placers and we live a world that celebrate champions and winners.  Second placers are not considered winners.  Being second is quite painful.  Ask Lebron? It is a very emotional time.  I do not know the mental make up of the Raiin or Shine people but finishing second could also be a good thing.  It is a good thing especially when nobody is expecting you to be there in the last game of the season.  I am sure that many pundits and trying hard experts never put that team up there in their preseason rankings.  I am sure that there are very few die hard Rain or Shine fans in the country.

How can you expect a team with forwards looking more like American Football Offensive linemen, a coach with temper hotter than El Nino, guards named like Chinese actions stars, and a rookie center looking like someone who is in a no rice diet and to think he is with the Extra Rice tandem of the PBA. But sometimes in life, the weirdest combinations work out.  The underdogs could be in the championship but they just cannot break another team who is in a historic run.

I don't know if Rain or Shine would want 2015 be a repeat of 2014. It is really hard to emulate but it has left some bitter taste in the mouth as well.  They have the No.2 pick this year and probably they would improve but other teams are strengthening as well.  It will surely pay attention how their season will go.....

posted from Bloggeroid