While the Powerade Team Pilipinas is busy battling it out in the FIBA-Asia Men's Basketball Championships, team owners and coaches of their respective PBA teams have been busy themselves. There has been a flurry of activity in this PBA offseason that has not been seen in recent years. Now, I'm taking the time to fill up each of the team's report cards.
Draft: Michael Burtscher (1
st round), Sean Co (2nd Round)
Other Moves: None so far
New Projected Starters: LA Tenorio, Willie Miller, Jeff Cariaso, Jon Ferriols, Sonny Thoss
Coach Tim Cone has always danced a "triangle" dance while the others engaged in square dancing, so it's no surprise that his first round pick, Fil-Swiss Michael Burtscher, was a surprise. The former Liga Pilipinas player is in no way highly-touted, but he is a 6'5" player and his size will be a boost to th
e Aces' smallish front line. If he can learn the triangle, and he did say in his pre-draft statement that he is willing to learn, then he could fill in the slot of a Poch Juinio or Reynel Hugnatan in Cone's triangle. Former Pharex Generix shotmaker Sean Co is another of the less-touted players in the draft, but active swingmen like Co could learn a lot from veterans Willie Miller and Jeff Cariaso and c
ould soon find himself a PBA job.
Overall, though, Alaska seems to have made very little m
oves, perhaps thinking they could improve on last year's runner-up finish in the All Filipino Cup by having an extra year of experience on their belts. Grade: B-
Draft: Ogie Menor, Benedict Fernandez, Edwin Asoro
Other Moves: Traded Gabby Espinas (for future draft picks), Traded Jeff Chan and Mike Hrabak (for Mark Andaya and Rob Wainwright), Traded Larry Rodriguez (for future draft pick)
New Projected Starters: Well, let's just say they would do well to even have a starting line up, any starting line up.
Financial problems facing Barako Bull have been well documented, so some of their moves, while they seem lopsided, are understandable (letting go of Es
pinas and Hrabak are to designed to lessen payroll). Meanwhile, it is hard to project the futures of their own draft picks as even the team is in talks
of either leaving the PBA for good or deferring their franchise to the Smart Gilas Development Team. Grade: INC
Draft: Chris Timberlake, Orlando Daroya
Other Moves: Traded Chris Timberlake, Orly Darroya, Paul Artadi Rafi Reavis (for Enrico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez, Paolo Bugia, Celino Cruz and Cholo Villanueva)
New Projected Starters: Jay Jay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa, Ronald Tubid, Billy Mamaril an
d Enrico Villanueva
It's a virtual Blue Roast as Ginebra will now feature five Ateneo alums from their glory years of the early 2000s. Needing to shore up their front court, the Kings targeted Villanueva and his 6'6" frame and traded fo
r him by offering their draft picks. Further filling up a front line that used to only have Billy Mamaril and Eric Menk are former UAAP MVP Alvarez and outside-shooting big man Bugia. The line up will further speed up an already up tempo Ginebra squad and the addition of Cruz will bolster their already deadly three point shooting. Meanwhile, the addition of Cholo Villanueva will, er... well, let's just say the OTHER Villanueva was more important.
Overall, Ginebra, anticipating the return of Caguioa and "Hitman" Junthy Valenzuela, got more complete by adding a brigade of long, athletic big men. While the scoring load will still be with the guards, it does not bode well for other teams that the baranggay's line up just got more well-rounded. Grade
: A
Draft: None
Other Moves: Traded Ron Jay Buenafe and draft picks (for Chris Ross, Francis Allera and Ma
rvin Cruz), Traded Nic Belasco (for Larry Rodriguez but the deal has yet to be approved)
New Projected Starters: Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, RJ Rizada, Mark Telan, and Asi Taulava
Even with Team Manager JB Baylon busy with Team Pilipinas, Coke has indeed made a splash in the off season. Longing for a more natural point guard to help ease the load of Alex Cabagnot, the Tigers traded streak-shooting Buenafe to land Pharex Fil Am Guard Chris Ross. Then, in moves that almost certainly signif
y that the Tigers want to win now, they traded away picks for Allera and Cruz. With these moves, it looks like Cabagnot could afford to play shooting guard, which is his natural position, since there won't be a size disadvantage with Ross playing point. This is officially Cabagnot's chance to show the offensive skills which helped him topple Mark Caguioa's school scoring record in the U.S. many years ago.
Overall, the moves make the Tigers younger and more athletic, so look for them to run whenever they can. They gained by solidifying their point guard spot while losing only Buenafe, who the coaching staff couldn't use on a consistent basis anyway. Even head coach Kenneth Duremdes seems to be finally excited to coach. Grade: B
Draft: Rico Maierhoffer
Other Moves: Traded Enrico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez, Paolo Bugia (for Chris Timberlake, Paul Artadi and Rafi Reavis), Traded draft picks (for Jean Marc Pingris)
Projected New Starters: Paul Artadi, Roger Yap, James Yap, Jean Marc Pingris, Kerby Raymundo
Purefoods had always relied on Roger Yap and Celino Cruz, natural shooting guards, to handle point guard duties and on a team that featured scorers like James Yap, Kerby Raymundo, Don Allado, Peter Simon, that was a tough job. The Giants have since taken care of that problem by getting themselves Artadi and Timberlake, two more natural points. Meanwhile, the Giants have solidified their front line by trading away picks for rebounding monster Pingris and drafting highly-touted big man Maierhoffer.
Overall, the Giants did well for themselves. While I think Maierhoffer may be an overrated prospect at no. 2, the Giants were not wrong to pick him (and forego Ross) with a draft as weak as this and with Timberlake already coming via trade. Solving their two nagging problems (lack of point guard and overloaded front line) in a couple of trades is certainly no laughing matter. Now, the GIants have a legitimate chance to contend, if only they can get Coach Ryan Gregorio to actually coach and not just give the TV cameras multiple poses and facial reactions. Grade: B+ (If they fire Gregorio and promote Assistant Coach Koy Banal, the grade automatically becomes an A)
(to be continued soon)
logos were taken from the PBA website
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