Basket-Bullets: Rigodon shows PH basketball never stops

This post first appeared on Rappler.com last June 13, 2013.


MANILA, Philippines -- The past 7 days have given local hoops fans a lot to think and talk about. And that's NOT even counting the NBA and Filoil Finals. Big names, whether they're coaches or players, have moved around and this rigodon will undoubtedly affect the current landscape of pro and amateur hoops in a significant way.

Assistant no more. Meet Juno Sauler, new DLSU head coach.
(image by Adi Bontuyan/GoArchers.com)

The De La Salle coaching change

Gee Abanilla didn't call it quits 3 weeks ahead of the UAAP Season 76 basketball tournament. He was yanked out of the DLSU head coach position and placed back in the PBA as an assistant coach at Petron Blaze. We all know, of course, that the owner of Petron (and Ginebra and San Mig Coffee) is also the main benefactor of the Green Archers -- Mr. Danding Cojuangco.


Enzo FlojoIt shouldn't really come as a surprise that Abanilla was named a FULL-TIME member of the coaching staff of one of Cojuangco's teams. Abanila was, in fact, already an assistant (albeit part-time) even while having the La Salle job.

Gee Abanilla returns as a full-time member
of the Petron coaching staff.
(image by Ryan Ong/GoArchers.com)

The curious thing here is the timing and the real reason behind the move. For one, as has already been mentioned, the UAAP season is closing in fast. It doesn't take a basketball analyst to know that this big a change this close to tournament opening can have more than a few adverse effects on any team, much more on a team that has already "lost" Yutien Andrada, Papot Paredes, and Mac Tallo for various reasons. One also has to consider the fact that DLSU still has to cut a couple of players form its Filoil roster to fit the needed 16 players for the UAAP. Who will make the all-important decisions now?

That guy is Juno Sauler, former DLSU Women's team coach and himself a former Archer. I am sure Sauler will try and do a heckuva job with DLSU, but I am also sure he's scrambling to really get this team back on-track. The Archers, you see, lost 3 key games in the Filoil summer league, which was quite unexpected for a team billed to compete strongly for the UAAP title. They lost to eventual champion UE, redeemed themselves with a W over Letran, but then were beaten by archrival Ateneo, and got eliminated by San Beda in the quarterfinals.

Some speculate that it's this sudden and surprising string of defeats that "helped" ease Abanilla out of his post, but, if true, then it doesn't make much sense to replace him so close to the season's start. Again, the big question is why the change?

Here's a thought -- maybe the answer lies not in why Abanilla was removed from La Salle, but why he was placed in Petron. The Boosters have had a dismal season in the PBA so far. For a team so stacked, they just have not been able to meet their expectations. They missed the Finals of the last two conferences and haven't exactly been beating opposing clubs black and blue like they should.

Perhaps the real issue is not what will happen to DLSU now, but what will happen to Petron -- and its current head coach, Olsen Racela. I don't want to call coach Olsen the loser in this situation, but if I were him, I'd be looking over my shoulder more often.

As for La Salle, some corners have whispered that Jong Uichico might actually make a comeback after the FIBA Asia tourney.


The PBA three-way trade

A few days ago, the league approved the following three-team trade:

Jared Dillinger and Don Allado to Meralco, Sean Anthony to Talk N Text, and Ronjay Buenafe and Gilbert Bulawan to Barako Bull.

For me, it's clear that the MVP teams are clear winners in this scenario. Allado is past his prime, but, once healthy, he can be a solid back-up at either frontline position. Dillinger should thrive alongside Mac Cardona and Chris Ross. Oh and JD should combine with Cliff Hodge to form one of the most athletic forward tandems in the archipelago. Should be fun. Of course, we're all still waiting for Dillinger's full recovery.

Once he is up and about, Jared Dillinger should
make Meralco all the more dangerous.
(image by Paolo Papa/InterAKTV)

Sean Anthony also plugs a big hole for TNT. Nobody knows if and when Kelly Williams will return and Anthony is the perfect combo forward to complement Ranide De Ocampo and Ali Peek up front or even Larry Fonacier and Ryan Reyes on the wings. In fact, the way I see it, Anthony will benefit a lot from this transaction, since coach Norman Black will surely find ways to utilize his skills to the fullest.

I will reserve my analysis for Barako Bull after the next part of this post:



This time, it's a PBA four-way:

A trade that was just approved:

Elmer Espiritu goes to Barako Bull, Japeth Aguilar goes to Ginebra, Jay Washington and Yousef Taha go to GlobalPort, and Jason Deutchman goes to Petron Blaze.

Now this one is a little more complicated, especially when one factors in the different picks included in the transactions. It's clear, however, that the big winners and losers aren't really the teams, but the players.

My big winners are Aguilar and Washington. Aguilar will get the adulation he yearns for as he goes to the crowd-favorite Kings, and he should thrive as a natural 4 alongside Billy Mamaril, who will take care of the slot despite being a few inches shorter than Japeth.

Japeth Aguilar is finall a King -- a Ginebra Gin King.
(image by Paul Ryan Tan/InterAKTV)

Washington, too, should see a resurgence in his production with the Batang Pier. Long has he been in the shadow of former teammate Arwind Santos at Petron, and now he can show his wares as THE main frontliner for GlobalPort. I see both guys having banner performances in the next conference.

The big loser here is Deutchman, who, despite a rare balance of handles and perimeter shooting for a big man, has never really been able to break out yet. He won't get that chance in Petron. They won't need him to take many shots, what with a myriad of offensive-minded guys on the roster, and, well, good luck putting up numbers with Arwind Santos grabbing every rebound and swatting every shot. Deutchman also isn't as good as Washington, so his numbers won't see any improvement at all.

All in all, it was an interesting week for local hoops fans. Amidst the din of the FIBA Asia preparations, the NBA Finals, and the Filoil playoffs, we still had these transactions with which to keep up.

This just shows how, quite literally, in the Philippines, basketball never stops.

Just the way it should be.