Views on the PBL's opening round of games

I CAN’T blame people, especially avid Manila Standard Today readers for thinking that I am purely a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) writer. My column, In Retrospect, exclusively focuses on that. But one thing I like about this blog is that it will give me a chance to speak my mind about anything sports-related, cause trust me, I practically watch and have opinions about a lot of sports.

The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Unity Cup kicked off last weekend, with four games spread over two days. By the looks of things, those four games may more or less be indicative of certain patterns that will most likely hold sway for the rest of the season.

The season’s first game pitted the Montaña Jewels and the Teletech Titans, perhaps two of the most underrated teams in the league. While it was no surprise to see Alex Compton hit clutch baskets to lift the Jewels to a 65-62 win over Jerry Codiñera’s wards, it was more surprising to see how gritty the Titans were.

Definitely, Teletech has a more talented core of players than the team it replaced, the Far Eastern Insurers. With ex-pro Niño Gelig leading the way, and young scrappy players such as Ronnie Bughao, Axel Doruelo, Francis Mercado and Donn Rez Vilamin surrounding him, it will be a fun team to watch.

Granny Goose’s upset of Magnolia, meanwhile, startled me as much as it surprised fans and pundits alike. While there is no denying that the Spinners of coach Koy Banal will most likely vie for the championship, the Snackmasters picked up a gem in the off-season, a fundamentally sound player that holds the key to their success – Mapua Cardinal and 2005 NCAA Rookie of the Year Kelvin dela Peña. Against Magnolia, dela Peña hit the crucial baskets to help Granny Goose thump Magnolia, 64-55.

Dela Peña is a smart player. He has a knack for the ball, a dependable jump shot, a wide array of moves particularly on the way to the basket, and is a hard-nosed defender. It was, honestly, quite dumb of Harbour Centre to let this prized Cardinal go.

And speaking of Harbour Centre, the Portmasters, resembling some sort of an Ateneo-La Salle consortium, couldn’t hit their stride. If you can’t get things going against Rain or Shine, you’ll lose. And of course, that’s what happened. In their 70-64 loss to Rain or Shine, one player stood out for the right reasons, while one, in typical fashion, basked in the limelight of mediocrity.

First, the good news. Ryan Araña, a hardworking small forward from de la Salle University, imposed his will on the game and almost single-handedly led Harbour Center to a victory. However, his more celebrated teammate, Joseph Yeo, once again obstructed the team’s flow, especially on the offensive end. With a 2-for-12 shooting clip, Yeo continually shows why he is one of the most overrated players to come out of the collegiate ranks.

While credit is due to Rain or Shine, particularly for holding the Portmasters to a 28.9 percent field goal shooting clip, it was a game Harbour Center could have won. If the team perhaps still had dela Peña or University of the East deadshot Marcy Arellano in the fold, they could have beaten the Elasto Painters. These two shooting guards made things easier for point guards LA Tenorio and Earn Saguindel last conference since they never maintained a shoot-first mentality. The ball moved more freely, and oftentimes led to more high percentage shots converted by big man Robert Reyes. Coach Jorge Gallent will have his hands full in explaining to Yeo that basketball is a team game.

In the tournament’s other game, the Toyota-Otis Sparks leaned on the endgame heroics of Boyet Bautista and the efficiency of Joe Devance en route to a 77-73 win over archrivals Hapee-Philippine Christian University. I expect these two squads to be more competitive this conference, and the game was indicative of the brand of basketball they’re capable of dishing out.