The Retooled NBA: Three Storylines Flying Under The Radar

 

It seems just like yesterday, when we were watching the Loa Angeles Lakers win their 17th championship over the surprising Miami Heat.

And instead of waiting for roughly 4 months to go from the Finals to Opening Night, we has about 6 weeks to go through Draft Night, free agency, training camp and now, the pre-season games.

With Opening Day about one and a half weeks away, here are some underrated storylines you might want to keep an eye out for.

STORYLINE #1 The Campazzo Compendium

The addition of Argentinean point wizard Facundo Campazzo will go a long way towards the Nuggets' championship aspirations. Campazzo, or Facu as he is fondly called in Europe, is a more physical version of Milos Teodosic, a South American Rajon Rondo with a better offensive game. While the Nuggets still need Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic to take another step forward, Campazzo gives them that extra offensive punch that could explote the benches of other teams, even the Lakers.

STORYLINE #2 Addition by Subtraction

The Celtics' loss of Gordon Hayward and the 76ers loss of Al Horford may end up helping their former squads by a lot. Horford made a mistake signing with Philadelphia (who knows how far Boston would have gone if he stayed there) and probably heaved a sign of relief when he was shipped to OKC. Hayward's departure, on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise given his history with Coach Brad Stevens and how he turned down a fast-rising Jazz team to join Boston but his departure (and Kyrie Irving's from the previous year) means this is now Jayson Tatum's team, for better or for worse.

STORYLINE #3 How Bad Will OKC Be?

They've got no-longer-in-their-primes Al Horford, George Hill, and Trevor Ariza. They've got promising youngsters Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Darius Bazley. They've got the league's lowest payroll and a ton of picks. None of those things will win them games. While I don't think they will be historically bad, I think they will be really bad.

And with that, I eagerly await the start of the NBA.

Same Teams, Same Results: Gilas Wins Over Thailand 93-69

 After Friday's game, there were none of the jitters, the concern, or even the uncertainty of how this game would turn out (among us pundits, anyway).

And it ended the way we all thought it would, with Gilas winning comfortably, barely bothered by a game Thai team that got off on the wrong foot and could never get back on track.

Gilas coach Jong Uichico experimented with his lineup, which meant different players starred for Gilas this time around, which just proved how deep this pool was. 

Here are my five impressions from the game:

Impression 1 - Dwight Ramos is not the only young Gilas who is ready to play in the PBA today. Juan Gomez de Liano, Matt Nieto, and, to a lesser degree, Justin Baltazar and Javi Gomez de Liano all made cases for being players who can make an impact  for PBA teams right here, right now. 

Impression 2 - Oftana just showed why he belonged in this Gilas team. He bring an intriguing combination of strength, shooting and physicality. At 6'4", the NCAA MVP is a good sized international SG with range and may just be physical enough to not be abused by international SF's if he has to slide to that position.

Impression 3 - The Jaydee Tungcab as PG experiment started, and ended tonight. The PG position is said to be the hardest to master and many successful college PGs find it difficult to transition into a capable professional PG. Taking a college swingman and trying to make him one is an even tougher ask. This same predicament is Kiefer Ravena's biggest stumbling block in the G-League (and will be Thirdy's as well) and it's just not fair to ask a less talented, albeit equally determined, player like Tungcab to make that transition.

Impression 4 - Navarro, Tungcab, and Mike Nieto may be easy cuts from hereon. The trio are among those who were deemed, for want of a better word, questionable additions to the team and for the most part, they've been respectable. but after seeing what Ramos, Oftana, and Javi Gomez de Liano, were able to do in these two games plus the impending return of Allyn Bulanadi and the naturalization of Angelo Kouame, these three are the most likely to get cut.

Impression 5 - Thailand will be a force in Southeast Asian basketball. Don't laugh. These last three games are not indicative of their talent. Remember, they lost to Indonesia by a mere 14 points despite not having their top scorer Tyler Lamb (28ppg) and Indonesia having Lester Prosper, a former PBA import, on the squad as their naturalized player. If Lamb played for Thailand, the Thais win this. If Prosper did not play for Indonesia, the Thais win this. If the Thais and Indos played without Lamb of Prosper, the Thais win this. Don't count the Thais out, they're a team on the rise. Oh, and watch out Chanatip Jakrawan, the MVP of the Thai league who just posted 34 points and 12 rebounds on Gilas, despite being the focal point of our defense. He's going to be a handful.

Amateur Gilas Defeats Pro Thailand 93-61!

It has been a while since the Philippine National Basketball team was composed of an all amateur lineup, going up against pro teams.

And while Tyler Lamb of Thailand would not be playing for Thailand, the fact that no professional players would be suiting up for Gilas was still cause for some concern.

And when the first quarter ended with Gilas up by just 2 (21-19), courtesy of some hot three point shooting from the Thais, those concerns bubbled up again. 

And then Juan Gomez de Liano decided to take matters into his own hands, hitting successive three pointers to give Gilas some breathing room. And then Dwight Ramos showed why he has been so highly touted. 

With these two leading the way, Gilas raced off into a big lead and was never bothered again.

Here are my top five impressions from the game:

Impression 1: Dwight Ramos is going to be a problem for every other UAAP team out there. He has elite size, considerable ballhandling skills, and devious scoring skills. He could play in the PBA tomorrow and make an immediate impact.

Impression 2: Justin Baltazar and Isaac Go will be part of our frontcourt of the immediate future. While most of the attention has been focused on Kai Sotto and AJ Edu (and rightfully so), Baltazar and Go will be that next line, which gives us the luxury to wait for the likes of Carl Tamayo and Raven Cortez to develop.

Impression 3: The brother-combos deserve to be there. Juan Gomez de Liano and Matt Nieto were sort of expected to make the team while Javi and Mike were, simply said, not. So when they made the team, there were some discussion on whether they really deserved their slots. I think this game answered those questions. Javi, with his size and skill set, may actually thrive as a shooting guard in the international game, or as an undersized small forward against certain Asian teams. The way slimmer Mike Nieto needs to make defense his calling card to keep his slot and he showed in this game that he could be that defensive stopper we were expecting the likes of Jaydee Tungcab and Will Navarro to be.

Impression 4: Rey Suerte is an elite scorer. His energy, ability to find or create shots, and fearlessness in attacking the paint will serve him well. He does need to work on his defense though. His propensity to foul will get him into trouble once bigger, better teams start singling him out.

Impression 5: This Gilas team has something I have not seen since the 2013-2014 versions of Gilas. plainly said, this team had "gigil", a fire in their bellies that would not be denied. Most pro teams go about their business with a smoothness that speaks of how they know their business. Most amateurs don't have that yet, so they make up for it in that frenetic energy that, harnessed properly, can overcome tremendous odds. This Gilas team had it in spades.

All things considered, this was a fantastic result for Gilas and I can't wait for Monday's rematch with Thailand.

FIBA 3X3 2020 Doha Masters Feat Chooks-to-Go Manila

 

In between coaches. Tough first match. Playing against a former MVP and 3 players ranked in the top 6 of 3x3 players worldwide. 

The odds were certainly against Manila Chooks-To-Go but our boys still gave a good accounting of themselves as they fell against Liman, the #1 team in the world, 22-15.

Joshua Munzon topbilled for the Filipinos, scoring 9 points, with 8 of those points coming from long range, including 4 straight points that got Chooks back into the game when Liman threatened to blow the game wide open with a 5 point lead.

If you haven't seen Munzon play, it would be easy to dismiss him as a not-good-enough-to-be-in-the-PBA kind of player. You would be dead wrong. Munzon is a deadly shooter with range that extends to the very ends of the court, is a dynamic passer and playmaker, and is serviceable on defense.

Unfortunately, while Munzon is easily on the level of the Liman players, the rest of the squad aren't there yet. Alvin Pasaol has gotten even bigger and while he gets away with the added heft in local leagues, he was terribly exposed here as not being, well, fit enough. Think Andray Blatche in recent years. The ability is still there and evident but his physical state has stopped him from being the dominant force he once was. In this game, Pasaol airballed at least 2 shots and couldn't stay in front of his man, despite recording a highlight block. Again, the ability is there but his physical state is stopping him from displaying it all game long.

Santi Santillan and Troy Rike played their roles to the best of their abilities. Rike had the better defensive outing, showing he has the physicality and foot speed to play honest one-on-one defense while Santillan showed good instincts around the rim, snaring 3 offensive rebounds. But they are complementary players with clearly defined roles: play D, get the rebound, give it to Munzon or Pasaol, get out of their way, repeat.

Manila Chooks goes up against the hosts at about 1:45am Manila. I may not be awake by then but I think they have the talent to win against Lusail. if they do, they still make it to the quarterfinals. Win one more, they make it to the big show: the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Jeddah Finals this December.

If you want to watch the games, click this.

What The All Amateur Gilas 5 Is Leaving On The Table

By this time, our all-amateur Gilas team will be in the thick of their preparations for the November window of the FIBA Asia Cup.

But one thing that they'll be missing is the presence of hardened PBA professionals, despite the fact that they are available to play for Gilas.

Here's a quick look at four PBA players the Gilas team is leaving behind.

Christian Standhardinger - There is basically no way for Kouame to be naturalized in time for the November games and that leaves Gilas with a thin frontline, with only Isaac Go, Justine Balatazar, and Kenmark Carino comfortably manning the PF/C positions. Standhardinger is a heavyweight PBA superstar who averaged 19.8 points, 12 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the PBA bubble, despite playing on a baaaad team. But more than that, he's a Gilas vet who starred every time he put on the Gilas jersey, even against a powerhouse team like Iran, where he scored 30 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort. That's a lot of ability being left behind.

Kiefer Ravena - Who doesn't know what Kiefer Ravena brings to the table? Ravena is one of the most bemedaled Filipino basketball players in the league and has won several championships for our country at different levels. In the PBA bubble, Ravena started off a bit rusty, especially with his added bulk (not gonna say weight, its definitely all muscle) but he still managed to average 19.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. He also has his share of Gilas highlights and he would have brought smarts, experience, and the clutch gene into the equation. Tough to not see that on the team.

CJ Perez - CJ Perez has continued his meteoric rise in the PBA, smashing through whatever sophomore walls stood in his way. In the bubble, he averaged 24.3points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.27 assists. Those are MVP caliber numbers, if only Terrafirma was contending for a championship. Perez was also one of two bright spots for Gilas in the recent 2019 FIBA World Championships and we expect he would wreak more havoc against the likes of Thailand and (if ever) South Korea. So again, world-class talent we are leaving behind.

Mac Belo - Mac Belo does not have the same gaudy numbers as the others in this list but this former Gilas captain is slowly recovering his deadly form. A strong slasher with a perfectly serviceable outside jumper and a high basketball IQ, Mac Belo can fill in that Gabe Norwood, glue-guy role that lets the Gilas machine run smoother while still providing his fair share of highlights. Again, a hell of a talent to leave behind.

In conclusion...I get it. It's about the future. And I 100% support the team. But it would be nice to have them there as...insurance.

 

The All Amateur Gilas 5: What This Means

 

Today, the Samahan ng Basketball ng Pilipinas announced its 16-man pool for the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers this coming November.

And while there were some who hoped that PBA players whose team would no longer be playing in the PBA Philippine Cup post season could join the team, the SBP has instead decided to field an all amateur pool.

The pool includes the original Gilas draftees in Isaac Go, Matt and Mike Nieto, Rey Suerte and Allyn Bulanadi as well as UP stalwarts Kobe Paras, Juan and Javi Gomez de Liano and Jaydee Tungcab, Ateneo standouts Dave Ildefonso, Will Navarro and Dwight Ramos as well as Angelo Kouame, bidding to be a naturalized player for Gilas, DLSU star Justin Baltazar, and finally, San Beda's Calvin Oftana and Kenmark Carino.

This lineup is surprising in many aspects but we'll discuss the three most obvious surprises.

Surprise #1 The All Amateur Lineup

With several PBA players already available to play for Gilas, like Kiefer Ravena, CJ Perez, and Christian Standhardinger, it was a major surprise to many that the SBP decided to go with an all amateur pool. Granted, the SBP is thinking long-term, with development as its endgame but they really couldn't fit in a couple of PBA players to shore up some obvious weaknesses of this pool? One glaring weakness is at center, where we have Isaac Go and Justine Baltazar, neither of whom is a natural center, and Kenmark Carino, who has yet to breakout, even in the NCAA. Wouldn't it be nice to have even just Standhardinger, given that Kouame is unlikely to receive his Filipino citizenship any time soon?

Surprise #2 The Other Guys

Most of the players named to the 16 man pool are no-brainers and while we understand the need for glue guys and role players, some of the picks are still headscratchers. Part of this list would be the likes of Mike Nieto, Will Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab, and Kenmark Carino. I am well aware of Big Mike Nieto's gallant contributions to past Batang Gilas teams (where he was the Nieto who starred, not Matt) and you can't teach Carino's height but still, their college performances barely even made them impactful reserves. Will Navarro and Jaydee Tungcab are versatile wingmen who will make a living on their defense but the big question is, can they make the transition to being 3-and-D guys?

Surprise #3 The Missing Young Bigs

They are undoubtedly the next BIG thing in Philippine basketball and yet are conspicuously missing at a time when they are needed the most. Yes, I'm talking about Kai Sotto and AJ Edu, who are both int he States for different commitments. Sotto is training with the G-League while Edu is back to training with the Toledo Rockets but neither of their teams have a set schedule as of yet. What is holding them back from taking a couple of weeks to reinforce this young Gilas team? 

Imagine a 7-2 Sotto at center, a 6-10 Edu at PF, a 6-6 Kobe Paras at small forward, a 6-2 Allyn Bulanadi at shooting guard, and a 6-5 Dwight Ramos at point guard. Now imagine rotating a pair of 6-8 big men in Isaac Go and Justine Baltazar for Sotto and Edu, while a pair of 6'5 wingmen in Calvin Oftana and Javi Gomez de Liano fill in for Paras. Matt Nieto, Juan Gomez de Liano, and Rey Suerte are all 6-2 or taller and athletic enough to match up against international guards so that's not as big a concern as you might think.

But it all comes down to having our two young bigs and they are missing in action.