From GILASable to Gilas Able: Raymond Almazan

It's good to be right.

Last December 4, this blogger named Rain Or Shine's Raymond Almazan as one of the GILASables (players who should be accorded an invite to the Gilas 4.0 pool). (Read the article here)

Last Monday, Almazan’s game long brilliance was the key to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters cruising past the suddenly toothless Talk ‘N Test Tropang Texters to make their way into the seminfinal round. Almazan shone with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while making life extremely difficult for the Texters’ duo of promising big men Moala Tautuua and Troy Rosario (both, incidentally, are part of the Gilas pool)

After the game, this happened.

WHAT THIS MEANS

Bye-bye, Ian Sangalang. He was one of the most surprising picks made by Tab Baldwin, seeing as he was coming off an injury-filled year and had not played in a long while. But his height (always a big factor when talking about international basketball), his varied skill set and his potential was enough for Baldwin to take a gamble.

GILAS-ables: Scottie Thompson

“GILAS-ables” is a series of articles that will discuss different players who could make a case for joining the Gilas pool. This series will include Filipinos and Fil-foreign players plying their trade in different leagues, including the US NCAA and the PBA.

In the third article in this series, we’ll talk about a player whose inclusion was made more plausible by the entry of another, much more hyped young player into the Gilas pool.

PLAYER INFO

Name: Thompson, Earl Scottie

Team: Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings

Height: 6’ 1”

Weight: 180 lbs

College: University of Perpetual Help

PBA STATS

Career:

4.9 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, 2.7 assists per game, .1.4 turnovers per game

OTHER NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

SEA GAMES GOLD MEDALIST (2015)

NCAA MVP (2014)

WHY HE SHOULD BE IN THE GILAS POOL

Again, if you look at the numbers, there is no way that Scottie Thompson would be considered for a spot in the Gilas. After all, 5 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds are barely even PBA starter numbers, much less numbers of one of the 12 best Filipino players available.

GILAS-ables: Raymond Almazan

“GILAS-ables” is a series of articles that will discuss different players who could make a case for joining the Gilas pool. This series will include Fil-foreign players plying their trade in other leagues, the US NCAA, and the PBA.

In the second article in this series, we take a look at a young player with a huge upside: Rain Or Shine’s fast rising sophomore forward, Raymond Almazan.

PLAYER INFO

Name: Almazan, Raymond

Team: Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters

Height: 6’ 9”

Weight: 194 lbs

College: Colegio de San Juan de Letran

STATS

Career:

6.8 points per game, 5.67 rebounds per game, .61 assists per game, .88 blocks per game

2015 Season:

9 points per game, 7.45 rebounds per game, 1 assist per game, 1 block per game

WHY HE SHOULD BE IN THE GILAS POOL

If you go by the numbers, there’s no way Raymond Almazan should be given a slot at the Gilas pool. There are just too many people who have better numbers, have more experience, have better reputations.

Why The Tams Are Kings

Photo courtesy of abscbn.com

It took the FEU Tamaraws ten years but they are finally the kings of UAAP men’s basketball once again.

Despite being one of the favorites this year, the FEU Tamaraws’ seemed to have spent the season flying under the radar, as the ADMU Blue Eagles, the DLSU Green Archers or the NU Bulldogs hogged the limelight.

Their ascension to the top was so nondescript that none of their players made it to the Mythical Five, with ADMU, NU, DLSU represented by one payer and losing finalist UST represented by two.

And yet, after three hard-fought games, they are the ones wearing the UAAP’s basketball crown. Here are three factors that helped make it happen.

GOOD COACHING

Coach Nash Racela put together a simple but masterful game plan to stop the UST Tigers. And it came down to one thing: control the game tempo.

GILAS-ables: Sean Anthony

“GILAS-ables” is a series of articles that will discuss different players who could make a case for joining the Gilas pool. This series will include Fil-foreign players plying their trade in other leagues, the US NCAA, and the PBA.

We kick off this series with a surprise entry: NLEX’s blossoming forward Sean Anthony.

PLAYER INFO

Name: Anthony, Sean Michael

Team: NLEX Road Warriors

Height: 6’ 6”

Weight: 200 lbs

College: McGill University (Montreal, Canada)

STATS

Career:

8.75 points per game, 5.77 rebounds per game, 1.95 assists per game

2015 Season:

20.5 points per game, 12.8 rebounds per game, 4.7 assists per game

WHY HE SHOULD BE IN THE GILAS POOL

If you have been watching the current PBA season, then you know why Sean Anthony should be included in the Gilas pool. He has more than doubled his career averages in points, rebounds, and assists and have shown a ferocity in his game that the PBA has not seen from him before.

Why Stephen Curry Won the MVP Award In a Landslide.

We’re one month into the new season and some people are still talking about whether Stephen Curry or James Harden was last year’s most valuable player. Add the fact that James Harden won the MVP award from the NBPA Awards and you’ve got a controversy that just refuses to die.

Now, whenever people talk about MVP candidates, the conversation inevitably turns into personal production. And why shouldn’t it? After all, the Most Valuable Player Award of the NBA is defined as the award that goes to the “best performing player of the regular season”. So, simplistically, the player with the best stat line should win the Most Valuable Player Award. 

The problem starts when you have to evaluate what seem to be equally sterling regular season performances against each other. Take, for example, the top three vote getters for the NBA MVP in 2014-2015.

PLAYER	PPG	APG	RPG	STEALS	THREES	3P%	FT%
Stephen Curry	23.8	7.7	4.3	2.4	286 (NBA record)	44.3	91.4
James Harden	27.4	7	5.7	1.9	208	37.5	87
Lebron James	25.3	7.4	6	1.6	120	35.4	71

Now, while eventual MVP winner Stephen Curry has a distinct edge in three pointers made, three-point percentage and free throw percentage and a slight edge in assists per game and steals per game, are those really enough to say that he was the clear cut most valuable player among the three?

The Last Season of the Black Mamba?

It’s one of the burning questions the NBA season: will 37-year old Kobe Bryant, one of the league’s legendary players, finally call it quits after a sterling 20-year NBA career?

Let’s take a look at four factors that could possibly push Kobe Bryant into retiring after this season.

FACTOR #1: DECLINING SKILL SET

Kobe Bryant is more than aware that he’s no longer the player that he used to be. Unfortunately, his reaction to that awareness is to deny it and try to prove it false. That’s leads to him putting up horrible numbers on a team that’s lost 5 of its first 6 games.

Bryant’s season stat line seems respectable enough: 16.2 ppg 2.6 apg and 3.8 rpg. But that’s before you realize that he gets his 16 points on 32% shooting and, worse, on 21% from the 3pt line. His threeepoint percentage is especially horrible since he’s shooting almost 8 threepointers a game. For context, Kevin Durant is only shooting around 7 threepointers per game and he’s hitting 42% of those.

NBA Predictions: Who Wins And Why

With one day to go before the start of the NBA’s regular season, it’s time to take a look at who we predict will be raking in the trophies (both real and imaginary) this year.

2015-2016 CHAMPIONS: San Antonio Spurs

They’ve reloaded with LaMarcus Aldridge and David West. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Boris Diaw and Patty Mills are all back. They’re just too good not to win it this year, presuming there are no major injuries.

EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: Cleveland Cavaliers

Lebron James will lead his team back to the Finals but his supporting cast will be found lacking against the Spurs. Ironically, they would have won last year had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love been healthy. This year, it won’t make a difference.

FINALS MVP: LaMarcus Aldridge

Aldridge completes his transition to the new Tim Duncan as the Big Fundamental reprises David Robinson’s role as the calming presence of this championship team.

Living Without The Lee-thal Weapon

Photo courtesy of interaksyon.com

When Paul Lee was discovered to have a tear in his meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the reverberations of that injury was felt not just by his PBA team, the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters, but also by the Gilas national team.

Fortunately for Gilas, this injury will not have a major impact in their preparations for next year’s Olympic qualifiers. Unfortunately for the Elasto Painters, this injury will define their campaign in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup.

Here are the four aspects where the Elasto Painters will feel Lee’s absence:

Playmaking

Paul Lee is, in simple words, a playmaker. He makes good things happen, whether with good passing, strong drives to the rim, kick outs to open shooters, hitting open shots to keep the defenses honest, or controlling the tempo of the game to better suit the Rain Or Shine game plan.

He’s the focal point and engine of the Rain or Shine offense, which means that when Paul Lee is in the zone, he can almost singlehandedly destroy opposing defenses.

The fact that he can do it in so many ways, not just by scoring a ton, makes him especially hard to replace. Just consider his stats from last year’s PBA season: 15.5ppg, 4.5rpg, and 3.3 apg. Those are major numbers for someone who plays just 27 minutes a game.

Fixing Barangay Ginebra's Twin Towers

Greg Slaughter. Japeth Aguilar. There was a time when one, then the other, was considered the best big man prospect in the Philippines.

For Slaughter, it was his size and heft combined with good basic basketball skills that propelled him to the top. For Aguilar, it was his preposterous length and the eye-popping athleticism (which was evident, even amongst NBA D-Leaguers) that made him stand out.

Slaughter and Aguilar have physical gifts that most of their PBA colleagues don’t have. It’s not unfair to say that the expectations for both are that they would dominate their competition every night.

Ranking The PBA Teams: The Teams At The Top

In the last of our three part series, we’ll review the PBA teams and rank them according to the strengths of their lineup.

(Missed #12-#9? Go here. For #8-#5, go here.)

Here are the teams at  #4 to #1.

#4 ALASKA ACES

Roster

Name	Position
Chris Banchero	G
Cyrus Baguio	G/F
Vic Manuel	F
Sonny Thoss	F/C
Calvin Abueva	F
Nonoy Baclao	F/C
Marion Magat	C
Rome de la Rosa	G/F
Chris Exciminiano	G
Dondon Hontiveros	G/F
Eric Menk	F/C
RJ Jazul	G
Tony de la Cruz	F
JV Casio	G
Kevin Racal	F

Analysis: The Alaska Aces is the team that proves that the whole can be worth so much more than the sum of its parts. On paper, they shouldn’t be able to beat teams like the Gin Kings or the Hotshots but they do. There is no clear cut superstar on their roster but somehow, the tenacity of Calvin Abueva, the smarts of JV Casio, the shooting of Dondon Hontiveros, the guile of Cyrus Baguio, the versatile skill set of Vic Manuel, the leadership of Tony de la Cruz and the inside presence of Sonny Thoss make them one of the harder teams to create a game plan for. Which means that on any given day, any of those players mentioned above may be the one who beats you.

Ranking The PBA Teams: The Teams In The Middle

In this three part series, we’ll review the PBA teams and rank them according to the strengths of their lineup.

(Missed #12-#9? Go here.)

Here are the teams ranked  #8 to #5.

#8 MERALCO BOLTS

Roster

Name	Position
Bryan Faundo	F/C
Simon Atkins	G
Jimmy Alapag	G
Cliff Hodge	F
Ronjay Buenafe	G
Chris Newsome	G/F
Anjo Caram	G
Rabeh Al-Hussaini	C
Jared Dillinger	G/F
Reynel Hugnatan	F/C
John Ferriols	F
Kelly Nabong	F/C
Rey Guevarra	G/F
Gary David	G

Analysis: The Meralco Bolts squeezed by the NLEX Road Warriors to nab the #8 sport because they had a better mix of talent. From reliable veterans like Gary David and Jimmy Alapag to their resident sparkplug Jared Dillinger and even to promising young players like Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome, the Bolts are well positioned to be the darkhorse in every conference of the upcoming PBA calendar. What could be crucial for their improvement is the play of Rabeh Al-Hussaini. If he could be a dominant force or even just hold his own against the PBA’s top big men, the Bolts can certainly inch their way up to the top 6 teams of the PBA.

Ranking The PBA Teams: The Bottom Four

In this three part series, we’ll review the PBA teams and rank them according to the strengths of their lineups.

First up, #12-#9.

#12 MAHINDRA ENFORCERS

Roster

Name	Position
Aldrech Ramos	F/C
LA Revilla	G
Karl Dehesa	G
Nino Canaleta	F
Joshua Webb	G/F
Eddie Laure	F
Paulo Hubalde	G
Manny Pacquiao	G
Philip Paredes	F/C
Rich Alvarez	F
John Pinto	G
Kyle Pascual	F/C
Mark Yee	F
Hyram Bagatsing	G
Bradwyn Guinto	C
Leo De Vera	F

Analysis: This Mahindra team is seriously lacking in talent to compete in the PBA. Their two best players are Aldrech Ramos and Nino Canaleta, who are skilled players who can be effective third or fourth options on offense but as main men, they will be found sorely lacking. Add to that the team’s lack of quality big men in a golden era for PBA big men plus the shoddy treatment of Mahindra management with regards to their players and coaches and you get a team that will languish at the bottom of the heap.

Thoughts on The Azkals' 0-2 Loss To Bahrain

The Philippines' chances to advance to the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers took a serious blow when they lost to Bahrain, 2-0. It was a very lackluster performance by the Azkals, who never seemed in control of the game.

Here are my three key impressions from the match.

PLAYMAKERS NEEDED

Boy, did we need Javier Patino tonight.

While a player like Phil Younghusband used to be enough to make opposing defenses in South East Asia nervous, he is now playing against teams who are used to a much higher level of competition. That’s one major reason for Phil Younghusband’s recent goal drought (the other being his changed role on the team) and why Javier Patino is now even more important to the Azkals’ fortunes.   But while Phil Younghusband may have been found lacking, he still played well. Just not good enough to be the main man that he used to be.

To Play Or Not To Play

In the days that came after Gilas brought home the silver medal in the FIBA Asia Championships and a slot in the Rio Olympic qualifiers, controversy struck the Philippine basketball scene. Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Chairman Manny Pangilinan opined that we should consider giving up our slot in the Olympic qualifiers, if we could not secure the needed support from all Philippine basketball stakeholders.

In fact, Mr. Pangilinan practically admitted that, given the strength of the other teams in the Olympic qualifiers, Gilas 3.0 as constructed had little to no chance of snagging a ticket to Rio. But he also left a door open, saying that if a commitment can be attained from the PBA that the SBP will have full access to all the players, then he not only send a Gilas team but would also bid to be a host for one of the qualifying tournaments.

Our current situation is replete with political issues and maneuverings, which this writer is not in any way an expert of. So let’s stick with the basketball side of things and answer this question: Should we send a team to the Olympic qualifiers?

And the answer to that is: Yes. But not for sentimental or emotional reasons. We should send a team for the right reasons. And as far as I’m concerned, there are only two “right” reasons.

The Difficult Road Ahead (Part 2)

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In part two of our analysis on the chances of Gilas to advance to the Rio Olympics via the Olympic Qualifiers, we’ll take into consideration some of their notable opponents.

BEST CASE SCENARIO TEAM VS OPPONENTS

C – JunMar Fajardo

PF – Slim Andray Blatche/Ranidel de Ocampo/Marc Pingris

SF – Gabe Norwood/Calvin Abueva/Jeth Troy Rosario

SG – Jordan Clarkson/Paul Lee/ Jeff Chan

PG – Jayson Castro/Terence Romeo

This team can do a lot of damage and, depending on the other teams in their group, may have a slight chance of getting a ticket to Rio.

Teams they can handle: Iran, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Italy

I think Gilas will have more than enough firepower to once again upend its Asian neighbors, as well as Puerto Rico. Against Mexico and New Zealand, Gilas will have to make sure that their guards (Castro, Clarkson and Romeo) and wingmen are in peak form, as these are the positions where we’d have a clear advantage. Against Italy, it’s the bigs who will make a difference, as Blatche, Fajardo, de Ocampo and Pingris can take advantage of the relative passiveness of the Italian big men.

The Difficult Road Ahead (Part 1)

When Gilas lost to China in the gold medal match of the FIBA Asia Championhips by a score of 67-78, we lost much, much more than just the continental title. We also lost the easiest available ticket to the Rio Olympics next year.

Gilas did qualify for the Olympic qualifiers in July next year, when 18 teams will battle it out for 3 more tickets to Rio. The problem? Already included in this roster of 18 teams are world-class teams like France, Serbia, Greece, Mexico and Puerto Rico, rising teams like Italy, the Czech Republic, Canada, and New Zealand, and Asian qualifiers Iran and Japan. That’s a murderers’ row of teams to get through for three Olympic tickets. 

So what are Gilas’ chances for an Olympic ticket? My biased opinion: fair to small. My unbiased opinion: small to miniscule. I’m sure your next question would be “why?” (or you could also be jumping down my throat for being unpatriotic, having no faith in Gilas or just being a sucky Filipino).

Let’s assume you asked why. Here’s how I see things going in the coming FIBA Olympic Qualifiers.