PBA Finals Game 2: Chot schools Ato

In anticipation of tonight's telling third game (if Talk N Text wins it's all but over since no team in the history of Philippine basketball has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit), fans have been treated to 1) a match-up of great basketball players playing at the highest level and 2) an old school display of how you just can't take away from veteran coaches in the league.

Truth be told, San Miguel Beermen head coach Ato Agustin has done an incredible job after taking the reigns from Siot Tangquincen. He has opened up the offense with a "small ball" line-up anchored on the backcourt brilliance of Alex Cabagnot and do-it-all forwards Arwind Santos and Jay Washington. If anything, I'd say the Beermen actually play like a collegiate team, forever hustling and running.

The problem is, that kind of basketball can win you a title or two in the amateurs. This is the PBA, and despite falling in the Asian basketball scene the last two decades, it's still where the country's best players and coaches are. Not with Smart Gilas, not in the ABL, Liga Pilipinas or anywhere else (okay, maybe someone should promote Norman Black already and get it over with).

In both games, Talk N Text has relied heavily on an "onslaught" of an offensive game plan. With everyone from Jason Castro to Ranidel de Ocampo not once settling for jumpers but rather driving hard into the paint-- a weakness that I've seen time and again with the Beermen and exposed in the quarterfinals when they faced Eric Menk and the Barangay Ginebra Kings (who didn't pound the ball enough or attack the basket as much). Hell, even Rico Villanueva was doing a lot of damage in that series.

From the first five to the second unit, Chot Reyes' gameplan is clear and simple: attack and play all-out. It also helps that he has 10 solid guys that can come in for one another without dropping the ball or momentum. If anything, Reyes' first five is his defensive unit, and the bench guys are his attack dogs.



If the Beermen still want to salvage the series, here are some possible adjustments that I hope they'd realize to make in time:



Can't teach hustle



1) Clog the paint with guys who are not afraid to foul - enough with this small ball shit. Get Pena to throw some elbows, have Mick Penissi do a cameo (he's sure to jack up an ill-advised three while he's on the floor, but you'll have to take it since he is an accomplished post defender and has six fouls to boot) and tell Washington to quit freelancing on defense (not his fault really, since JWash is a natural wing who feels more comfortable outside the paint be it on offense or defense).



2) Bring in Miranda, Yeo, Artadi - Why Sunday Salvacion is getting daylight is beyond me. He is no better than Lordy Tugade was during his tenure at SMB and doesn't play a lick of defense. Paul Artadi could be the spark that the Beermen need to counter TNT's 2nd unit. He could also play stingy, pesky defense on Jason Castro (he'll be outsized by the stronger Castro, but definitely not outran). Denok Miranda has always been a first class point guard who can orchestrate AND defend. Arguably the team's best defender on the PG position, he can put the clamps on Jimmy Alapag and muscle Jason Castro. What he can't do (still) is shoot. Joseph Yeo-- the only gifted scorer on the SMB bench, is being wasted playing behind a lackadaisical Dondon Hontiveros AND Sunday Salvacion. I'm not saying that Yeo should play heavy minutes (since he's bound to go back to his ball-hogging ways), 20 minutes a night would be fine and him as the focal point of the 2nd unit's offense won't hurt since it's a role he's used to.

3) Sit Alex Cabagnot - tough pill to swallow for SMB fans, since he has proven that he is a clutch player and deserving of his starting spot. The problem with Cabagnot is (since he first got into the league with Santa Lucia), he is the closest thing we have to the NBA's Steve Nash-- all the offensive talent and court vision  in the world MINUS the defense. There's a reason why Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro have been burning the SMB team and getting into the paint-- SMB's frontline doesn't intimidate anyone, and their guards just let opponents blow by them with ease. A solid rotation of Cabagnot-Miranda would probably serve SMB better the way this series is going.

4) Dondon Hontiveros needs to takeover or sit down - again, I feel like Hontiveros is the key to this series. We all know what JWash, Cabagnot and Santos can do, but if the Cebuano Hotshot plays up to what we've known of him before (great man to man defense, excellent sniping from deep) then it could easily turn this series around. If not, read suggestion number 2.

All in all, TNT's lead is still only 2-0, and we've seen teams come back from that before. Definitely not complaining about the quality of this series (as compared to that abysmal B-Meg-Alaska Philippine Cup Finals of last year-- what the fuck was that?).

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