Thoughts on Smart Gilas' ass whooping of San Miguel

Wow.

We all knew that Smart Gilas was cohesive, but no one told me that they were all set to unleash the worst beating of the Commissioner's Cup to a powerhouse (on paper) San Miguel squad. Granted, the Beermen are still in the middle of a rebuilding/ retooling phase with new recruits Rabeh Al Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao and Rey Guevarra, but no one saw or expected them to lose by FORTY ONE points (109-68).

From the outside looking in, SG was simply too experience to lose to a newly, "middle of the conference" re-constructed SMB. It was displayed early on as SG delivered on wide open shots brought about by their crisp ball reversals and kick-outs, while SMB missed out on a lot of defensive rotations and went one-on-one on the offensive end (only Joseph Yeo warrants isolation plays for that team, but he's not SMB head coach Ato Agustin's favorite player off the bench, Jay Washington is good, but he's only a lower-dribbling stance better than an MVP-season Kelly Williams).

It would be fun to note that forgotten wingman Dylan Ababou, perhaps the least athletic wing on the SG rotation, served SMB with 17 points that equalled the output of teammate speedster Mac Barroca. This is why, as flashy as Alex Cabagnot is, he's an even worse defender than his idol Steve Nash. Kudos to Denok Miranda for trying his best to stay in front of his FEU successor. But between Miranda's bench-rust and added PBA weight, he was also left in the dust by Barroca's drives into the lane.

SMB import David Young also didn't help out in things with a dismal 15 point output. When the opposing team has locals guarding you and not one of them is named Wynne Arboleda, Arwind Santos, Kelly Williams, Norman Gonzales or one of Yeng Guiao's boys, you are MANDATED to score at least 25. That's how you measure imports in the PBA. Either they're here to score, or to rebound. Never to look like just one of the guys.

Should SMB coach Ato be held accountable for the sorry loss? By all means. But not because of poor coaching. Credit it to the recent trade sending four of SMB's established players for one solid postman, a defensive specialist who can't score outside of wide open lay-ups and a question mark. Of the three names that they took in, only one was ready to play and win NOW. Baclao's going to rot on the bench for sure until either Santos or Washington gets injured, while Guevarra will spend lengthy conversations with Yeo as to when they'll ever play meaningful minutes.

Right now, coach Ato needs to tweak his gameplan and go with a solid rotation. The purist in me would start with Miranda at PG, the import at SG, Santos at SF, Washington at PF and Al Hussaini at C. Cabagnot comes in to provide the "spark" and get things going, with Yeo as an able back-up to the import who should be their designated scorer.

SMB fans (those who haven't jumped ship to Air21 that is) will just have to wait and see like the proverbial saying that "Rome wasn't built in a day."

PS

- Japeth Aguilar still remains allergic to the post, still plays the same soft-ass game and avoids contact. No post-up moves whatsoever. He is NOT the future of the PBA or Philippine basketball. Just another wasted giant who had a lot of promise at one point akin to the Marlous and Yancys of the league.
- Chris Tiu isn't a great basketball player. But he plays HARD whenever he's on the floor. Dylan Ababou should take notes.
- Marco Lassiter, a 6"6 wingman with great shooting, will be a PBA superstar the minute he gets drafted. He looks like a perfect fit for Alaska (as Tony de la Cruz' replacement) to me.

Share this post