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(Pictures taken from the PBA website. I will gladly delete this if asked. :) ) |
I am
not trying to instigate anything. Sure, after winning their first three games, the
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters have
dropped their last four assignments but this problem is more of a “fantasy” one
rather than a real one.
For
those who play PBFANTASY, it is hard
for a manager to use Rain or Shine players. Yeng Guiao has made it hard for managers to select players in his
squad because even if you know who the obvious star players in the team are, it
may not be the right player to take at that particular time.
Even Hassan Adams can’t be stat threat!
For
starters, have you seen Gabe Norwood’s
average right now? Furthermore, have you seen Ronjay Buenafe’s average right now? These guys suffered a massive
stat drop after Yeng Guiao took over as head coach. I can understand why
Norwood got this since he is new to Yeng’s system but wasn’t Buenafe part of
the Air21 squad Guiao coached a
conference ago? Fact is, Buenafe alongside Beau
Belga were brought in here because they are familiar faces in Yeng Guiao’s
system. Buenafe is averaging less than 12 minutes per game which is 17 minutes
short of his Philippine Cup average.
Meanwhile this could be the first conference where Norwood failed to average at
least 35 minutes a game. His playing time is ten minutes down and this
contributed much to his stat decline. This is turning out to be his worst season in the PBA.
Aside
from Norwood and Buenafe, once dependable players that are hits or misses now
include Ryan Arana and Jeff Chan. These players combine for 26
minutes per game this conference which is seven points higher than RJ Jazul’s minutes haul.
Of
course, there are plus points when Yeng Guiao takes over. His former wards Larry Rodriguez, Doug Kramer, and Beau
Belga are getting their share of breaks. RJ
Jazul is getting his break with Josh
Vanlandingham, TY Tang, and Jervy
Cruz getting ample minutes to shine. Steady defensive specialists Jireh Ibanes and Jonathan Uyloan are getting sporadic playing time. John Ferriols, the team’s elder
statesman, is also getting the minutes for Coach Yeng.
SCORING / There are no ROS locals that
average in double figures. Kramer, Rodriguez, Norwood, and Arana score eight
points and more for the Painters. Ronjay Buenafe, who averaged 17.1 in the
previous conference, is only good for 5.7 points as of this moment.
REBOUNDING / There are three ROS locals who
gets six rebounds per night – Kramer, Rodriguez, and Belga. This is sporadic
though since they may or may not play near their normal playing time.
ASSISTS / As of this moment, unless Gabe
Norwood gets this up, I don’t think this stat would matter. This is where the
need for Sol Mercado happens.
STEALS / Norwood leads the team with
barely a steal per game but again, this is a stat that barely matters.
BLOCKS / Rodriguez is the team’s leader
but again, this is a garbage stat to check out because no manager will use this
category as gauge.
PLAYING TIME / This is the most important
stat we need to check out. Sure, it won’t get you anything but at least it’s
great to know that NO ELASTO PAINTER average 26 minutes a game! This means you
need to pray that the player you’ll get will have a great game or else you just
wasted a pick.
Which
reminds me – there are a lot of managers wishing and hoping that ROS will not
reach the next phase.
I’m
including myself to those well wishers.
There
will be more usable players if Meralco, Air21, and B-Meg will reach instead of
the Elasto Painters.
There is still hope for the Elasto Painters. They need to make use of Norwood and Buenafe more just like how Caloy Garcia would use Norwood and Sol Mercado. Also, its not as if this is the first time Rain or Shine has their backs against the wall. They are a fiery squad that plays hard until the dying seconds.
Hopefully
by the next conference, the Rain or Shine players will be familiarized in Yeng
Guiao’s system so they can boost their chances in winning the Governor’s Cup and at the same time...
...
Become valuable pawns for those who like Fantasy
PBA Basketball.
BONUS!
Here
is the unofficial list of the leaders in the Power Rankings that will be posted on April 4 (As of March 27,
2011).
1 GARY DAVID /
POWERADE
2 LA TENORIO /
ALASKA
3 MACMAC CARDONA
/ MERALCO
4 JOE DEVANCE
/ ALASKA
5 MARC PINGRIS
/ B-MEG
6 SOL MERCADO
/ MERALCO
7 DANNY SEIGLE
/ AIR21
8 JAY
WASHINGTON / SAN MIGUEL
9 MARCIO
LASSITER / SMART-GILAS
10 PETER JUNE
SIMON / B-MEG
11 SONNY THOSS
/ ALASKA
12 JIMMY
ALAPAG / TALK N TEXT
13 CHRIS TIU /
SMART-GILAS
14 JV CASIO /
SMART-GILAS
15 CYRUS
BAGUIO / ALASKA
16 JAMES YAP /
B-MEG
17 KELLY
WILLIAMS / TALK N TEXT
18 MARK
CAGUIOA / GINEBRA
19 ARWIND
SANTOS / SAN MIGUEL
20 JAY-R REYES
/ AIR21
21 RABEH
AL-HUSSAINI / SAN MIGUEL
22 GABBY
ESPINAS / MERALCO
23 DONDON
HONTIVEROS / AIR21
24 RONALD
TUBID / GINEBRA
25 ALEX
CABAGNOT / SAN MIGUEL
26 RANIDEL DE
OCAMPO / TALK N TEXT
27 WILLIE
MILLER / GINEBRA
28 JONAS
VILLANUEVA / B-MEG
29 RYAN REYES
/ TALK N TEXT
30 KERBY
RAYMUNDO / B-MEG
31 ASI TAULAVA
/ MERALCO
32 RUDY
HATFIELD / GINEBRA
33 REYNEL
HUGNATAN / MERALCO
34 CHRIS ROSS
/ MERALCO
35 LARRY
RODRIGUEZ / RAIN OR SHINE
36 ALI PEEK /
TALK N TEXT
37 GABE
NORWOOD / RAIN OR SHINE
38 DOUG KRAMER
/ RAIN OR SHINE
39 JOSH URBIZTONDO
/ AIR21
40 MIKE CORTEZ
/ GINEBRA
Game
over.