Famed
sports reporter Snow Badua cornered now-Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.
Ginebra has been extremely quiet in this offseason and Snow is left dazed and
confused.
Even
if the reports are in, the appointment of Siot in the Ginebra camp is still
undecided. Jong Uichico will not
join the B-Meg Llamados and it will
be interesting to see if Jong can sit idly on the bench without upstaging his protégé.
One
thing’s for sure though – The H-Bomb will not return for Ginebra this season.
Rudy Hatfield has issues with settling. Not
anymore though. But although he has cured this problem, the decision he did may
leave a bitter taste on every Ginebra fan. While choosing family over fame is a
noble thought, one would wonder if we have seen the last of his almost 8 points
per game and more than 11 rebounds an outing.
There are a lot of players thinking of retiring and after Jeffrey Cariaso, Johnny Abarrientos, and Olsen Racela, Hatfield will probably lead the next batch led by the former Sta. Lucia triumvirate of Dennis Espino, Marlou Aquino, and Kenneth Duremdes.
Here are the
H-Bomb’s stats in his last three conferences:
2010 FIESTA
CUP
7.0PPG – 7.7RPG – 0.8APG – 21.7MPG
– 21 GAMES
2010-11 PBA
PHILIPPINE CUP
9.6PPG – 12.4RPG – 2.7APG – 30.5MPG
– 23 GAMES
2010
COMMISSIONER’S CUP
7.3PPG – 7.8RPG – 1.6APG – 0.8SPG
– 27.5MPG – 22 GAMES
The
H-Bomb is bar none one of the greatest power forwards to ever play the game. He
started his playing career with the MBA’s
Laguna Lakers before moving to the PBA via the Tanduay Rhum Masters. He was traded to the Pop Cola Panthers when Bong
Tan went berserk and traded his best players for cannon fodders. Renamed
the Coca-Cola Panthers, he went on
to win a bunch of titles with Chot Reyes
as coach and with Johnny Abbarientos,
Poch Juinio, Jeffrey Cariaso, Rafi Reavis, Ato Morano, and Reynel Hugnatan
as players. He was then involved in one of the league’s lopsided trades as the
Kings came away with him, Reavis, and Billy
Mamaril for virtually nothing.
He had
a lot of title runs with the Kings especially during the days where he acted
like a wrestler.
So
what’s next for the Kings?
Jayjay Helterbrand has just signed a one
conference deal with the Kings. Apparently he is a firm believer of getting
your money’s worth and if he thinks he can’t return to his old MVP form, he’ll
probably retire from competition. Enrico
Villanueva is returning to the lineup after battling injury and the Kings
just issued contracts for the services of dominant inside-outside force Reil Cervantes and hardcourt heartthrob
James Martinez.
Ginebra
is still one of the teams to beat but the never-say-die spirits of Mark Caguioa, Ronald Tubid, and the
rest of their cronies must prevail. They have proven time and again that with
or without the H-Bomb, they have the goods to win.
Game
over.
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