![]() |
Renren Ritualo wants to revive his basketball
career under Franz Pumaren.
He
will join former Pumaren wards second round pick Brian Ilad and rookie free agent Hyram Bagatsing.
Also
in the team are assistant coaches Tonichi
Yturri and Cholo Villanueva.
Whoever
is still dazed and confused as to why this blog is named as such MUST BE AN
IDIOT!
Ahem.
With
the team bucking the odds posted by more powerful and stronger squads, the Shopinas Clickers are in for a tough
season. Franz Pumaren is assembling a squad he can trust and I bet he plans to
resurrect the Rain Man’s star. Ever
since Ritualo moved out of the Lina franchise, his game has gone weak. Ritualo
has the Allan Caidic archetype...
without the respect. If Pumaren can revive Ritualo’s career, Shopinas will have
an inexpensive superstar.
Franz
Pumaren like I said is creating a team that he can trust.
Familiarity
issues are important especially in team sports. The knowledge that a coach
imparts on a player will make and break a team.
Here
are examples:
MAGNOLIA (SAN
MIGUEL BEER):
In 1986, San Miguel Corp. from a
year’s worth of absence. Because they sponsored Team Pilipinas then (known to many as the Ron Jacobs-coached Northern
Consolidated Cement) they had the luxury to absorb the core of the NCC
squad. Then-called Magnolia, they souped up their team with Hector Calma, Samboy Lim, Franz Pumaren,
Elmer Reyes, Yves Dignadice, Alfie Almario, Pido Jarencio, and Tonichi Yturri.
The coach of the team was then import Norman
Black. They struggled at the start but a series of wields and deals
eventually made the team a grand slam squad.
STA. LUCIA: When Presto sold the squad to former multi-titled PBL squad Sta. Lucia Realty,
team manager Buddy Encarnado decided
to keep some of the old Presto players. Joining the squad were Vergel Meneses, Bong Hawkins, Gerry
Esplana, Onchie Dela Cruz, Peter “Apet” Jao, and Zaldy Realubit. The team
would have loved for Allan Caidic to join their squad and play alongside
Meneses and 1993 top pick Jun Limpot
but Caidic chose to play with his NCC teammates at San Miguel.
TANDUAY: When Tanduay returned to the
league in 1999, the Rhum Masters
came in with its PBL core. Alfrancis
Chua was their coach and he brought along college standouts like Mark Telan, Christopher Cantonjos, Ronnie
Bughao, Jomer Rubi, and Alvin Magpantay to the fray. He also elevated
Fil-American Eric Menk and Bobby “The Firecracker” Jose returned
to the PBA after serving a couple of seasons in the PBL. A couple of years later,
they brought in former Tanduay player Jason
Webb to attempt to reboot the former DLSU scorer’s status.
RED BULL: In 2000, Red Bull became the
PBA’s tenth franchise. Then-PBL Commissioner Yeng Guiao resigned from his post to coach Red Bull. He claimed six
holdovers from the PBL squad like Davonn
Harp, Jimwell Torion, Kerby Raymundo, Lordy Tugade, Bernard Tanpua, and Junthy
Valenzuela. Guiao also kept the last Red Bull coach in the PBL, Gil Lumberio in his coaching staff.
FEDEX: From 1998 to 2001, Bert Lina had a franchise in the Metropolitan Basketball Association
called the Laguna Lakers. The MBA
involvement ended when they obtained the rights to the Tanduay franchise. While
the Lina franchise retained the last Tanduay coach Derrick Pumaren in the squad, the team had a massive overhaul. One transaction
involved the claiming of former Lakers captain Wynne Arboleda from the Pop
Cola Panthers. They also brought in former Laguna Lakers like Ryan Bernardo and “The Assassin” Biboy Simon, the first player in MBA history to
record 50 points. Throughout their tenure, they were keen to select former MBA
players like John Ferriols, Bruce Dacia,
Omanzie Rodriguez, and others.
WELCOAT: In 2006, multi-titled PBL
squad Welcoat Paint Masters joined
the PBA. Taking the ruins of the Shell franchise, Welcoat was responsible in
fielding in PBA stars like James Yap,
Don Allado, Renren Ritualo, Yancy de Ocampo, Paul Artadi, Marc Pingris, and
others. When the now nicked Dragons entered the scene, Welcoat took Jay-R Reyes, former NCAA MVP Jay Sagad, and Junjun Cabatu with them. They also
selected former PBL 2-time MVP Jojo
Tangkay to beef up their manpower.
MERALCO: Finally in 2010, as the Sta. Lucia Realtors bid farewell, the
Meralco Bolts charged to the scene. Again the Bolts chose to keep the core of
the Sta. Lucia squad. At this point however, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters
has been using the Realtors as their team’s extension. With Macmac Cardona and Asi Taulava souping up the roster, holdovers like Gabby Espinas, Nelbert Omolon, Dennis Daa,
Pong Escobal, Yousif Aljamal, Ogie Menor, and veteran Marlou Aquino were raring to strut their wares. Despite acquiring Ryan Gregorio to call the shots for the
Bolts, they still kept former Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez as his assistant.
Aside
from Franz Pumaren’s La Salle connection, also spotted in their practices are
Barako Bull holdovers Jojo Duncil, Paolo
Hubalde, Pong Escobal, and Dennis Daa.
I am
pretty sure that Shopinas will suffer the infamous “neophyte initiation”. As
the league begins shop on October 2, I expect Clickers to fall into hell when
facing teams with behemoth frontlines and talent-heavy cores.
However,
perhaps “beginner’s luck” could also set in. Unlike past Red Bull/Barako Bull
reincarnations, this squad is full of youngsters yearning for a place in the
league. Khasim Mirza and Elmer Espiritu
are eager to lay waste on their horrendous rookie seasons while Escobal and Ogie Menor are bent to instill the San
Beda winning tradition through their actions.
But
maybe in case of winning traditions are concerned, they don’t need to look
further.
Before
2010, the De La Salle University Green Archers have one of the best basketball
programs in the country and with Pumaren and Sheila Lina at the helm, they’ll likely teach these players the
awesomeness of beating the odds and making the best out of situations.
Game
over!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment