Shopinas Green Archers

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!