While the heated semifinals battle in the PBA Philippine Cup rages on, Alaska quietly made a move to bolster its frontline by plucking little-used Samigue Eman from San Miguel’s reserve list. While the center wouldn’t be able to suit up for the Aces until the next conference, the foxiness of the move wasn’t lost on basketball fans that saw the center play in the PBL, before he got injured prior to joining the PBA draft.

In Eman, Alaska gets a young center who boasts not just untapped potential, but who showed surprising athleticism and a nasty edge during his PBL days with Welcoat/Rain or Shine. Alaska team manager Joaqui Trillo compares Eman favorably with Alaska’s all-star center Sonny Thoss.

The transaction is just another in a long line of savvy moves for the Aces. While the team’s record isn’t perfect when it comes to developing players, the team’s brain trust led by Trillo and coach Tim Cone make it a point to try to find players who will fit into the team’s system. Sometimes, it doesn’t pan out – I always wondered why guys like Brixter Encarnacion, Don Camaso, and Aaron Aban didn’t mesh with the system – but more often than not, it works. It’s no coincidence that the franchise has made it to the semifinals of the all-Filipino conference 4 times in the last 5 years.

So despite not having the resources of the richer SMC teams or Talk N Text, the Aces have managed to be consistently successful. How do they do it? With trades like these:

Year	Trade	Notes
1991	Elmer Cabahug to Purefoods for Jojo Lastimosa	Cabahug had a three great seasons with Purefoods that included two All-Filipino crowns, but these were marred by salary issues. Lastimosa was the leader of the Alaska franchise for the next decade, and ended the ‘90s with 10 championships (9 with Alaska).
1994	Bong Alvarez to Sta. Lucia for Bong Hawkins	Alaska traded away troubled superstar Alvarez for Hawkins, the third member of its vaunted triangle along with Lastimosa and Johnny Abarrientos. Alvarez got into more trouble in his stint with Sta. Lucia, when he hooked up with Vivian Velez, got injured, hung out with Benjie Paras in the US, and asked for a trade to Shell to hang out with his buddy. That didn’t work out either.
1995	Bong Solomon to Ginebra for the draft pick that turned out to be Jeffrey Cariaso	After getting traded to Ginebra, the team discovered that Solomon was legally blind. He might have still been a better player than Dudut Jaworski though.
1997	Cris Bolado to Purefoods for Rodney Santos and Bryant Punzalan	While Cris Bolado won a championship for Purefoods as a lucky charm backup to Jerry Codinera, Santos (whose awful nickname ‘The Slasher’ was coined by our favorite Quinito Henson) was an integral part of Alaska’s late ‘90s championship run, usually playing point guard in Tim Cone’s big backcourt set.
1997	Dwight Lago and Boyet Fernandez to Pop Cola for Kenneth Duremdes	Alaska lost Cariaso left for Mobiline that season for a more lucrative offer, but the Milkmen stole Duremdes, then a backup to Vergel Meneses at Pop, in a late season trade. Alaska subsequently won the next three conference championships with Duremdes in its lineup.
2003	Kenneth Duremdes to Sta. Lucia for Brandon Cablay	The shocker of the 2003 draft saw Alaska trading its top gun in exchange for a draft pick. But the move gave the Aces financial flexibility to stock up on talent, while Duremdes’ massive contract became an albatross for Sta. Lucia, who didn’t win a championship until after they traded Duremdes to Coke four years later.
2005	John Arigo and Ali Peek to Coca-Cola for Jeffrey Cariaso and Reynel Hugnatan	Alaska looked like they got the short end of the stick, talent-wise, in this trade. But Cariaso’s leadership was a boon for the team’s chemistry, and Hugnatan has transformed into one of Alaska’s most important players as a frontcourt Swiss army knife for Tim Cone off the bench.
2006	Don Allado to Talk N Text for Willie Miller and John Ferriols	At the time, Talk N Text coach Derrick Pumaren justified this trade because it allowed his team to acquire Renren Ritualo. Okaay. Since the trade, Miller has been the Aces’ franchise player.
2008	Mike Cortez and Ken Bono to San Miguel for LA Tenorio and Larry Fonacier	While Mike Cortez has been a solid backup point guard for the Beermen, no one’s comparing him to Johnny Abarrientos. Meanwhile, Tenorio’s steady improvement has people gushing about him as potentially the best point guard in the league since the Flying A.

Of course, not all trades are lopsided: Johnny Abarrientos and Poch Juinio to Coca-Cola for Ali Peek and Jon Ordonio was alright for Alaska, but keyed the 2003 All-Filipino title for Coke. Its 2006 swap with San Miguel involving Brandon Cablay and Nic Belasco was a push, as neither player stayed long for either team. The 2008 trade for Mark Borboran in exchange for JR Quinahan looks pretty even, with each player contributing for his new team, as is the trade with Rain or Shine that featured Joe Devance for Sol Mercado and Eddie Laure. Still, you can’t say that Alaska got fleeced in any of these trades.

Ten years from now, when I become a billionaire and buy my own PBA team, the first rule for my team manager would be to never, ever trade with Joaqui Trillo.

After a crazy quarterfinal round, the stage is set for the PBA Philippine Cup final four. The cast features 3 teams that belong to the San Miguel Corporation, which again reinforces perceptions by the league’s critics that the PBA is an SMC league. Some even say that the PBA is set up so that SMC teams would always end up on the winning end of most tournaments.

The grand conspiracy argument doesn’t hold much water. If it were true, there’s no way Sta. Lucia would have won the 2008 Philippine Cup over Purefoods in a close seven-game series wherein James Yap was suspended for one game for the same flagrant 2 penalty called on Ranidel de Ocampo last Friday. Imagine David Stern suspending Kobe Bryant on an iffy call in an NBA finals series against a team like the Milwaukee Bucks.

That doesn’t mean to say that SMC teams do not have an advantage. The PBA landscape today gives the rich teams a leg up when it comes to acquiring talent, and each of the SMC teams have taken advantage to build up its arsenal.

By my count, Ginebra, Purefoods, and San Miguel have acquired a total of 19 players through lopsided trades over the past 5 PBA seasons. The trend started prior to the 2006-07 season, when Ginebra and San Miguel ransacked the roster of erstwhile sister team Coca-Cola just before the corporation let go of the franchise. Over the next several years, each SMC team found more willing partners in Red Bull and Air 21 who would let go of their star players for a song.

	Acquired by	From	Season	Notes
Marc Pingris	Purefoods	Air 21	2005-06	Traded to San Miguel for Enrico Villanueva in 2008, acquired back by Purefoods in 2009
Rudy Hatfield	Ginebra	Coke	2006-07	Went off the deep end after leading Ginebra to a Philippine Cup championship
Billy Mamaril	Ginebra	Coke	2006-07
Rafi Reavis	Ginebra	Coke	2006-07	Traded to Purefoods in 2009
Ronald Tubid	Ginebra	Air 21	2006-07
Lordy Tugade	San Miguel	Red Bull	2006-07
Enrico Villanueva	San Miguel	Red Bull	2007-08	Traded to Purefoods in 2008, traded to Ginebra in 2009
Larry Fonacier	San Miguel	Red Bull	2007-08	Traded to Alaska in 2008
Junthy Valenzuela	Ginebra	Red Bull	2007-08
Mick Pennisi	San Miguel	Red Bull	2008-09
Rich Alvarez	Purefoods	Red Bull	2008-09	Traded to Ginebra in 2009
Cyrus Baguio	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
JC Intal	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Doug Kramer	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Homer Se	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Don Allado	Purefoods	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Celino Cruz	Purefoods	Air 21/BK	2008-09	Traded to Ginebra in 2009
KG Canaleta	Purefoods	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Arwind Santos	San Miguel	Air 21/BK	2009-10

The data does not reflect the indirect benefits of one SMC team acquiring new star players to its sister teams. For example, San Miguel benefitted when Ginebra acquired Hatfield, Mamaril, and Reavis from Coke, because it opened the door for the Beermen to trade for Ginebra’s Rommel Adducul, who had become expendable. When San Miguel acquired Villanueva, Adducul was shipped to Purefoods. Pingris found his way back to Purefoods from San Miguel this season after the arrival of Santos to the Beermen’s camp.

I also did not include in the table the first round draft picks acquired by the Beermen from Coke during the ransacking. San Miguel used the second overall pick in 2007 to draft Samigue Eman, and the third pick in the 2008 draft to trade for Jay Washington. These were non-trivial assets.

Of course, it’s not just the SMC teams doing this. Talk N Text has been just as brazen about stockpiling talent over the past several years. Another rich franchise, Coca-Cola, seems to be going in that direction.

Meanwhile, the Photokina (Red Bull/Barako Bull) and Lina (Air 21/Burger King) franchises have had no scruples about letting their players go to the highest bidders. Sta. Lucia, a franchise beset by financial difficulty, might be going down the same path. In the PBA board, only Alaska and Rain or Shine might be inclined to pursue changes to the system, and even then they are vastly outnumbered.

There hasn’t been nearly enough outrage from the fans. I tried to incite outrage when Burger King sold off Santos to San Miguel, but it was met by general apathy. The Filipino basketball fan’s mindset is rarely about playing fair, and mostly about getting an advantage at any cost. It runs true from college basketball – seriously, check out the message board discussions on high school prospects by fans of elite schools – up to the pros. Hell, think about how Smart Gilas fans wanted Japeth Aguilar on the team, at any cost, relationships be damned.

We want our teams to cut every corner to get the best players. Should it come as any surprise when they do exactly that?

You know how Purefoods fans like me keep harping that the team’s coach, Ryan “The Genius” Gregorio, can’t coach? Well, here’s all the proof you need. Asked how the team pulled through in the do-or-die game in the best-of-five quarterfinals series against Rain or Shine, he responded with his usual cliché: “I just told my players to throw away the statistics and the results of the last two games and simply bring to tonight’s table a big heart. That’s what they did.”

Purefoods star James Yap, however, had a different take on things. The hotshot guard had a difficult time in games 3 and 4, but broke out of his slump to score 28 points in the deciding game. According to him, it was because of a technical adjustment he had to suggest to his coach: “Sinabi ko kay coach na bigyan ako ng bola sa loob ng three points para dalawa, tatlong dribble lang nasa basket na ko. Dati kasi malayo ang tanggap ko ng bola kaya nakaka-collapse agad sa akin ang depensa.”

It worked too, because Yap did his best Vergel Meneses impersonation last night, slicing through the lane repeatedly for twisting layups and finding cutting teammates when he was mobbed. It’s a good thing he spoke up, because all his coach ever seems to talk about is heart. At this point, I really don’t want to hear anything about heart, unless we’re talking about Heart Evangelista.



Does any other PBA team win games in spite of its coach?

Last night, I decided to go out with friends instead of staying home to watch PBA action. I figured, “Hey, it’s just one night, what could possibly happen?”

Well, shit happened.

I turned to the replay of the Talk N Text walkout on BTV as I stumbled into my house past midnight, with the team already in the dugout. I read updates on Twitter over what happened, and, had an angry, drunken rant on Twitter about the issue.

I still feel the same way right now, even after the effects of alcohol had worn off. I am so tired of the Philippine basketball culture of whining about bad calls and bad referees, the persecution complex, and the incessant need to play the victim card.

Rain or Shine assistant coach Richard del Rosario tweeting about how the referees suck his team’s series versus Purefoods. Smart Gilas crying like babies about their whole PBA stint. San Miguel Corporation pulling out its advertisements from the 2008 PBA Philippine Cup finals after James Yap was suspended, and stupid Purefoods fans crying conspiracy against the team. UAAP teams filing every close game under protest. SBP executive director Noli Eala calling up PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad to suggest “fairer” officiating against San Beda during the 2008 NCAA finals. I could go on and on.

This walkout takes the cake. Chot Reyes pulled a total dick move by ordering the walkout—and, as a lifelong Purefoods fan, I’ve seen my fair share of dick moves from Chot Reyes—and Talk N Text management’s decision to condone it showed the organization’s total lack of class. I don’t care how bad the officiating was, this move was one big “FUCK YOU!” to the PBA, to all its other teams, and to all its fans. Seriously, do you have any idea how hard it is to get a lower-level ticket to a Ginebra game if you’re not connected to any PBA team playing that night?

I submit that the officiating might have been terrible. The foul that led to Ranidel de Ocampo getting thrown out might not have merited the flagrant foul penalty 2. The boys at Patay ang Butiki seem to think that Talk N Text might have a case against the officiating. Reyes himself cites the free throw disparity between the two teams for the whole series.

(I’m not a fan of using this metric to prove bias in officiating. It just proves that Ginebra shot more foul shots – nothing more. Now, if Talk N Text really wanted to prove that calls have been going against them, they could review the game and come up with a call-by-call analysis, similar to the ones done by 82games.com on controversial NBA games like Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals between Dallas and Miami, and Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals between the Lakers and the Kings. Otherwise, the free throw disparity would be just another empty statistic.)

Even then, if the Talk N Text organization really wanted to improve officiating, there are more effective ways it could have been done. With its influence on the PBA board, it could push for reforms in the officiating system, call for more transparency, and even move for the termination of officials that they accuse of bias. The PhP500,000 fine that they would pay for walking out could have been used to document issues that they have with the officiating, and they could even do stuff like statistical models and regression analysis to support their position. They could have done themselves, the PBA, and the Philippine basketball community a really huge favor.

Instead, they chose to walk out and screw the public out of a good game. Their subsequent statement about the officiating is a gun held to the head of the rest of the PBA, carrying with it the implication that if they lose, they got screwed by the officiating. You see, this walk-out doesn’t prove that Talk N Text is against biased officiating per se, just that Talk N Text is against biased officiating against the team.

Last Sunday, with little fanfare about the night’s event, 13,000 fans trooped to the Araneta Coliseum to watch an early season game between Ginebra and Purefoods (and perhaps, the matchup between the returning Mark Caguioa and James Yap). They didn’t seem to mind the dark cloud looming over the league with the Wynne Arboleda incident, or the mushrooming negative sentiment all over the Internet against the league after Powerade Team Pilipinas’ debacle in the Fiba-Asia Championship.

The people who attended the game were treated to an exciting ball game by the league’s two most popular teams (a 2008 SWS survey found that Ginebra had the biggest following in Luzon, but fans from the Visayas and Mindanao preferred Purefoods). It was a fun, action-packed 48 minutes, with the players going hard and making big plays. Ginebra coach Jong Uichico masterfully lured Purefoods’ Ryan Gregorio into playing small-ball with a junk zone defense, neutralizing the Giants’ size advantage. Purefoods almost won anyway—does any other PBA team win in spite of its coach?—behind James Yap’s game-long brilliance and Peter June Simon’s balls of steel. But Ginebra came through, behind big plays from Jayjay Helterbrand, Willie Wilson (who had a career game outplaying Kerby Raymundo), and Ronald Tubid, who was just plain electric throughout the whole second half while hamming it up for the crowd.

It’s a popular chorus that the PBA is a dying league, for so many reasons. It usually comes from people who were never big fans of the league in the first place, or who haven’t been in a while, or who do not know what they’re talking about. A few months ago, I argued that the perception that PBA players play passionless ball (compared to, say, NBA players) is probably not true, or at least, fair. Last year, former Solar Sports executive Jude Turcuato pointed out that PBA viewership actually dwarfs that of the UAAP.

Last Sunday, the PBA was alive and well and beaming and vibrant. A friend of mine wrote about how her husband (a Ginebra fan) took their five-year old to the game, and the boy had a helluva time. It’s been a good opening week for the league, the Wynne incident notwithstanding.

Some more basketball related thoughts about the first week of the new season, after the jump.