Philippine PBA Trades, Releases, Sign-ups, Rumours (vol. III)

[ma4ma]

SMC and The Lina Group: Destroying the competitive balance of the PBA


First we saw Allein Maliksi and Rico Maierhofer go to Ginebra for absolutely nothing in return( yes, consider Yancy De Ocampo and Jimbo Aquino bad players), now Dylan Ababou and Kerby Raymundo will be going to Ginebra for JC Intal (BMEG) , Reil Cervantes(Barako Bull) and Ronald Tubid(Barako Bull).

The Basketball scene in the Philippines is losing its integrity with trades like this. I remember when Enrico Villanueva, Larry Fonacier, and Lordy Tugade went to the San Miguel Beermen(during that time Magnolia). It was 2007 and Barako Bull led by coach Yeng Guiao was winning championships. San Miguel had the deepest line-up in league because aside from getting the best players of Barako Bull, they had Danny Seigle, Danny Ildefonso, Dorian Pena, Dondon Hontiveros, Olsen Racela, and rookie LA Tenorio. This team was good enough to become a Philippine National Team and by the next season they received Jay Washington and Mick Pennisi via free agency.

I consider these events as the "Philippine Basketball Dark Ages" because of these lopsided deals, many teams lost popularity such as Sta Lucia, Coca Cola, Shell, and Air 21. Nobody was watching the games except if you are a Ginebra, Purefoods, or a San Miguel fan. The only team that survived this turmoil was Alaska because the Aces management during that time was able to keep Tim Cone's system and they made a very smart trade to for LA Tenorio and Larry Fonacier in exchange for Ken Bono and Mike Cortez. The teams that lost money sold their Marquee players to Talk n Text, that is why Kelly Williams, Ranidel De Ocampo, and Ryan Reyes are playing for consecutive championships as we speak.

Now we are seeing it yet again. Basketball executives do not understand why people are watching these games or why people love the PBA. The Philippine Basketball Association is supposedly a basketball league and not a Harlem Globetrotters versus the Washington Generals event. Basketball fans turn on TV's or go to the Araneta Coliseum to watch competitive basketball. I really thought something changed this season. But when Barako Bull sent their best rookies to Ginebra, this league fortifed the idea that it is a big joke. Ginebra is a crowd favorite because it is an underdog not because it is an All-star team. Why can't SMC let Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand and get younger players from future drafts? A league should have winners and losers that interchange from time to time. Franchises used to have an Alvin Patrimonio or Benjie Paras leading the way. Now, we have powerhouse teams that look very expensive (So much for the imposed salary cap). Instead of having role players, we see star players replacing star players. SMC teams and the Pangilinan teams are just too deep. The Lina group is just selling their players to the highest bidder or they look like an SMC farm team.

I am not saying trades should be barred because it is normal but it should be fair in nature. Basketball franchises should refuse to give away their best players. Just because Ginebra is losing does not mean they should rob PBA fans and get the best players from other teams. It is good to overhaul a team but doing it by sacrificing the honesty and the competitive balance of our beloved PBA is not the way to go. If trades are going to continue to be like this, I would not be surprised if the PBA will one day shut down because it is very obvious that this is just a 5 team league (three from SMC versus two from the Pangilinan Group) and other companies would fear to invest in such a league which can considered a black hole economically.

Source: Down with Manila

[killmebusy]

to be fair, most of these student athletes barely attend class and would usually get poor grades (or get the special treatment, ugh) so might as well send them to the pros early to save the school from humiliation...


I do remember several NBA columnist claiming that the age limit should be scrapped, using golf and tennis, which does not have an age limit for you to be a pro......

then again, would the government allow it? in a practical sense you guys do have a point but ethically and socially it would set a bad example to the youth. maybe someone's gonna bring up that our boxers can be an example but they did that as sort of a last resort...due to poverty. besides a collegiate star gets the money, the training and the education...why would they choose to go pro for less money, no education and more rigorous trainings?

[swish#20]

you really can't compare the nba and the pba...such as the US economy and our own. so you really think basketball is much more important than education? would you have someone agree with you on that? what would the DEPED say? for such an education starved country such as us, placing basketball ahead of it would be giving out a terrible example to the youth. besides, uaap stars are already raking in the cash (something i vehemently oppose)...on top of quality education and continuous basketball training, so the pba doesn't need to interfere. besides, do you really think the ADMU alumni would let Kiefer walk without him consuming his 5 year eligibility? same goes with parks and the sy family...or maybe you don't know what happens in the (dirty) recruitment wars in collegiate basketball...

can you enlighten me about these amateurs getting money? is this done secretly or what? coz this is news to me afaik amateurs do not get paid to play ball. note that a professional means being paid to do a certain job. yep i do know what goes around, thats why im opposed to this. maybe in time we get balanced college teams scattered in the whole of philippines so that the talent is not concentrated in the uaap/ncaa leagues. take a look at greg slaughter, already 23y.o. still playing college ball. is this a good example for the young that is to stay forever in college?

[killmebusy]

can you enlighten me about these amateurs getting money? is this done secretly or what? coz this is news to me afaik amateurs do not get paid to play ball. note that a professional means being paid to do a certain job. yep i do know what goes around, thats why im opposed to this. maybe in time we get balanced college teams scattered in the whole of philippines so that the talent is not concentrated in the uaap/ncaa leagues. take a look at greg slaughter, already 23y.o. still playing college ball. is this a good example for the young that is to stay forever in college?

i do agree that the age limit be shortened in the uaap/ncaa. well, sources say that kiefer got at least 10million to stay in ADMU...how much does a pba rookie/gilas mainstay make? 200k a month less and less i presume. slaughter's case is a little more complicated...what age did he graduate high school? also, for all the kobe's and rose's there will always be a jonathan bender and gerald green who should have stayed in school to polish more their game. so right now, do you think kiefer and ray can already compete against the likes of arboleda, belga and peek in the pros? heck the first time the gilas team "played" in the pba they got routed by each and every team despite having cj giles.

[acklium]

a pro player most likely should start by the age of 18,19, and 20

[Jordan Bruiseter]

[B] ...Basketball executives do not understand why people are watching these games or why people love the PBA...

I think a lot of people would agree that the current guidelines on fairness in trades are lax. However, on the flipside, league revenue since last year has gone up, so we might not see a major revamp in these policies. We have to remember that even if a team, i.e. Air21 or Barako Bull do not perform well in the conference and lose on potentially important brand advertisement, the owners still benefit from revenue from the league.

[swish#20]

i do agree that the age limit be shortened in the uaap/ncaa. well, sources say that kiefer got at least 10million to stay in ADMU...how much does a pba rookie/gilas mainstay make? 200k a month less and less i presume. slaughter's case is a little more complicated...what age did he graduate high school? also, for all the kobe's and rose's there will always be a jonathan bender and gerald green who should have stayed in school to polish more their game. so right now, do you think kiefer and ray can already compete against the likes of arboleda, belga and peek in the pros? heck the first time the gilas team "played" in the pba they got routed by each and every team despite having cj giles.

Amazing, im not sure you can find that in the rulebook. like i said, i hope the talents would be scattered in schools all over the phils not just in ncr. its not the proper comparison of gilas to pba teams since these rookies will be joining a regular pba team. as far as kobe is concerned, 18y.o., just check his minutes coz i remember he was limited in his rookie year and was taken under the wing of eddie jones, the laker starter that time. so thats what i mean, kiefer need not be playing 30mins in his rookie year as he can be brought up slowly.

[Jordan Bruiseter]

Approved without revision:

Raymundo + Ababou - Ginebra
Intal + Draft Pick - BMeg
Tubid + Cervantes + Draft Pick - Barako Bull

That's the trade on paper.

However...buzz is, the trade was "Ababou for Douthit"

[Silent Killer]

Approved without revision:

Raymundo + Ababou - Ginebra
Intal + Draft Pick - BMeg
Tubid + Cervantes + Draft Pick - Barako Bull

That's the trade on paper.

However...buzz is, the trade was "Ababou for Douthit"

LOL

but DUMB move by barako bull. trading away ababou and maliksi? their suppose to be the future of the team. and a showbiz answer by the management, "we'll not trade ababou" LOL..

[neo]

ababou vs intal i think is relatively fair. ababou showed flashes of brilliance but was on and off the whole conference while intal showed flashes of brilliance but was on and off in hs bgk years. of course, whoever gets the younger player wins most of the time (but not all times).

raymundo vs tubid, cervantes, and 2nd rd pick is relatively fair also.

its d the raymundo vs intal plus 2nd rd pick that i think should have been revised by making it a first-round pick instead of 2nd rd or at least another player to go with intal. perhaps, salud, despite's kerby's better than expected return performance last conference (as opposed to the likes of de vance etc), probably took into consideration kerby's age and series of injury the past couple of years.

[ricodgame]

Isip + Omolon for Canlas + Daa + 1st Rd Pick sounds fair to me.

[lovejones]

There's a buzz that

Rabeh
JWash
Rey Guevarra

are on the trading block. But for whom and what team I'm really not sure but some say that Air 21 is involved.

[Pilyong Husband]

There's a buzz that

Rabeh
JWash
Rey Guevarra

are on the trading block. But for whom and what team I'm really not sure but some say that Air 21 is involved.

As a Petron/SMB fan ... I'm all for it!!! It's about time these guys get jettisoned out.

Rabeh - the headcase who oftentimes acts like a petulant bratty child when he doesn't get his way
JWash - the finger-pointing downer who won't hesitate throwing a teammate under the bus to ruin locker room and team chemistry (just ask Arwind)
ReyG - the glaring disappointment despite all his physical gifts. Probably too timid and indecisive for Coach Ato's taste.

[Coke_Hero]

There's a buzz that

Rabeh
JWash
Rey Guevarra

are on the trading block. But for whom and what team I'm really not sure but some say that Air 21 is involved.

Rabeh and Rey on the move again? Rey's has been totally evident. I really don't think he's top three worthy anyways. RJ Jazul was Letran's go-to guy before and it was a shocker that he (Jazul) dropped to the second round. Rabeh is a headcase, JWash should be traded simply because he'd become a ballstopper and a defensive liability in Petron's game.

As per Ginebra's trade moves, I'm glad that they maintained hustle guy Willie Wilson amidst reports saying that he's going to be included in the Kerby deal but I'm totally worried about the Kings' defense. Dylan's not totally known as a defensive stopper neither is Kerby. Wish they went with Ping instead

[nardy]

Basketball

Air 21 acquires Omolon, Isip from Meralco

Reynaldo Belen, InterAKTV · Friday, January 27, 2012 · 6:08 pm


The Air 21 Express, coming off a historically futile tournament as the Shopinas.com Clickers in the Philippine Cup, have embarked on a modest offseason buildup by trading for two athletic frontcourt players from the Meralco Bolts.


Air 21 team manager Jovie Saddul told InterAKTV that the Express have acquired the rights to Nelbert Omolon and Mark Isip from Meralco in exchange for Mark Canlas, Dennis Daa, and a 2012 first round draft pick that originally belonged to the Bolts.


Saddul presented the deal Friday to the PBA, which has the right to veto or revise transactions. According to the Air 21 executive, PBA commissioner Chito Salud said that he sees no problem with the deal, although it is still yet to be approved.


Omolon was a member of the PBA mythical second team with Sta. Lucia in 2008, but is averaging a career-low 4.1 points per game this season.


Isip, meanwhile, will be playing for his seventh team in six seasons when his transfer to the Express becomes complete.

Prior to the Bolts, the forward out of FEU also played for Sta. Lucia, Coca-Cola, Rain or Shine, Talk ‘N Text, and Barako Bull.


The current Air 21 franchise, which lost all 14 of its games in the Philippine Cup, is still searching for its first PBA victory.

Earlier this week, the team received a bit of good news after it was awarded the exclusive rights to hire former SMART-Gilas Pilipinas center Marcus Douthit as its import for the Commissioner’s Cup.