The PBA All-Snubs
The PBA is loaded with talented players. This fact is the primary reason why the league is considering adding three expansion teams for the next season. Because of the astounding number of talented players in the league, choosing All-Stars can be quite a chore.
The PBA fans already voted for their starting five and, as expected, it was dominated by two of the league’s most popular teams. Greg Slaughter, Mac Baracael, and Chris Ellis are the PBA All-Star starters from Ginebra. San Mig Super Coffee’s James Yap and Mark Barroca complete the five who got the most number of votes.
It was then up to the league to decide which seven PBA players would be named as All-Star reserves. When these players were introduced yesterday, fans noticed glaring omissions. So for this post, let’s see if we could come up with our own All-Star reserves based on the statistics they’ve accumulated in the season.
For each set, pick one player who you think is least deserving to be called an All-Star.
Set A is a group composed of three bigs. Let’s see if you can pick the non-All-Star.
Player A: 17 points, 9.06 rebounds, 2.12 assists, 0.94 steals, 0.69 blocks
Player B: 14 points, 8.64 rebounds, 2.64 assists, 0.45 steals, 1.14 blocks
Player C: 13.72 points, 13.17 rebounds, 1.78 assists, 0.43 steals, 0.79 blocks
This one’s easy right? Player B is, at least based on stats, not on par with Players A and C. However, Player B is the only All-Star in the group. Those numbers belong to Alaska center Sonny Thoss. Player A is Jay Washington, Best Player of the Conference contender in the Philippine Cup and Player C is Asi Taulava, the hulking big man who continues to defy Father Time.
Set B is a group of two forwards and a guard. You mostly likely picked out the wrong player in Set A so let’s see if you can select correctly this time.
Player A: 9.7 points, 7.65 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.95 steals, 0.35 blocks
Player B: 14.39 points, 5.17 rebounds, 5.67 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.06 blocks
Player C: 9.89 points, 4.71 rebounds, 2.32 assists, 0.57 steals, 0.43 blocks.
Off the bat, you’ll say that Player B is an All-Star right? 14-5-5 is something that would make Fantasy NBA participants drool. Player A has better rebounding number than Player C so the last entry in the set is clearly not the All-Star right?
Wrong. Player C is Joe Devance, the starting forward of the reigning Philippine Cup champions. Player A is also an All-Star as those numbers belong to Alaska’s Calvin Abueva. Player B is Joseph Yeo of the Air21 Express, the player not in the All-Star reserve list. Yeo reinvented his game in the Philippine Cup as he transformed into a point guard but his team continued to strugle which may have been the reason why he was snubbed.
The last group is composed of three guards. See if you can weed out the player not in the All-Star group.
Player A: 17.18 points, 3.47 rebounds, 4.76 assists, 0.53 steals, 0.18 blocks
Player B: 14.52 points, 4.35 rebounds, 2.83 assists, 0.91 steals, 0.04 blocks
Player C: 13.66 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.76 assists, 0.31 steals, 0.17 blocks
Player A is surely an All-Star. He has more points and assists compared to Players B and C. Player B has more assists and rebounds than Player C so the last entry is the one not going to the All-Star Game right?
Wrong again. Player C is PJ Simon. Player B, Marcio Lassiter, is also an All-Star reserve. Player A is Sol Mercado, who was given a consolation prize of joining the Skills Challenge and the Stalwarts versus Greats game.
The argument for the San Mig Super Coffee boys is that the champions should be rewarded. In the NBA, the Detroit team composed of Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, and Rip Hamilton did not have the sexiest stats but they were dominated the NBA so they were all named All-Stars. This is the only case for the Mixers as there are other players who have better numbers.
The problem with this argument is that if winning was a factor, it removes the sense in taking Abueva or Thoss over Washington, for example. J-Wash has better stats across the board and both teams bowed out in the quarterfinals. If winning was the case for the Mixers, what’s the case for Abueva and Thoss?
I think the selection would have been better received if there was an explanation behind it. If they wanted to take only players from teams that made the semis, then fine. If they judged it purely on statistics, then it’s also completely acceptable. But the selection process, at least for this set of All-Stars, is really murky because there is no clear criteria.
In the end, we’ll all have differing opinions on whom to name All-Stars. The Ginebra fans will always think Mark Caguioa deserves to be in the squad. The Alaska fans think that Abueva and Thoss deserve their slots. But in my opinion, the reserves should be judged purely on merit and not popularity. The PBA already has its popularity contest and it’s to name the All-Star starters.
I hope that we also notice the players from the not-so-popular teams. Guys like Taulava, Washington, and Yeo may not be in marquee teams but they definitely deserve to be called All-Stars. They may not be as popular but these guys are putting in the work too.
