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On continuity and chemistry in the PBA

Only two teams out of ten are left battling it out in the current PBA Philippine Cup, Rain or Shine and San Mig Coffee, who are locked in a championship best-of-seven battle. The eight other teams are out of contention and preparing for the league’s Second Conference, the Commissioner’s Cup, which starts in early March 2014. Some of their imports are already in town, and practice has begun. Some of the eliminated teams have made certain changes already, involving players and coaches. A couple of coaches were replaced and certain trades went down the other day, which included ace guards Sol Mercado (to San Miguel) and Alex Cabagnot (to Global Port) trading places.

Immediately after the changes and trades were announced, many of my colleagues in sports media, and sports fans in general, expressed their disenchantment, with the most-mentioned reason being that coaches get fired too quickly, and certain players keep getting traded without having had the chance to contribute at all to their former team. They either got little or no playing time or got injured and did not have the opportunity and, even before they could get their feet wet, they are already being shipped away to another team. I joined my colleagues and the fans in expressing my distaste for some of the changes. I recognize that each team is always trying to get better, since winning is the primary goal and the real gauge for success of any team, but I cannot understand how constant change in lineups and in the coaching staffs can help in the long run.

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Sometimes, it might work that a player is brought in and makes an immediate impact and helps the team win, or a new coach is placed at the helm and almost instantly, the team responds. Basketball, though, is also a game where chemistry is oftentimes more important than anything else, and, unless the player given up is known for being a bad character, a cancer that would kill his team’s search for the right formula, whatever team relationship the departing player had with his former teammates will be severed, and a fresh one has to be formed with the newcomer. This, more often than not, will take time to develop. There are few who can come in and contribute immediately, but chances are, only time will tell how much a new coach or player can give.

Coach Richie Ticzon did fairly well in his initial stint as interim coach of Global Port. Team management, however, was disappointed as goals were high after the acquisition of some veterans and rookies in the offseason, and sought to hire a coach with more experience. In comes Pido Jarencio, who, hopefully, is the man who will give the Batang Pier the edge for which they have been searching since entering the league. Coach Gee Abanilla took his Petron Blaze team (now San Miguel Beer) to the Finals in his first conference as coach, and into the Semis in his second. But, similarly, the aspirations of his bosses were higher, especially with a lineup that, on paper, looked powerful, and Abanilla has been made Team Manager, with former Assistant Coach Biboy Ravanes named Head Coach, with “coaching consultant” Todd Purves admittedly taking a more active role, much like Rajko Toroman did with Petron and Barako Bull in the past.

Mercado was with Global Port only for two conferences before moving to San Miguel the other day. He had been with Meralco before that and played well, even leading the league in scoring and assists prior to being moved to the Batang Pier. He had an outstanding conference this Philippine Cup, but now finds himself moving to another team. How long does it take for a team to determine whether a player has done all he can do for it already? Are certain changes or trades merely reactionary, primarily done because something did not work out and team owners need to put the blame on something, or somebody? Sometimes, that seems to be the case.

Cabagnot was a Petron/San Miguel mainstay for many years, orchestrating and delivering in the clutch, earning himself the nickname “Crunch Man”, but it seems the recent “failure” of his team prompted his transfer. There are of course those players who are moved time and again because they are good role players, easy to peddle in trade talks since they have enough talent to sweeten any deal, yet the team trading them knows they are “replaceable.” One trade that did not happen involved Yousef Taha of San Miguel, who was supposed to change places with Justin Chua of Global Port; however, since Taha had been traded to Petron from Global Port just two conferences ago, he could not yet return to Global Port, as per league rules. For Taha, who is an energetic and determined young big man, the move back to Global Port would have meant him playing for a different team in each of the five conferences of his young career.

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Because winning is paramount, team owners and management only have so much patience. Of course the period to wait and see differs from team owner to team owner, but clearly, for some, there is not much of a grace period. When certain standards are set, and teams fail to meet them, a shake-up seems to be inevitable. Whether it is a coach or a player that is deemed to be the odd man out, from a basketball fan’s point of view, the constant change is confusing and, sometimes, illogical. Determining who “wins” in a trade immediately after it happens is pure speculation, because the real reward will come further down the road. For the more patient teams, those who build through the draft, trade only every now and then and for the most part allow their players to grow together, sometimes success comes even more quickly. It seems that the continuity produces chemistry, which results in victory. Many agree that this is a better method. It might be.

Looking at the two teams playing in the Philippine Cup Finals, their coaches (Tim Cone and Yeng Guiao) have both been given free hands in the selection of players and composition of their respective teams, their jobs are secure and not even slightly in doubt, and their core players have been together for many conferences. Team chemistry on both ends of the floor is apparent. They are clearly beneficiaries of the more patient approach in producing a championship-caliber team.

Life is surely a roller-coaster ride for a team owner/manager. Determining which players to keep, which coach to hire, and what lineup works best is enough to cause sleepless nights and mental anxiety. A quick fix is always a convenient option, but sometimes, maybe it would be better to just sit back and wait for things to work out. What do you think?

You can follow Charlie on Twitter @CharlieC.