KFC PBA Philippines Cup Power Rankings: First Looks

College basketball season is almost over, although you can expect to see at least one more NCAA UAAP Power Ranking to tie everything up after the NCAA championship. Meanwhile, the PBA is in full swing. It’s been barely a week and it’s already been the most eventful conference in recent memory. See how the teams stack up.

1 Alaska Aces (2-0)
While most teams retooled during the off-season, the Aces stood pat on their roster. And why not? This is basically the same team that came one game away from winning the All-Filipino conference last season. Willie Miller opened the season with a triple-double, then followed it up with 25 points in a win over San Miguel. Backcourt mate LA Tenorio is backing him up beautifully, averaging 16.5 points over their first two games. Their triangle offense, as always, has been humming. Now if they can only sustain that defense.

2 Brgy Ginebra Kings (2-0)
Ginebra is deep this year. I mean 11-12 man deep. They have nine guys averaging at least eight points per ballgame. And that guard rotation, now that Mark Caguioa is back, is just unreal. Can you believe Powerade Team Pilipinas member Cyrus Baguio is only averaging 13 minutes a game? Eric Menk may have returned to the injured list after just one game, but the team can afford to give him some rest with Jayjay Helterbrand in MVP form (norms of 18 pts, 6 reb, 9 ast) and backup bigs Willie Wilson and Billy Mamaril holding the fort down low.

3 Sta Lucia Realtors (1-0)
The Realtors were impressive in their opening game against Coke. Both Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes look like they’ve recovered from the injuries that kept them out of Tianjin. Joseph Yeo (14 pts, 10 ast) looks ready to emerge as the third option (and willing creator) after they shipped out former starter Denok Miranda. New recruit Gabby Espinas also looks like a great fit beside the Sta Lucia stars, getting a double-double in his first start with the team.

4 Talk N Text Tropang Texters (1-0)
The usually offensive-minded Tropang Texters struggled on that end early, but ended up with an impressive win over Rain or Shine anyway. Mac Cardona looks ready to lead the league in scoring again. It’s nice to see Nic Belasco on a team that matters again. He’ll be a big help on the defensive end, which is something they really needed to shore up after last conference.

5 Purefoods Giants (1-1)
The Giants look like a better rounded team this season. Rafi Reavis, Marc Pingris and Rico Maierhofer make them a force on the boards. Paul Artadi gives them a pure point guard they can rely on, although the Ginebra experience seems to have made him rather un-shy to take three-pointers. Verdict is still out whether that’s a good thing. Still, this new crew looks good beside the uber-talented James Yap and Kerby Raymundo. This is a very promising product on the court.

6 Rain or Shine Elastopainters (0-1)
They may have flubbed their first assignment, but TNT looks dangerous this season so Rain or Shine gets a pass. New acquisition Mark Telan and Jervy Cruz look like they can help ROS clean glass this season, but they’ll need Sol Mercado, who missed a good chunk of time last season, and Jay-R Reyes to play better than they did in their first game. 13 points combined for those two stars is not going to get the job done.

7 Barako Bull Energy Boosters (1-1)
Barako Bull surprised many when they pulled off their first win this early in the season over Coke. They look like a system team this year, and man, are they going to need it with the severe lack of talent they’re suffering from. When you need a double-double from Yousif Aljamal, you know you’re in trouble. This looks like a team full of role players, but if they can be good enough at their roles, maybe this can work. At least enough to keep them out of last place.

8 Burger King Whoppers (1-1)
The Whoppers haven’t looked all that bad this year, although the loss of Arwind Santos forces a change of philosophy. Last season, they manufactured a lot of offense off of their superior defense. This year, with Ronjay Buenafe taking his place beside Gary David, they look much better on offense. The question mark will be the defense, though. That, and the fact that they’ll be losing Wynne Arboleda for the season after his courtside assault on a PBA fan.

9 San Miguel Beermen (0-2)
Surprised to see them this low after winning the last available championship? So am I. However, they’ve looked a totally different team from the one that won the previous conference. I suppose trying to replace Jay Washington and Marc Pingris with chuckers Arwind Santos and Lordy Tugade will do that. J-Wash and Pingris would never combine for 0 for 17 from the three-point line over the first two games. Washington is too good a shooter for that. And Pingris would never even dream of attempting that many.

10 Smart Gilas National Team (0-1)
They dropped their first assignment, a highly physical (and dirty?) encounter with the BK Whoppers. However, there were plenty of positives for this very young squad to take away from the game. They were able to compete for most of the game with CJ Giles in limited minutes (foul trouble) and the bench totally out of sync. And the 105 points they scored was the most by any team this season, with the exception of the team that beat them. Also, 41.7% from three-point range.

11 Coca-cola Tigers (0-2)
The Tigers not only get dubious distinction of being Barako Bull’s first victim, they also lost Asi Taulava to injury. I’m not sure how much time it’s going to cost the Powerade Team Pilipinas stalwart, but Coke definitely looks like it needs all the help it can get. I wonder, would it be more discouraging to be the first victory of Barako Bull or the first victory of Smart Gilas. Well, maybe Coke can end up being both.