Butiki Bullets: Tuesday November 24

• The U-16 Philippine Team will be gunning for a semifinal slot in the FIBA U-16 championships today. They swept their three games in the group phase, and has won one of their two games in the quarterfinals group pairings. They need to win at lest two of three quarterfinals games to advance. Kiefer Ravena scored 26 points in a 76-70 loss to Iran yesterday, their first in five games. This was the third game Ravena scored 20 or more, as he average 18.6 points for the tournament.

• The PCCL tourney has begun. Trix of Driball breaks down the FEU and San Beda wins over Arellano University and San Sebastian-Cavite.

• Liga Pilipinas playoffs are under away as well. The Misamis Oriental Meteors pulled off a win against the Pampaga Buddies to start off the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference 3 Super Leg, where spots in the finals are up for grabs.

• Barako Bull continues to make it interesting for the top teams, pushing Sta Lucia to overtime last Sunday. Should we stop being surprised now?

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Butiki Bullets: Saturday November 21

• Interesting piece of news. With 6 seconds to go in a tuneup game between the UP Fighting Maroons and the Mapua Cardinals, play was stopped after a near brawl erupted. UP's Alvin Padilla, checking into the game after a stint on the bench, came onto the floor and immediately threw a punch at Mapua rookie Andretti Stevens. Padilla, they say, must have took offense at the way Stevens played physical against UP point guard Mikee Reyes. Game was discontinued after the bench-clearing incident. Padilla will probably be free of any sanctions, as this was an exhibition game and not under any college league's jurisdiction.

• Remember the 2006 draft, when Sta Lucia held the 1st pick? People were worried that the Realtors would pass up on Kelly Williams because Sta Lucia then had a no-Filam policy. It seemed like such a silly move at the time, if they actually had passed on Williams and taken Arwind Santos instead. But Santos really is closing the gap, isn't he? This conference, Williams is averaging 17.4 points, 13.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks in 39.4 minutes. Santos, meanwhile, is averaging 18.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks in 33 minutes.

• Coca-cola and San Miguel played in an out-of-town game today. The highlight of the night? Coke rookie Chris Ross running down a breakaway fastbreak from Santos and blocking the shot. It's reminiscent of the many LeBron James highlights of chasing down fastbreaks. Very impressive play from the rook.

• The Philippine Patriots get a share of the ABL lead after whipping the Indonesia Satria Muda Britama team 74-56. The Indons played with just one import, and that doomed them as the Patriots raced away to leads as high as 28 points. Khasim Mirza, the supposed "cornerstone" of the franchise, continues to struggle. He doesn't get himself into positions where he can be effective, unlike later recruits Nonoy Baclao (10 points and some great defense), Elmer Espiritu (9 points) and even Val Acuna who, like Mirza, finished with just 3 points in the game. Imports Jason Dixon and Brandon Powell were used sparingly, and combined for just 17 points.

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Butiki Bullets: Friday November 20

• A couple of college ball players guested on 'Shall We Dance' over the weekend. JRU's John Wilson, UST's Jeric Teng, San Beda's Chico Tirona and La Salle's Sam Marata were among them. (via Greenarchers.ph)

• A couple of the smaller college leagues like the NCRAA and the UCLAA are only just beginning their seasons. Wonder how these guys will eventually factor into the PCCL when they start their seasons so late.

• Mico Halili on his FHM blog: "How do you stop a team whose 3 top scoring players are also its top 3 defensive stoppers?" The San Miguel Beermen got a combined 71 points from Arwind Santos, Dondon Hontiveros and Denok Miranda in a win over Barako Bull days ago.

• The Nokia Pilipinas U-16 squad is in for a tough battle after it was rumored that China brought their U-19 squad instead. FIBA relies on passport verification to determine the ages of the participants; not really the strictest of procedures.
  

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Checking Out the Gilas Replacements

CJ Giles is out of the Gilas program. The question now is, who's taking his place? The SBP has named three possibilities: Jamal Sampson, Earl Barron, and Shaun Pruitt.

Sampson, a cousin of former NBA star Ralph Sampson, was named the frontrunner by SBP executive director Noli Eala. Digging up his Basketball-Reference page, Sampson does indeed look the most intriuging of the candidates. He's played 72 games in the NBA, started in 5, logging 631 minutes along the way. The advanced stats numbers are pretty interesting. But remember that small sample sizes skew a player's numbers, so most of what will follow is meaningless (or at least, don't take it exactly as it is stated, and understand the limitations of the numbers) but still, fun to talk about.

He posted a TRB% of 21.8; that is the amount of rebounds he grabbed in relation to how many were available while he was on the floor. If he played meaningful enough minutes to qualify for the NBA/ABA career leaders list, that would put him #2 behind only Dennis Rodman and his 23.44 mark. CJ Giles had TRB% of 17.1 and he accomplished that playing in the D-League while Sampson got his in the NBA. So Sampson rates positively against Giles on that, at least.

And this is more a result of the sample size being too miniscule to matter, but it would be interesting to note that Sampson had a 12-game stretch with Sacramento in 2005-06 where he posted a robust PER of 24.4. For those of you of who don't understand the stat, PER creator John Hollinger made an easy reference guide to PER marks. That 24.4 ranks somewhere in between "Bonafide All-Star (22.5)" and "Weak MVP Candidate (25.0)." In fact, that 24.4 is approximately what Kobe Bryant posted last season. Sampson holds a career PER mark of 13.0, which falls under "In the rotation (13.0)" but even that is very likely skewed by his minutes.

Earl Barron's BR page, meanwhile, tells us he played in 82 NBA games and started 15. He also played around twice the number of minutes Sampson has. His advanced numbers are a lot more down-to-earth. In three-ish seasons, he has never posted a double-digit PER and in fact finished with a negative-PER in his first season in the league. He played only 8 games that year. He does have a USG% of 22.4, though. Usage rate measures the number of possessions a player was involved in while he was on the floor. That 22.4 falls somewhere in the Antonio McDyess-Rashard Lewis territory. Sampson had a USG% of just 12.0.

Barron, though, consistently put up negatives in Win Shares, mainly because of his contributions (or lack of it) on the offensive end. Sampson had contributed 1.4 wins in his career, beating out Barron's -0.8.

Shaun Pruitt doesn't even have a Basketball-Reference page. That probably tells us more about him than Sampson's and Barron's page tells us about them.

So based on statistics that may or may not matter, we can probably possibly kind of tell that Jamal Sampson might be a sort of better player than the other two candidates for the spot or even Giles himself. Maybe.

I think.

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Butiki Bullets: Thursday November 19

• The 1989 Grand Slam San Miguel Beermen team threw a dinner for teammate Ato Agustin. Samboy Lim, Hector Calma, Franz Pumaren, Alvin Teng, Tonichi Yturri, Elmer Reyes, Bobby Jose and Paul Alvarez (not part of the '89 team) all made appearances. (via Bleachers Brew)

• Is there any player that helps his team without scoring the ball as much as Joseph Yeo? Kelly Williams had a spectacular 27 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists and Ryan Reyes added 17 points and 8 assists as the Sta Lucia Realtors picked up a surprising blowout win over Ginebra last night. Yeo had a quiet scoring night (8 points on 2 of 8 shooting) but contributed 8 rebounds and 6 assists in only 29 minutes. 'The Ninja' is putting together a nice campaign, averaging 10.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists this conference.

• Burger King's Mark Yee did a Don Dulay last night as the Whoppers beat the Coke Tigers by 9. Yee waxed hot in the 4th quarter and made 4 out of 4 shots, 3 of them triples, and 6 out of 6 free throws for 17 points. He finished with 19 for the game.

• From Off the Bench: "Who else thinks that John Wilson and Jimbo Aquino are better than Eric Salamat, Ryan Buenafe and Chris Tiu but will be drafted lower than their UAAP counterparts just because they play in the NCAA?"

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KFC PBA Philippines Cup Power Rankings: Week 5

Biggest jumps: SMB, ROS (1 spot); Biggest drops: ALA, COK (1 spot)

1 San Miguel Beermen (Last week: 2; 6-2)
Six wins in a row, all of them by double-digits, by an average margin of 16 points. Definitely the hottest team in the PBA right now. Arwind Santos is playing inspired ball but he’s hardly doing this alone. Dondon Hontiveros is putting up 16 a game with 5 boards and a block and Mike Cortez is doing his share off the bench, averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals in the six-game streak.

2 Alaska Aces (Last week: 1; 6-1)
The unlucky Aces pick up their first loss of the season as they ran into a red hot Don Dulay last Friday, who torched them for 18 points in the 4th quarter. That surprise loss to the then-winless Rain or Shine Elastopainters knocks them down a spot in the rakings. But can anybody explain how the pintsized LA Tenorio is averaging 9.5 rebounds in the last two games? They must have the best rebounding backcourt in the league with Willie Miller averaging 7.6 and Tenorio 5.1 for the season.

3 Brgy Ginebra Kings (Last week: 3; 5-1)
The Gin Kings continue to keep the top spot within striking distance with an out-of-town win over Burger King. Should they be concerned that they only just barely squeaked out a win against the Whoppers? The Kings get a pass because they were working both Jayjay Helterbrand and Eric Menk back into the lineup. Interesting, though, would be to see what impact Helterbrand and Menk’s return, as well as Mark Caguioa’s eventual return, would have on Cyrus Baguio who was tearing it up while the big guns were on sick bay. Baguio scored 15 in the win over BK.

4 Talk N Text Tropang Texters (Last week: 4; 4-2)
The two wins TNT had this week catapults them back into the top 4. Their defense has slipped quite a bit since the start of the season, but they’ve at least proven that they still have that offensive firepower that can put fear into the other teams. Mac Cardona is averaging a league best 19.9 points while Jimmy Alapag is running third with a 17.7 average. Alapag averaged 23 points and has hit 10 three-pointers in the last two games.

5 Purefoods Giants (Last week: 5; 4-3)
The Giants have been up-and-down this season and this week was no exception. They received a bad beating against the streaking Beermen but made up for it with a 34-point victory over Rain or Shine. Purefoods has not won, or lost, consecutive games this year. Look for that to continue, at least until Sunday, when they face an Alaska Aces that will be eager to bounce back from their only loss of the season. Rico Maierhofer looks like a lock for the Rookie of the Year award, averaging 11.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 23.4 minutes of play.

6 Sta Lucia Realtors (Last week: 6; 3-3)
The Realtors get a break from action this week, playing just one no-bearing game against Smart Gilas last Friday. The Realtors are in the middle of a rough patch of the schedule where they play Alaska, San Miguel then Ginebra. Hopefully, the break gives them time to recover from the beatings they took and bounce back against the Kings tonight.

7 Barako Bull Energy Boosters (Last week: 7; 2-5)
It boggles the mind how Barako Bull stays competitive with such a dearth of talent. But it is difficult to play them just because you never know where the points are going to come from. Yousif Aljamal and Leo Najorda are the only two players who average in double figures, but they have seven other guys who score somewhere in between 9.6 to 6.6 points per game. That makes them almost impossible to prepare for.

8 Burger King Whoppers (Last week: 8; 1-5)
The Whoppers have had a tough start to the season. They better take advantage as they get lightweights Coca-cola and Barako Bull next before buckling up to play TNT and San Miguel to end the first round. The Whoppers made a nice challenge against Ginebra, but they need to find ways to score if they want wins. Maybe James Sena, who was reported to have practiced with the team last week, could help.

9 Rain or Shine Elastopainters (Last week: 10; 1-7)
They finally picked up a victory, and at the expense of the #1 team in the league, too. However, that embarrassing 103-69 loss to Purefoods keeps them from moving up any further. Rain or Shine badly needs a guy with a scoring mindset. Sol Mercado used to be that guy, but Sol is just shooting a horrible percentage from the field. Don Dulay may have been the X-factor in the win over Alaska, but it’s Ryan Arana who’s been the consistent guy of late. He’s averaged 20.5 points since he was inserted in the starting lineup two games ago. What does it say about your stars, though, if your team wins in spite of them rather than because of? Mercado and Gabe Norwood combined to shoot 4-21 from the field and 1-11 from three. To be fair, Norwood has 8 rebounds and 6 assists in that game.

10 Coca-cola Tigers (Last week: 9; 1-4)
The good news for the Tigers is that they’ve played the fewest games of any team in the league. That means less games for Asi Taulava to miss as he recovers from his injury. Dennis Espino is actually holding the fort quite decently in Asi’s absence, but can these two actually play together once Asi returns? Also, Alex Cabagnot is pretty much then lone bright spot in the backcourt. Somebody needs to step up for this team.

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Milo's UAAP 3-on-3 Tourney

Milo is sponsoring a 3-on-3 tournament for 7 of the 8 UAAP schools (DLSU isn't participating) that looks pretty interesting. Check out the possible lineups.

FEU
Reil Cervantes/Russel Escoto
Pipo Noundou/Paul Sanga
RR Garcia/Terrence Romeo

ADMU
JP Erram/Kristian Panganiban
Norman Penola/Paul Siarot
Alec Rivera/Jayvee Dumrique

UE
Samuel Razon/Adrian Santos
Kenneth Acibar/Jhon Sumido
Lord Casajeros/Raphy Reyes

UP
Carlo Gomes/Alinko
Woody Co/Alvin Padilla
Mikee Reyes/Mark Lopez

ADU
Eric Camson/Lionel Manyara
Jan Colina/Vincent Importante
Alex Nuyles/Jansen Rios

NU
Jewel Ponferrada/Emmanuel Mbe
Mervin Baloran/Joseph Nlepe Nlepe
Joseph Terso/Kokoy Hermosisima

UST
Melo Afunag/Chris Camus
Aljon Mariano/Jeric Teng
Jeric Fortuna/Clark Baustita

Early favorites look to be FEU where a Cervantes/Sanga/Garcia team is looking likely. UST might give them a scare with their Camus/Teng/Fortuna lineup. I'm very interested to see the two NU recruits Mbe and Nlepe Nlepe, who are currently leading the voting over the more established Ponferrada and Baloran. Mbe is listed at 6'7 and Nlepe Nlepe at 6'6. UP's lineup would be interesting as well if the 6'8 Alinko can beat out Gomes. I'd like to see an Alinko/Padilla/Reyes team, although Woody Co is ahead of Padilla in the voting.

And Terrence Romeo on the FEU candidates? Does that mean he's already on the Tams seniors team? That makes them even more dangerous for next season.

La Salle is not participating and Ateneo sent a whole bunch of Team B shocktroopers although some of those guys are going to be elevated to Team A for next season. That makes the field weaker than it should have been. But still, this looks like its worth a look.

If you want to cast your vote visit this website. Voting ends today.

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Butiki Bullets: Wednesday November 18

• Rafeboogs of Manila Vanilla with some hilarious Pacquaio-related basketball material. Manny tells ESPN that he'd like to be George Foreman so he could be big enough to play power forward in the NBA. Foreman is 6'3 1/2. Plus, a breakdown of Pacman's game based on the HBO 24/7 footage. Seems like Manny has in his arsenal "an awkward behind the back dribble", "hideous jump shot form" and "double-clutch layups with plenty of pektos".

• The "underperforming" CJ Giles is being dropped by the Smart Gilas developmental team for his negative work ethic. SBP executive director Noli Eala says on the naturalization process: "We believe that Giles may not possess some of the qualifications which we are looking for in the player who will be bestowed Filipino citizenship by naturalization. We have always maintained the SBP will not trifle or trivialize our naturalization process. And only those truly deserving should be given the privilege and honor to play as a naturalized player for the country." The SBP is eyeing Jamal Thompson, Shaun Pruitt or Earl Barron as possible replacements.

• Nice to know the old guys still got it. PBA old-timers dusted off their unis to play Liga Pilipinas stalwarts Cebu Ninos in an exhibition game. It ended in an 80-80 draw. The legends were led by the 14 points of newly-minted JRU Heavy Bombers head coach Vergel Meneses and Joey Santamaria. The Ninos were led by Bruce Dacia with 20. Bong Hawkins and Ronnie Magsanoc also contributed for the legends.

• Chris Soler of Inboundpass with a two-part final look at the NCAA season. (Check them out here for Part 1 and here for the second). Some interesting quotes from the head coaches of the NCAA teams. My favorite one was EAC coach Nomer Isla's "Beating the big teams is what inspires us to play basketball" which was said minutes before San Beda beat the Generals by 31 points. Also noteworthy is San Sebastian rookie coach Ato Agustin's Finals pre-game talk to his rookie laden squad where he said "Walang rookie rookie. Lahat tayo coach at player, pare-pareho lang tayo."
  

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PCCL Sweet Sixteen

It's kind of tough to find the significance of the sweet sixteen when none of them have played a single game outside of the qualifiers. But hey, the PCCL cast is complete. The bracket isn't out yet but here are the teams.

UAAP champions Ateneo Blue Eagles, NCAA champions San Sebastian Golden Stags, UE Red Warriors, San Beda Red Lions, FEU Tamaraws, JRU Heavy Bombers, Letran Knights, UST Growling Tigers, CESAFI champions University of Visayas Lancers, University of Cebu Webmasters, NAASCU champions San Sebastian Cavite Baycats, NCAA guest team Arellano University Chiefs, Mapua Cardinals, University of Manila Hawks, University of San Carlos Warriors and DLSU Green Archers.

The PCCL's problem, of course, is still getting the big universities to take it seriously. The UAAP teams, especially the champions, rarely send out their best players and using it as a developmental tourney for their younger guys instead. This year, the Smart Gilas program and the ABL only adds to those problems. Guys like UAAP Finals MVP Rabeh Al-Hussaini, UAAP MVP Dylan Ababou, RJ Jazul, Aldrech Ramos, JR Cawaling, Nonoy Baclao, Elmer Espiritu, Val Acuna, Rudy Lingganay, Khasim Mirza are all unlikely to join their schools in the tournament. NCAA MVP John Wilson of JRU, who was reported to have quit the team after the firing of coach Ariel Vanguardia, and teammate JR Sena, who has been drafted in the PBA, are also both likely to be missing from the action. That's a lot of starpower the PCCL won't benefit from.

But hey, it's going to have to come down to the schools from the league's outside of the UAAP and NCAA to step it up. The big teams will only take this seriously if there's a real challenge to their reputations. If Greg Slaughter's UV or Junmar Fajardo's UC takes a couple of these tourneys back-to-back, for example, then people are going to start talking about how their program could be superior to the NCAA or UAAP programs. That's when you can expect the bigger schools to take up the challenge.

But if it's always going to be one of them winning the titles, then there's no reason for things to change. That's why I don't agree with the idea of turning the PCCL championship into a best-of-three. The exciting part of the US NCAA's March Madness is the unpredictability of things. There are so many Cinderella stories that can happen because of the one-loss elimination tournament.

Now let's get this show started, and hope for a couple of surprises. If there aren't, then the PCCL will stay the way it is - a side event like the Nike Summer League - and not a relevant tournament.

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Butiki Bullets: Tuesday November 17

• Could we see JRU big man JR Sena in the PBA soon? Apparently, he attended a Burger King Whoppers practice last week and could receive a contract similar to undrafted rookie Ramsey Williams. Sena was drafted by the San Miguel Beermen with the 9th pick, but went unsigned as he finished his NCAA stint with the Heavy Bombers. Sena showed plenty of holes in his game this year, but if he is signed, he will be the youngest active player in the PBA so time will be on Sena's, and BK's, side.

• Norman Black on Ato Agustin: "I drafted him in 1989 and I knew exactly what Ato can do for our team... As far as becoming a good coach, I wasn’t surprised as Ato played with great coaches in the PBA." Black and Agustin are set to receive co-Coach of the Year honors from the UAAP-NCAA Press Corps.

• A brief history of Arwind Santos in the PBA and why he is breaking out in a big way this year. Santos is averaging 20.6 points (.637 FG% on 2-pointers), 10.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.8 steals/blocks in the San Miguel Beermen's six-game winning streak.

• The Philippine Patriots (4-1) are closing in on the Singapore Slingers (5-1) for the top spot in the ABL after picking up another win. The only defeat of either team is to each other. It looks like more and more teams are looking to take advantage of the two imports, three imports from ASEAN rule of the ABL. That essentially means you can hire up to three Filipinos on your team. Al Vergara, Leo Avenido, Don Camaso, Kiko Adriano, Rensy Bajar, Roel Hugnatan, Rudy Lingganay, Toto Bandaying, Ricky Ricafuente and Axel Doruelo are all playing for non-Philippine Patriots teams in the ABL. Both the KL Dragons and the Brunei Barracudas have three Filipinos on roster.
  

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Butiki Bullets: Sunday November 15

• Surprise result in the PBA last Friday. The then-winless Rain or Shine Elastopainters outlasted the then-unbeaten Alaska Aces, 86-81. I've said that this was a better team than their record indicated. ROS has struggled to put up points on the board but got an unlikely offensive kick in the 4th quarter against the Aces. Don Dulay, one of the premier three-point shooters in the league last year, exploded for 18 of his 20 points in the final quarter. Maybe Dulay at the point could be the answer to the team's offensive woes?

• Nonoy For President on the joys of sitting in the Upper Box.

• The RP Under-16 squad is all set for the FIBA Under-16 Championships in Malaysia. Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo skipped yesterday's Bantay Bata All-Star games because the U-16s are flying out of the country today. Fellow second-generation player Jeron Teng of Xavier is among the notable guys on the squad. This is the team that recently won a pocket tournament in Cebu against other nation's youth teams. The FIBA Asia games start November 19.

• NBA star LeBron James is giving up his #23 jersey out of respect for Michael Jordan. He expects other NBA players wearing the same number, a list that includes Jason Richardson, Marcus Camby and Kevin Martin, to do the same.
  

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Thoughts on the NCAA UAAP All-Star Game

• Lots of missing names. Sudan Daniel. Borgie Hermida. Mark Barroca. Elmer Espiritu. Nonoy Baclao. (Man, I miss Baclao). Khasim Mirza. Val Acuna. The injured Rey Guevarra. Even the juniors game had some missing stars with Kiefer Ravena and Joshua Saret both out of the contest.

• Ato Agustin had the right idea by keeping things simple for his boys. There seemed to be only two directives for the NCAA All-Stars: hustle and run. This worked insanely well against the UAAP All-Stars, to the tune of a 16 point win for the NCAA. Of course, the luxury of having both Jimbo Aquino and John Wilson on the break may have something to do with the win as well. San Sebastian’s running big men were a little much for the UAAP bigs. Dave Najorda, Calvin Abueva and even Ian Sangalang outran the UAAP frontline on a regular basis.

• The UAAP selection looked like a poorly-constructed team. They had no shotblockers. Aldrech Ramos is a nice player, but he didn’t go after it the way Espiritu and Baclao often did in the Finals. They didn’t have shooters on the wings. Just a bunch of guys getting in each other’s way. Pari Llagas and Reil Cervantes on the same team is just repetitive. So is having Alvin Padilla when you already have Paul Lee and Eric Salamat.

• No chemistry for the UAAP guys, too. Which is kind of strange considering Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Aldrech Ramos, Dylan Ababou, Ryan Buenafe and JR Cawaling are all playing together in the PBA for Smart Gilas. The NCAA team looked like they’ve been playing together for years and looked like they had a lot of fun as they ran the UAAP squad to the ground, fun and gun-style.

• Nice depth on the NCAA side. Even the end of the bench was solid with guys like Argel Mendoza, Macky Acosta, Matt Carney and Raffy Ynion. The UAAP bench particularly Kokoy Hermosisima, Woody Co and Jan Colina had little to no impact in this basketball game. Where in the world are the DLSU Green Archers? Or the San Beda Red Lions for that matter. Only Jake Pascual was scheduled to be in this.

• The juniors game was a lot more interesting than the seniors game. A one-point victory for the NCAA in a preview of guys who will be in the seniors division soon. Red Cubs Ponso Gotladera and Arthur dela Cruz were a handful down low. Baser Amer, of course, came up big when his team needed him. NCAA MVP Louie Vigil will be a nice recruit for the Heavy Bombers. For the UAAP, Kyle Neypes is such a presence underneath. Gwynne Capacio is solid. So is Nico Elorde. These guys are going to be players. Terrence Romeo can still put up the points, but he’s really most effective when he plays on a one-man team because of all the touches he needs. Arnold Van Opstal would have been a nice addition to this team. I don’t know why Aiki (Ikee?) Herrera was playing instead of Van Opstal.

• Most interesting part of the afternoon was probably the father-son two-ball event. Bacon Austria lit it up with no help from his dad, Adamson coach Leo. Nice stunt they pulled, though, with Leo wearing an Ateneo jersey and Bacon wearing his dad’s practice jersey from Shell. (A little too snug, though, eh, Bacon?) Ato Agustin still has a killer shooting touch, although his son Jolo struggled to make shots. Jolo has about 16 points taken away from him, though, after his first basket was disallowed because his foot wasn’t on the 8-point spot and his last basket came just after the buzzer. The two Banal teams had similar strategies: have the son take 8-point shots exclusively while the dad rebounds and takes the nearest available shot to the basket. Ael Banal hit the shots more consistently than cousin Jonathan. Jonathan Banal, of course, missed the NCAA season for Mapua with an injury. Ateneo coach Norman Black must have been happy with what he saw from seniors recruit Ael. Chot Reyes and son Ice admitted that they did not practice for the event. It clearly showed as they finished with the lowest score by a large margin. Joel and Ael Banal won the event, and a side bet with Koy and Jonathan Banal to see who picks up the tab for their dinner tonight.
  

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Butiki Bullets: Wednesday Novermber 11

• Most interesting piece of news today is the announcement of NCAA MVP John Wilson that he will not be returning to play for the JRU Heavy Bombers next season. The Manila Bulletin reports that Wilson was unhappy with the sacking of head coach Ariel Vanguardia despite leading the team to the NCAA Finals a year ago and coming within a single game of it this year. That probably ruins any chance of them contending next year. With the loss of JR Sena, Marc Cagoco and Jhe Agas, on top of losing Wilson, one has to wonder, where are the points going to come from next year?

• And speaking of college ball, it's the Bantay Bata 163 UAAP NCAA All-Star game this Saturday. Here are the lineups for both the UAAP and NCAA squads. Noteable exclusions for the UAAP are Philippine Patriots Nonoy Baclao, Elmer Espiritu, Khasim Mirza and Val Acuna and controversial Smart Gilas guard Mark Andy Barroca while the NCAA will conspicously be missing the San Beda Red Lions (except for Jake Pascual) that ironically topped the fan voting. Six of the top nine vote-getters were Red Lions. The other three were Letran Knights.

• Caught the SMB-Purefoods game. San Miguel picked up an early lead that went to as high as 22 points. The Giants, though, briefly made it interesting in the 4th quarter by going on a run that got them as close as six. Then the Beermen went on a run to close the game out and win by 16. Despite the lopsided final score, Purefoods showed that it can be dangerous, no mater how much they're down. Especially when James Yap and Kerby Raymundo show up, as they did in the 2nd half of this game.

• In the earlier game, Mac Cardona exploded for 35 points on .805 eFG% and .858 TS% plus 5 rebounds and 4 assists to lead TNT to a win over Coca-cola. The guy is a natural scorer.
  

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Game to Show Up For : San Miguel (4-2) vs Purefoods (3-2)

The usual two games on schedule for today. But if one of them features the Coca-cola Tigers, then the pick is easy. Watch the other one.

San Miguel is streaking right now. They look like they have things figured out. The offense is there. The defense is top-notch. They look like the San Miguel Beermen again and they look scary. Arwind Santos has figured out his role on the team. Kudos to Santos for keeping his shot selection under control in the previous game. Only 2 attempts from beyond the arc and 10 of 16 on two-pointers.

Purefoods will be coming out confident after a spectacular performance against TNT where they scored 119 points per 100 possessions. And Giants coach Ryan Gregorio thinks his squad plays with more intensity against the top teams. San Miguel, of course, qualifies for a top team. So this game should be good.

Look for a nice battle on the boards. Purefoods and San Miguel are 1-2 in defensive rebounding. Both teams routinely crash the boards so second-chance points will be precious in this game. Both are pretty good on offensive glass as well, so rebounding will be very important tonight.

The key to the game, though, will probably be getting to the free throw line. Purefoods is one of the best teams in the league in terms of getting fouled but they also send their opponents to the line quite a bit.

In the Purefoods loss to Coke, they sent the Tigers to the line 38 times against 25 for the Giants. Against TNT, the Giants marched to the charity stripe for 43 attempts against only 16 for the Tropang Texters. TNT is a three-point shooting team, so it’s understandable why they couldn’t get fouled more often.

SMB can rip this game wide open if they stay aggressive on offense and try to get to the line. The Beermen have a tendency to fall in love with the jumpshot, like TNT, and that’s what Purefoods needs to force. Remember, they beat TNT despite the MVP-owned franchise nailing 16 three-pointers in that game.

There you go. A rolling SMB team. A motivated and confident Purefoods team. The best defensive team in the league against the 2nd best offensive team. Plenty of big names. James Yap, Arwind Santos, Kerby Raymundo, Mick Pennisi, Mike Cortez. Should be good.

SMB
Probable starters: Mick Pennisi, Lordy Tugade, Arwind Santos, Dondon Hontiveros, Jonas Villanueva
97.5 possessions (3rd), 95.3 Offensive Efficiency (5th), 88.4 Defensive Efficiency (1st)

Purefoods
Probable starters: Jondan Salvador, Kerby Raymundo, Rico Maierhofer, James Yap, Roger Yap
90.1 possessions (10th), 101.8 Offensive Efficiency (2nd), 99.1 Defensive Efficiency (10th)

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Butiki Bullets: Tuesday November 10

• Kiefer Watch! Ateneo Blue Eaglet and Nokia Pilipinas Under-16 stalwart Kiefer Ravena was MVP of the Nokia Pilipinas Youth Invitational Basketball tournament held in Cebu. Nokia Pilipinas won the tourney with a 77-57 win over Iran.

• Interesting Fire Quinito post discussing the Under-16 team and Smart Gilas.

• Off the Bench lists 10 players he thinks are overrated. There are some easy picks, and a couple of surprises, too.

• Rey Joble of Manila Standard Today rues the injury situation of the PBA in general. Three former MVPs, an old Rookie of the Year, a Sixth Man Awardee, a couple of bonafide stars and a pair of head coaches.
  

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KFC PBA Philippines Cup Power Rankings: Week 4

Biggest loser this week is Smart Gilas, with their games being declared no-bearing and as such, they no longer belong on the Power Rankings. I’m keeping the stats already compiled by other teams against them when the games still meant something, though. Because, well, those games meant something. Well, they come up as winners anyway, after pulling off a no-bearing victory over Coke. Although, whether that win is legitimate or not is up in the air. Without further ado, this week’s rankings.

Biggest jumps: SMB (2 spots); Biggest drops: TNT (2 spots)

1 Alaska Aces (Last week: 1; 6-1)
Blowout wins against offensively-challenged squads Sta Lucia and Burger King allow the unbeaten Aces to emerge as the second-best defensive team in the league. That’s great news for Alaska fans because they remain the best offensive team with a 103.74 Offensive Efficiency, over 10 points above the league average. This team is a blast to watch on offense, because of how easy they make things look. And am I the only one surprised by how well Reynel Hugnatan is playing (14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds in only 24 minutes)?

2 San Miguel Beermen (Last week: 4; 4-2)
Looks like the real season is just beginning for the perennial powerhouse San Miguel. Throw away the numbers from the first two games, when SMB was struggling to incorporate their many new pieces, and having to face two of the best teams in the L, and here’s what you get. 101 points per 100 possessions (2nd behind Alaska), 85 points allowed per 100 possessions (1st in the PBA) and a point differential of nearly 16 in their last four games. All of them wins. League better take notice.

3 Brgy Ginebra Kings (Last week: 3; 4-1)
Injuries to MVP Jayjay Helterbrand and Johnny Abarrientos have left the point guard spot depleted, but that doesn’t matter much for Ginebra. They can get by with marginally good play from the 1 because it’s their wings that make them dangerous. Cyrus Baguio, in particular, has been deadly, averaging 19.5 points on an eFG% of .869 and a TS% of .933 in the last two games. Those shooting numbers are simply mind-blowing.

4 Talk N Text Tropang Texters (Last week: 2; 2-2)
Now this is the TNT team I remember from last conference. Put up a one-game Offensive Efficiency of 113.3 against Purefoods, but gave up a stunning 119.9 to lose the game anyway. Foul trouble may have something to do with it. Ali Peek, Ranidel and Yancy de Ocampo combined for 15 fouls as the Tropang Texters gave up a whopping 43 free throw attempts to the Giants.

5 Purefoods Giants (Last week: 6; 3-2)
They have a league-worst Defensive Efficiency of 99.1 points allowed per 100 possessions, but somehow balance it out with the second-best Offensive Efficiency at 101.8. That last number may be a little bloated by that 119.9 they put up against TNT where they got very unlikely contributions. Rico Maierhofer shot 8-10, Marc Pingris 6-8 and KG Canaleta 7-10 even as superstar James Yap shot just 3 for 13 from the field. Oh, and Roger Yap with a team-high 11 boards.

6 Sta Lucia Realtors (Last week: 5; 3-3)
The Realtors stock is dropping after running into the Alaska-SMB gauntlet last week. This team is right in the thick of things, but they need more efficiency from their backcourt. Ryan Reyes and Joseph Yeo have combined to shoot an ugly .342 from the field and .250 from three. Meanwhile, Kelly Williams (16 pts, 13.2 reb, 2.2 ast, 2.6 stl/blk) is still awesome.

7 Barako Bull Energy Boosters (Last week: 7; 2-3)
Are the Energy Boosters overachieving or are other teams simply underachieving? They might have a better team than an Asi Taulava-less Coke team and it’s quite difficult not to be better than Rain or Shine at this point. Leo Najorda is beginning to provide them a steady presence in their spread-the-wealth offense, averaging 14.5 in the last two games.

8 Burger King Whoppers (Last week: 8; 1-4)
Where do you start with Burger King? If you take away the game against Smart Gilas, where they broke out for an Offensive Efficiency of 121, they’ve only been able to put around 86 points per 100 possessions. They’re next to last on defense, only slightly ahead of Purefoods in that department. And somebody needs to find the real Gary David and quick. This conference’s David is averaging just 12.0 points while turning the ball over 3.2 times.

9 Coca-cola Tigers (Last week: 9; 1-3)
The Tigers now have the dubious distinction of losing to both Barako Bull and Smart Gilas. Coke is dead last in point differential, worse than the Elastopainters despite having only half as many losses. Jaemark of Fire Quinito doesn’t think too highly of the coaching duo of Bo Perasol and Kenneth Duremdes, based on this tweet. (Can we give them a Hollywood couple nickname now? “Bonneth”). Wish I could say the answer to Coke’s problems is a healthy Asi Taulava, but there are too many problems for the Tigers right now for the answer to be that simple.

10 Rain or Shine Elastopainters (Last week: 10; 0-6)
ROS is last on the rankings because of their lack of Ws but they haven’t been that much worse than Coke. Funny, the Elastopainters have been a good defensive team for a while now but underrated because of their fast pace. More possessions means more opportunities for opponents to score, but nothing to do with how often (rate of their scoring). During their first three games, they’ve had an average pace of 101.9 possessions and a very good Defensive Efficiency of 85.7 (league average is 93). They lost one of those games by just two points and another in overtime. In their last three games, they’ve slowed the games down to an average pace of 91.1 possessions but with a poor Defensive Efficiency of 98 points allowed per 100 possessions. They lost those games by an average margin of 11. Moral of the story? Don’t equate “slowing the game down” with “playing better defense”. And stop trying to fix the defense when it’s your offense that sucks.

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Butiki Bullets: Saturday November 7

• Barangay Ginebra's Rico Villanueva, who is a notoriously bad free throw shooter, has taken to using the glass on his free throws. Well, as legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach says in the video above, stick with what works. Villanueva banked in six of his nine free throw attempts.

• PBA Friday must have been fun for supporters of former Ateneo Blue Eagles. There were ten of them in action on that game day. Smart Gilas nationals Japeth Aguilar, Chris Tiu and Rabeh Al-Hussaini opened things up with a win over Wesley Gonzales and the Coca-cola Tigers. Alaska's LA Tenorio and Larry Fonacier took the floor in an Aces win over Burger King. And Rico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez and JC Intal of Ginebra helped their team pick up a victory over Barako Bull, which had Magnum Membrere on the lineup. Ginebra's Paolo Bugia and Doug Kramer and Barako Bull's Gec Chia were not fielded in. That's a laundry list of all the relevant Ateneo stars of the past decade right there.

• UST is denying that head coach Pido Jarencio has been sacked, contrary to a Manila Bulletin report a few days ago. NU is also refusing to confirm interest in Jarencio.

• How badly did Cyrus Baguio need this performance? He's scored just 16 points through the first four games of the season. Against Barako Bull, he scored 22 points on an eFG% of .818 and a TS% of .920. That's just fantastic shooting. Also, two blocks and ZERO turnovers. Guess Ginebra will need more of that after old man Johnny Abarrientos, in the midst of a great performance himself, had to be taken to the hospital for a nasty, or as Dominic Uy called it, "a big ass", cut on his index finger. The Flying A had six assists and four rebounds in just 11 minutes of play.
  

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Butiki Bullets: Thursday November 5

• Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia figured in a vehicular accident last Monday. Another bad break in an already tough season for Elastopainters. They dropped their 5th consecutive game last night.

• San Miguel is a team that can drive its fanbase nuts. They had a horrendous first half against Rain or Shine, where they only mustered 33 points. There was just bad shot selection, with everybody taking outside shots. I've made a big deal about how the Beermen are tough inside and out, but this conference, they've been all about the perimeter. In the third quarter, they finally got some points from close range, mostly on fastbreaks. And they broke out in a spectacular 35-point 4th quarter where they just blew the game wide open behind threes from Lordy Tugade and Mike Cortez. Look, I know SMB is a great shooting team. And that they've closed out games late when the three starts falling for them. But getting good looks gets easier when your man is worried about your penetration or about helping out on one of your teammates. I'd like to see more balance on offense. Arwind Santos is a good finisher, but even when he's been near the basket, especially baseline, he's been taking a short jumper rather than taking it strong. I hope Jay Washington gets back soon. He may be a jump-shooting big man (a good one, at that) but he's also one of the few Beermen with actual post moves.
  

• Is Ariel Vanguardia a perfect fit for the NU Bulldogs?

• Alaska is looking real nice this year. The Joe DeVance-Sol Mercado trade looks like a stroke of genius. Mark Borboran looks like a real PBA player now. And LA Tenorio is just busting out this year. He led the Aces in scoring through the first four games. Last night, he had 13 points on just 9 shots, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a clutch three and free throws to seal the game.
  

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Butiki Bullets: Wednesday November 4

• Eric Altamirano with a tribute to recently-retired San Beda Red Cubs coach Ato Badolato, who finished his stellar coaching career with 16 NCAA juniors titles in the last 25 years. There’s a nice little roll call of prominent Red Cubs who played for Badolato, from Benjie Paras to Nico Salva. Notable exclusion, though, is current Barako Bull rookie Ogie Menor, who led San Beda to the 2004 juniors crown and three straight seniors championships from 2006 to 2008.

• Off the Bench with a nice, quick round-up of all your favorite leagues. He calls Ryan Arana a better player than Sol Mercado, thinks Rudy Lingganay will be a PBA player and declares the PBL dead.

• Where are unsigned PBA draftees Edwin Asoro, PJ Walsham and JR Sena and why aren’t they on the Patriots yet? Or at least imports for some of the crappy ABL teams. Hey, Toto Bandaying made it to the Thailand Tigers.

• Greg Slaughter really wants to graduate with a UV degree.

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The Value of Guard Rotations

Basketball is fast becoming a small man's game. The rule changes that have been implemented to make the game faster and more exciting, particularly the handcheck rule on the perimeter, benefit the smaller, faster and more skilled players rather than the strong, powerful guys who like to play in the post.

So, has the backcourt really become more important than the frontcourt?

Take a look at the production the teams get from their guards. To illustrate, I only took the top three backcourt players of teams, based partly on minutes they received and partly on their production. Here are the top teams:

ALA
Miller, Tenorio, Fonacier
41.3 pts, .445 FG%, .460 3P% 13.8 reb, 9.3 ast, 2.1 stl, 0 blk, 5.6 TO

TNT
Alapag, Cardona, Castro
47.1 pts, .507 FG%, .357 3P%, 13.5 reb, 12.9 ast, 2.6 stl, 0 blk, 9.4 TO

GIN
Helterbrand, Tubid, Caguioa
48.5 pts, .428 FG%, .305 3P%, 14.8 reb, 10.1 ast, 2.6 stl, 0.3 blk, 6.3 TO

Alaska, TNT and Ginebra were the top three teams before the games against Smart Gilas were made no-bearing. Alaska has an extremely productive backcourt with starters Willie Miller and LA Tenorio leading the team in scoring. Larry Fonacier comes in off the bench mainly to stretch the defense. He is fourth in the league in 3P%. You can see their rotation thrives on efficiency. They shoot very well, and especially so from beyond the arc. They also manage turnovers very well. TNT has one of the more impressive backcourts in the league. Mac Cardona is 2nd in the league in scoring with an 18.3 clip. Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro make up the best rotation at the 1 in the entire league. They turn the ball over quite a bit, but that's because these guys handle the ball a lot. The TNT offense often flows through these guys. Ginebra, meanwhile, boasts of the explosive tandem of MVP Jayjay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa (out for six weeks) and Ronald Tubid. Or as the fans like to call them, The Fast and the Furious (with Tubid being branded the Fearless just so it seems like a nice alliterative fit).

Those are some nice backcourt rotations. Let's take a look at the other end of the league this time:

COK
Cabagnot, Ross, Cruz
24.0 pts, .349 FG%, .277 3P%, 10.1 reb, 9.3 ast, 3.4 stl, 0.8 blk, 6.1 TO

ROS
Mercado, Arana, Arellano
27.3 pts, .419 FG%, .130 3P%, 7.6 reb, 5.5 ast, 3.8 stl, 0 blk, 8.1 TO

GIL
Barroca, Casio, Ababou
32.7 pts, .396 FG%, .306 3P% 8.4 reb, 12.1 ast, 2.0 stl, 0.3 blk, 5.7 TO

There seems to be a noticeable drop-off, particularly in scoring. The Coke guards Alex Cabagnot, Marvin Cruz and rookie Chris Ross look competitive with the top teams in terms of everything that isn't scoring. But they just don't score a lot of points, nor do they score with much efficiency. Rain or Shine players Sol Mercado, Ryan Arana and Marcy Arellano (I could have chosen TY Tang here, but he's got worse numbers than Marcy despite playing slightly more minutes) have a better percentage from the field but can't hit a three to save their lives. They get a bunch of steals but not a lot of assists. The Smart Gilas boys are actually pretty decent if you sub out Dylan Ababou for Chris Tiu but seeing as Tiu has only played one game, it's hard to tell if his stats are indicative of anything. Of course, something that isn't seen here is how bad the Gilas guards are on the defensive end.

Still, there really is quite a pronounced drop-off in guard production from the top three teams to the bottom three teams. Is it safe to say, then, that a good guard rotation is the key to winning in the PBA this season? Tough to say. We're only four games in (per team) and a lot of them are still shaking off the rust. San Miguel, in particular, is only just getting into its groove. Ginebra and Alaska are pretty lucky they got to play the Beermen before they had a chance to get some chemistry going.

But based on the early returns, it doesn't look like it'll hurt to load up your backcourt with some big guns.

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KFC PBA Philippines Cup Power Rankings: Week 3

Biggest jumps: SMB, BAR (2 spots); Biggest drops: PUR, ROS (2 spots)

1 Alaska Aces (Last week: 2; 4-0)
The Aces are on top of the heap right now, as the only undefeated team in the PBA. They have the best offense in the league and an above average defense, putting them in prime position to challenge for the crown this year. Willie Miller is having an MVP caliber year, and he’s getting plenty of help. Larry Fonacier is quality off the bench. He’s averaging 9.0 points in less than 17 minutes a ballgame.

2 Talk N Text Tropang Texters (Last week: 1; 3-1)
TNT’s much improved defense keeps them right on track despite an offense that hasn’t lived up to its potential. This team is always dangerous on offense, especially with Mac Cardona playing the way he is. ‘Captain Hook’ has settled into a groove and is averaging 18.3 points for the season. They lost to SMB this week, but mounted an impressive second half comeback that showed just how dangerous this team can be.

3 Brgy Ginebra Kings (Last week: 3; 3-1)
Health has been the most important part of the Kings’ campaign. Their off-season deals provided some nice insurance for their oft-injured core. Rico Villanueva is filling in capably for Eric Menk and Mark Caguioa is hardly missed because of their depth at the wings. Ronald Tubid, JC Intal, Sunday Salvacion and Cyrus Baguio can more than make up for the loss of Caguioa. If they can ever get healthy, this is a team that’s right up there with the best of them.

4 San Miguel Beermen (Last week: 6; 2-2)
After opening the season with two losses, this team is beginning to resemble the San Miguel that won the previous conference. Their big win over TNT made it clear that these guys are real contenders. Coach Siot Tanquincen has so much versatility with his players. They had a nice stretch in their TNT game where they played Arwind Santos at the 4, Danny Seigle at the 5 and three guards. SMB can play big, small, inside and out. No doubt, this team will figure in a deep playoff run yet again.

5 Sta Lucia Realtors (Last week: 5; 3-1)
The Realtors have to feel confident about their team after Josh Urbiztondo stepped up with a big 24-point, 4-rebound, 4-assist, 2-steal performance against Burger King. Depth was a concern after they lost Dennis Espino and Denok Miranda during the offseason, but it looks like this team will be just fine without them. Now if they can only find a way to get Marlou Aquino involved.

6 Purefoods Giants (Last week: 4; 2-2)
For a team with so many guys with a reputation on defense (Rafi Reavis, Marc Pingris, Rico Maierhofer), its surprising how bad they are on that end of the floor. This is an elite team on offense, having James Yap on the roster does that to you, but they need to learn to stop someone. Of course, those “defensive” guys are all brilliant help defenders in the Marcus Camby mold. What this team needs are more players that can play on-ball defense. And stop sending guys to the line.

7 Barako Bull Energy Boosters (Last week: 9; 2-2)
I was already surprised when the Bulls earned a victory before SMB did. Imagine my surprise when they picked up a second win before the Beermen did. This team runs such a nice system that the fact that they don’t have an all-star talent on this team does not even matter. Interesting fact: Barako Bull is 2-0 when Magnum Membrere plays. The former Ateneo gunner is tops in the league in three-point percentage with a terrific 66.7% clip.

8 Burger King Whoppers (Last week: 7; 2-3)
The Whoppers are finding it tough without Wynne Arboleda. They have just about enough firepower between Ronjay Buenafe and Gary David to stay competitive but they need to start taking care of the ball better. More than just a defensive stopper, Arboleda was the team’s primary ball-handler. Behind him, all BK has is Chico Lanete and Egay Billones, neither of which play very much in control.

9 Coca-cola Tigers (Last week: 10; 1-3)
Coke picks up a quality win over Purefoods this week. Even without main man Asi Taulava, the Tigers showed enough grit to pick up a win. Dennis Espino showed that he’s capable of leading this team, getting to the line repeatedly. The Gonzales boys, Norman and Wesley, showed some nice range. Chris Ross, though, hasn’t looked as PBA-ready as he was expected to be. The sooner he gets comfortable in the league, the better for the Tigers.

10 Rain or Shine Elastopainters (Last week: 8; 0-4)
It’s surprising how bad this team has been offensively. Gabe Norwood and Sol Mercado need to step it up a notch, because it’s not likely that anybody else on the roster can. ROS is still an elite defensive team, but they need to find a way to get some easy buckets if they don’t want to fall any further down the standings.

11 Smart Gilas National Team (Last week: 11; 0-3)
The boys of Gilas are getting plenty of valuable prep time before the next game. Their first few PBA games clearly showed that many of them are not yet comfortable with the system they play. The long stretch between games will be big for Gilas, particularly Rabeh Al-Hussaini, who joined the team late. Hopefully, CJ Giles will be back in action as well. However, it’s hard to tell if the games will really matter, since the PBA has ruled the Smart Gilas games as no-bearing games.

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Coaching Carousel: where it stops, nobody knows

The global recession that hit last year had a lot of people facing the tough reality of job security, or more precisely, lack thereof. Some long tenured employees lost their positions. Some guys who were doing well in their jobs were let go. It did not matter whether you deserved to be laid off or not, somebody was losing their job.

This, of course, is nothing new to the basketball head coach.

Job security means nothing in the world of basketball coaching, whether you coach in college or the professional league, even in the NBA. The slightest sign of a slip-up and you find a pink slip in your coat pocket soon enough. Thankfully for them, this also means there are jobs available somewhere else where a coach was similarly laid off.

Let’s take a look at the current situation of the coaching carousel as per the rumor mill. Please note that the candidates mentioned are only rumored to be up for the posts. None of these are confirmed by reliable sources. Take it as you wish.

DLSU Green Archers
Out: Franz Pumaren
Likely candidate/s: Dindo Pumaren

Multi-titled longtime mentor Franz Pumaren sent in his two-week’s notice after a disappointing UAAP campaign. No big surprises on this end, though. This situation was pretty much resolved before last season started when Franz took former UE coach (and little brother) Dindo as an assistant on the team. Nobody expects this to job to last, as it seems Franz is only resigning for the election period. Still, wouldn’t hurt Dindo’s resume to add ‘DLSU head coach’ on top, right?

JRU Heavy Bombers
Out: Ariel Vanguardia
Likely candidate/s: Vergel Meneses

Reports say Ariel Vanguardia, who led JRU to the 2008 NCAA Finals and came a win away in 2009, will not be resigned by the Heavy Bombers. This is not the best news for JRU fans, because Vanguardia has proven himself a capable coach. He has not missed a Final Four since his first season with the team. He almost took his team to the Finals this year, despite stiff competition and a blue-chip recruit sidelined for practically the entire year. Being used to winning now, I think the JRU community are going to miss Vanguardia once he’s gone.

Former JRU player Vergel Meneses is the rumored replacement. He does not bring a lot of coaching experience to the team (he was an assistant coach in the PBL once), but it would be interesting if he can develop a relationship with John Wilson similar to SSC-R coach Ato Agustin’s with star Jimbo Aquino. Aquino thrived under the rookie coach as they made a championship run. It would be a shame if Wilson’s final year, one he will be entering as reigning MVP, would be wasted under a rookie coach learning the ropes.

NU Bulldogs
Out: Manny Dandan
Likely candidate/s: Pido Jarencio, Louie Alas

Manny Dandan was officially released days after the Bulldogs finished another cellar-dwelling campaign. Dandan should have received a medal for sticking with NU this long, and even taking them to the Final Four in 2001. However, he’s not only NOT being honored for his dedication, he also won’t be getting an opportunity to win with the new backing the school received. Before last season, Henry Sy and the SM Group purchased National U and things instantly began to look up for the Bulldogs. They now have a proper training facility for the first time since, like, ever. They even have a couple of foreign recruits for the coming years. Unfortunately, the fiery Dandan won’t be around for any of it.

Early rumblings had Letran and Philippine Patriots head coach Louie Alas as the frontrunner for the suddenly attractive NU job. But the latest rumors have involved the name of incumbent UST head coach Pido Jarencio, who led the Growling Tigers to the 2006 UAAP title. Pido, of course, is a great motivator. Some quarters believe his skills in other aspects of coaching is suspect, though. But seeing as some UST supporters have been calling for a Pido resignation after a rough end to the UAAP season, this situation is certainly a possibility.

UE Red Warriors
Out: Lawrence Chongson
Likely candidate/s: Robert Jaworski, Allan Caidic, Jerry Codinera

Now this was an interesting rumor I came across. Some have hinted at Lawrence Chongson not returning as head coach of the UE Red Warriors next season despite leading the Warriors to the UAAP Finals. With the loss of Elmer Espiritu, Pari Llagas and Val Acuna, UE is not aiming to be competitive next season, but shooting for the championship in Paul Lee’s final season a year later. As such, they wanted a better coach who can develop the team and its players for that such time. They say veteran guard James Martinez, redshirted all of this year, may be a casualty as well. He might not be asked to suit up for his final year of eligibility so as not to get in the way of development for younger guys. This would be sad for both Chongson and Martinez, considering how close UE got this season to the championship.

Well, before settling on Chongson, the Red Warriors were considering notable alumni Allan Caidic and Jerry Codinera, aside from the legendary Robert Jaworski. Now, Jawo would be a long shot (although considering that Jawo took the time to watch UE in the Season 72 Finals, would it be that far-fetched?) but Caidic and Codinera are certainly possibilities. Caidic has been a head coach in the PBA and Codinera in the PBL, alongside several assistant coaching stints. They could conceivably rebuild for the following season around the very talented Lee and use next season as a developmental season. That would be interesting to follow, if it turned out to be true.

There’s the roundup. There will probably be key developments coming in the near future. If Jarencio bolts UST, then there’s another coaching position we can speculate on. Still, all of these are rumors, except when you’ve seen it printed on a broadsheet, I guess. Until then, take it with a grain of salt.

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Butiki Bullets: Monday November 2

• The PBA has rendered all Smart Gilas games non-bearing. The small controversy brewing around the PBA about CJ Giles sitting out the game against sister team TNT has resulted in all of the Gilas games scratched off the record. PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios called this move "is in everyone's best interest." Bigshotblog of 40 Minutes of Freedom begs to disagree. Interesting to see if PBA teams will continue to attempt to make Gilas games competitive or if they'll field in reserves since the games don't mean anything.

• In coaching news, JRU head coach Ariel Vanguardia will not be re-signed by the Heavy Bombers. Vanguardia had a nice stint with JRU, making the Final Four three times and the NCAA Finals once in a four-year span. Unfortunately, the Bombers were not able to meet the soaring expectations this year after finishing third in the NCAA tournament. That was all school management needed to return head coaching duties back to one of their own products. Vanguardia replaced JRU alum Cris Calilan, who was part of JRU's only NCAA champion team in 1972. Former JRU superstar Vergel Meneses has been rumored to be the frontrunner for the new post.

• Undrafted rookie Josh Urbiztondo, one of my favorite players to watch in the PBL, won Player of the Week honors after leading the Sta Lucia Realtors to a win over Burger King. His game and attitude reminds me of Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavs. Very nice pickup for Sta Lucia.

• And speaking of surprises, former UE point guard Rudy Lingganay put up 27 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and 5 steals as in import for the Kuala Lumpur Dragons in the ABL. Fantastic line for the young player.
  

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