On PBA Trades

In the end, SMB got the players they wanted. Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Baclao & Guevarra.

Initially, SMB planned to send Joseph Yeo, Mick Pennisi & Danny Seigle but Commissioner Salud shut it down. Final one man judgment: awfully lopsided.

But lo and behold, San Miguel Beer did not waste time and retooled the offer for another judgment day.

The repackaged deal includes long time San Miguel heroes - or this is a strong word - San Miguel legends, Dondon Hontiveros & Danny Seigle (Danny again, like he is the first guy they want to get rid off). Plus Dorian Pena, crowd favorite Paul Artadi and lord knows what else are in the SMB package.

In return, San Miguel gets young bigs Hussaini, Baclao and Guevarra. Final judgment, "an improvement" from the last 3-on-3 swap proposal. By changing draft picks, Mick & Yeo to Dondon, Artadi & Pena, suddenly it isn't a one sided deal anymore. And so the trade was approved.

San Miguel Beer, walang pinagsamahan.

Now, I really don't know what powers and authority the commissioner has, but for the sake of the commissioner himself and PBA as a whole, trades must not be decided by judgment of one man alone. It just can not be, borrow one from Stern.

What I mean is, look at Stern. In the NBA, Stern does not act as Lord of the Trades. NBA trade policies are set to get fair trades. Of course, there will be lopsided trade once in a while, there are no bullet-proof policies. But I can't remember a trade where Stern had the lone vote, this trade is a go, this trade is no go.

One with too much power is well, too much.

Easier said than done, but the commissioner and all of PBA must have clearer trading rules & regulations. And then, religiously implement these. The PBA will then be a better league, or a league with MORE integrity. They should factor in, players' age, number of years in the league, players' salary & salary cap, trading deadline, franchise player tags, and so on. They're all pro and good men, why not sit down and do this.

The next time another trade offer pops up, I dread the scenario when again, one man will judge the swap if it's deal or no deal.

PBA Turning into a San Miguel Corp League

The PBA may soon turn into a San Miguel Corporation corporate league. That is, if SMC will do this year in and year out. Based from the statement of SMC basketball operations chief Robert Non, this will go on. Non said, "The coaches will be assessed every season or even on a per-conference basis".

Coach Jong Uichico will be in unfamiliar territory coaching the most popular club, the Ginebra San Miguel. But he will be with familiar faces as he will be reunited with old crew at Barangay Ginebra. Including the demoted, animated and whiteboard punching tactician, Tangquincen. Art Dela Cruz will be there too.

Coach Binky Favis will still handle Coca Cola but now has a new set of deputies. The point guard coaching duo of Boybits Victoria and Richie Ticzon is part of the coaching team. Include too, Johnny Abarientos soon to be joining the SMC coaching Academy.

Coach Chot Reyes will lead the Sam Miguel Beer this time. His staff includes, Biboy Ravanes, Nash Racela and Aboy Castro. Be sure to include the artist formerly known as Olsen Racela to later be in this coaching pool.

With Ryan Gregorio winning the last conference and his team looking organized and ready to kick some butt, he and his team eluded the semi-ax, so to speak.

From the looks of it, the San Miguel Corporation is having a league of their own. Maybe, San Miguel Corporation can do this because they own 44% of the PBA. Fielding in, not one, not two, not three but four sister teams.

The big sister, San Miguel Beer. The small sister, Ginebra San Miguel. The hot sister, Purefoods. The Youngest one, Coca Cola Tigers.

A precedent in SMC’s movement of personnel was the Allan Caidic move from San Miguel Beer to Ginebra. He later served a dual role, a player-assistant coach. He later took the head coaching job from Rino Salazar. Eventually 'promoted' and moved to being a GM. Yes, was replaced by a fellow from San Miguel Beer, Tanquingcen. And by Thursday, Siot was demoted to being an assistant again by Jong Uchuico. And Yes, we all know Jong was from San Miguel Beer. Coaching the SMB team for the longest time.

I wonder what the rest of the PBA Board and owners have to say about this carousel of team personnel. SMC's umbrella of teams can virtually and easily execute players and even coaches trade. No longer team managers (Hector Calma, Caidic, Lim, Loyzaga et al) control the direction of these teams. SMC basketball operations chief Robert Non does all these.

I remember being invited to join Fantasy NBA GM, where you get a chance to form a team and manage it and track their actual games and stats. You think it’s exciting? How about Mr. Non's job, getting to manage 4 teams in real life and can switch players and coaches in an instant. Some guys are blessed.

Definitely, SMC knows what they are doing and acting within the PBA guidelines but is this movement healthy for the PBA?

SMC team coaching staffssssss virtually know each other so how can there be an element of surprise in these games.

Players need time to acclimatize a coaches’ system, even years, moving personnel so much could just back fire.

We do not question the coaches' professionalism, but deep within, can these be coaches be truly committed on a team when in fact, in an instant, their phone could be ringing. SMC boss saying, 'Dude, coach the San Miguel Beer All-Star Tour next year'.