2013-2014 Philippine Cup Preview: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

Coach: Ato Agustin

Depth Chart:

Team Mindset:  It’s about damn time!

It’s about damn time that Barangay Ginebra owns the “elite contender” status once again in the Philippine Cup. Yes, they’re pretty tough to beat during import-layden conferences. But when was the last time people expected them to be one of the two best teams going into a conference? When was the last time Ginebra was the favorite to win an All-Filipino Cup? When was the last time the BGSM franchise entered the Philippine Cup Finals? For that one, you’d have to go back more than six years ago when they beat the then San Miguel Beermen to cop the Philippine Cup.

Higher expectations came with the talent they just added thru the draft. Greg Slaughter is now the man in the middle and suddenly, Ginebra is billed as one of the few best teams going into the Philippine Cup. From starting Billy Mamaril, just a tough back-up center playing a starter’s role, now they have a legit starting caliber center — a seven footer that has a potential to be a total game changer. See, it’s all about expectations. That’s one of the main differences you have between a top contender and a flake-contender.

And rightfully so. Ginebra has had arguably the best backcourt tandem with LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa. Now they have The Sampayan Brigade back to go with that. With Ellis, Aguilar and Slaughter, Ginebra should own the lengthiest frontcourt in Philippine Cup history. Just imagine the type of rim protection these guys have. The defensive potential of that frontcourt is just downright scary. BGSM can now be explosive on both ends and you normally say that with championship contenders. With the complete lineup they have now, they don’t have an excuse anymore the way they did pre Slaughter and Aguilar.

The “Where did that come from?” Player: Emman Monfort

We asked where the heck Monfort came from just last conference when he suddenly broke out with a point guard-friendly system at the Barako Bull — Breeder of Point Guards Who Will Be Traded to a San Miguel Team. And when he got so good, when we thought he will be Barako’s point guard of the future, we thought “Hindi ‘yan tatagal sa Barako.”

But “Where did that come from?” is used in a different context here. The question puts more emphasis on how BGSM magically copped Monfort — an elite pick and roll passer and arguably the best on-ball pressure defender thru 94 feet — from the Barako Bull Energy Cola. You remember when Josh Urbiztondo looked like an All-Star with the Energy Cola? Where is he now? You bet ya. He’ll be sharing back-up point guard duties with Emman Monfort. Needless to say, Monfort will disrupt offenses for Ginebra. I last conference how he singlehandedly changed games with his full court pressure D ala Mugsey Bogues.

The “Anyare bro?” Player: Dylan Ababou

Ababou is coming off of a long lay-off. Of course, there shouldn’t be much expected out of him coming out of the gates; but mind you, Ginebra will really need his scoring off the bench this conference if they want to be one of the top dogs. “Anyare bro?” will only be relevant with Ababou in a couple of weeks — maybe months —, when then, we should already have judgement whether he still has it after all the injuries.

I won’t be going with a side story here. But I’ll give you a couple of things that you should expect with the Slaughter-Aguilar tandem on the defensive end. (1)Ginebra will be the best rim-protecting team in the league. Yes, you may argue that Slaughter only averaged above two blocks per game back in college. You may say that that’s too low for a seven footer playing against college kids at least five inches shorter than him. But that number was just an effect of a lot of players not even thinking of attacking the basket because of him. Then you had the shots he didn’t block but he did change. And we know what we’re getting with Japeth in terms of rim protection. (2)The tandem is overrated on defense right now. Japeth Aguilar is arguably the worst defensive big man at the post. I have seen too many power forward eyes light up when they realize they’re being defended by the NBA aspirant. And I would never forget how Sean Anthony scored at will on him down on the block. On top of that, you should also expect that many teams will exploit Slaughter’s slow feet by putting him in a lot of pick-and-roll situations. Back in college, point guards took the mid-range jumper all day when they came off picks because they were absolutely free and because Greg’s primary goal was to protect the rim. Expect faster, more explosive PBA guards with better accuracy from mid-range to put him at a bigger disadvantage on PNR’s.

Ginebra will bleed to get to the semis. Petron and TNT are clearly the two best teams in this conference. And then you have BGSM, RoS, SMC, and Alaska all grouped together as semifinal contenders. Out of these four teams, I’m predicting that SMC and RoS fall off in the quarters.

Bottom line is BGSM is good enough on paper to make the semis; and their fans deserve to go wild for them in the semis.