MANILA, 25 October — With the Busan Asian Games over, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has resumed business with the staging of its premier conference — the All-Filipino Cup.
Although the residue of the Philippines’ stunning setback in the recent Asiad is still in the air, hostilities in the premier league are expected to reach fever pitch in no time.
The PBA has welcomed back the "wounded" gladiators from Busan, South Korea. They have long returned home and back with their mother ballclubs after doing service for the national team in the 14th Asian Games in Busan.
In other words, the familiar faces are back on their respective teams.
So what can you expect? Of course, it’s the PBA’s own war on its backyard, right?
As always, defending champion San Miguel, which will be rejoined by head coach Joseph Uichico and three Asian Games campaigners, still sets out as the tournament favorite despite the absence of an injured Danny Seigle.
In the last three seasons, San Miguel has not ended a year without at least one title. The Beermen went title-less in the first two conferences this year.
Danny Ildefonso, Roderick Racela and new acquisition Dondon Hontiveros are carrying the fight for the Beermen in this season-ending tournament to defend the crown they won over Ginebra last year.
Despite the absence of the Asian Games head coach and three key players, the Beermen consistently made it to the semifinal round of the Governor’s Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup with interim head coach Bethune Tanquingcen doing a respectable job.
San Miguel also drew sterling pinch-hitting performances from Nic Belasco, Dorian Peña,
Boybits Victoria, Dwight Lago and Joey Mente among others. These guys will be sliding back to their old roles.
As it is, the Beermen would have been more formidable with ace gunner Seigle around. But Seigle suffered a torn Achilles heel two days prior to the Asiad and underwent surgery. He will be out for four to six months.
Hontiveros, who was acquired by the Beermen from Tanduay Rhum in a trade involving Freddie Abuda last December, is expected to fill the spot vacated by Seigle.
Like San Miguel, Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs also has three Asian Games returning to its fold in the persons of Andrew John Seigle, Noy Castillo and Boyet Fernandez.
Likewise, Philippine Team assistant coach Eric Altamirano is regaining his post as head coach of the Hotdogs vice Paul Ryan Gregorio who led Purefoods to the championship of the Governor’s Cup.
Barangay Ginebra is parading a new acquisition in Asian Gamer Eric Menk whom the Gin Kings got from the defunct Tanduay Rhum last year.
Known for his rebounding toughness and blue-collar work ethic, Menk is opening a new chapter in his PBA career.
"It’s going to be a new experience and I just want to blend in and work hard for the team," said Menk. The rock-solid paint patroller started his career with Tanduay in 1999 and played with the Rhum Masters for three years. He was traded before Tanduay sold its franchise to FedEx.
"There’s no doubt, he’s going to be a big help. We’ve always said in the past that the only thing this team needs is a big man and hopefully, Eric will be just the person who will fill the need," said Caidic.
With the entry of Menk, Ginebra has become an intimidating team with the 6-foot-6 Fil-Am teaming up with veteran slotman Jun Limpot and James Wallkvist at the frontcourt and Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand and Bal David rotating at the backcourt.
A front-line of Menk, Limpot and Wallkvist gives Ginebra enough height to match up against bigger teams and gives Caidic more flexibility with his rotation.
Caidic will also have at his disposal tested enforcers Banjo Calpito, Ronald Magtulis and Wilmer Ong. Long been considered as the league’s crowd darling, Ginebra had forgettable stints in the season’s first two tournaments because of mediocre imports and injuries to key local players.
FedEx, on the other hand, has an intact roster as the Express are the only team not to lend a player to the Busan journey.
Interestingly, for Uichico, Caidic, Altamirano and their players, their teams’ All-Filipino Cup opening games could be a sort of feel-out game for the meantime as the three coaches reunite with their respective teams after being loaned to the national team for 10 months.
Yet, the return of their coaches and their ace players to their folds readily made San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra among the teams highly picked to figure prominently in the fight for the most cherished PBA crown.
The consensus among the coaches is that the two sister teams and probably Red Bull and Sta. Lucia Realty are the teams to beat in the conference.
"Even without Andy (Seigle), San Miguel is a solid team. Ginebra with Menk is another strong team. Sta. Lucia is a team to reckon with because of its twin towers (Dennis Espino and Marlou Aquino). Then, there’s also Red Bull," said FedEx coach Derrick Pumaren.
For his part, Altamirano believes San Miguel, Red Bull, Ginebra and Coca-Cola enjoying an edge over the others.
"If Andy Seigle is healthy, our team could have been one of the favorites. But he’s long been battling injuries," said Altamirano of his ace pivotman who is nursing recurring injuries that could limit his minutes on the floor.
"We’ll try to feel out how he responds to the game and then we’ll decide how many minutes he’ll play," said Altamirano.
Still, Altamirano is confident the Hotdogs — the Governor’s Cup champions — would fight pound for pound with the return to action of Seigle, Castillo and Fernandez.
Altamirano’s assistant, Ryan Gregorio, who acted as interim coach in the former’s absence, steered Purefoods to the championship of the Governor’s Cup but saw his team crash out of the elimination round in the Commissioner’s Cup.
"Right now, I still have to play it by ear and feel the team out that’s why I will need Ryan to take charge a little bit. It’s a feeling out stage for me and for the members of the national team who are going back to the Purefoods line-up and it’s good thing Ryan is always prepared to help us out," said Altamirano.
Also, spicing up excitement, if not intensity, in the league is the raging battle for the commissionership that Jun Bernardino is set to relinquish at the end of the year.
Contenders for the post are current executive director Sonny Barrios, Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP) president Chito Narvasa, broadcaster Noli Eala and Shell governor Rey Gamboa.
