MANILA, 31 January 2003 — Shell Velocity coach Perry Ronquillo believes a major revamp is what the Turbo Chargers badly need if they are to win a title this season.
“Changes have to come if you’re coming from a losing season,” said Ronquillo, “and so we are pushing for nothing but a major revamp.”
Ronquillo, who steered the Turbo Chargers to the Commissioner’s Cup title in 2000, said their main goal is to get a good center because they have not had the luxury of having a good healthy slotman the past two years.
The Turbo Chargers plucked 6-foot-3 forward Eddie Laure in the rookie draft in anticipation of long-time franchise player Benjie Paras’ inevitable retirement.
Paras has not been healthy because of recurring knee injury that has sidelined him in their campaign last year.
“You’ll never learn or plan to win a championship, but like any championship team, you need to put yourself in a position to win each time. You just need to take things in a step-by-step process,” said Ronquillo whose team finished a disappointing seventh place in the All-Filipino Cup.
The Turbo Chargers were dealt a sorry 76-73 playoff defeat to Sta. Lucia Realty in a gripping playoff in the All-Filipino Cup.
Ronquillo believes his wards would definitely improve with Paras around playing healthy. In any case, a blueprint has been put in place for the coming season that kicks off on Feb. 23.
“Of course, it is not going to be a bed of roses. We have to get our acts together, be on our toes, work a lot harder than other teams,” said Ronquillo. “Excellence happens when you work hard and not worry about other teams. You just plod on and, before you know it, you’re there.”
According to Ronquillo, their rivals will see a new Shell team that is a faster, quicker, and younger.
In the coming season, the Turbo Chargers are determined to bounce back from a poor performance last year.
“I can say that our lineup today is more talented,” said Ronquillo. “If I would rate our team in a power chart on a scale of 1-10, we are eight. Last year, we’re only five.”
Still, Ronquillo and his crew are preparing to make do without the 6-foot-5 Paras, a two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP).
The entry of Laure, the 2001 Most Valuable Player of the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), is expected to add needed depth to the bench of the Turbo Chargers.
Ronquillo said Laure would be of big help since he is good not only in post up but in outside shooting, particularly from beyond the three-point area. A versatile player, Laure can also play both the nos. 3 and 4 positions.
“Laure is not a center, but he’s a good post-up player. And he could also shoot the three, so the other teams would have problems matching up against him. In some ways he would attract respect,” said Ronquillo.
A Palarong Pambansa discovery in 1995, Laure suited up for the Adamson Falcons in the UAAP and Red Bull in the PBL then with LBC-Batangas in the defunct MBA.
Although he was only picked third overall by the Turbo Chargers in the draft, Laure was signed to a three-year contract worth 11.4 million pesos, making the former Adamson University stalwart the biggest earner among the rookies in the professional league.
Until now, Paras, once dubbed as the “Tower of Power,” still can’t decide whether he would continue to play or simply hang his checkered jersey. Surely, Ronquillo sorely needs Paras’ services but the portly bench taskmaster is letting his grizzled veteran pivotman take his time to make up his mind.
“That is a decision he has to make for himself. I won’t do that for him. And I’m surely not going to be the one to tell him to hurry up,” said Ronquillo.
He said that Paras has asked for one more month, to feel himself out, see if he could still show the fighting form that made him win the PBA’s highest individual award first in his rookie year of 1989 and again in 1999.
Paras suffered an assortment of knee and feet injuries that have taken their toll on the man who should be at the prime of his career, having just turned 34 last October.
This was most evident last year when the 6-foot-5 slotman played in only eight games last year, three as starter.
The man who once scored 50 points in a single game had a paltry 2.4 ppg. average with a high of seven. He also had 1.4 rebounds an outing, a very far cry from his 8.0 rpg norm in the first 10 years of his career.
Consequently, the Turbo Chargers’ performance plummeted as they finished their campaign last year with a pathetic 10-22 win-loss card for the season, ninth among the 10 regular member teams.
The Turbo Chargers wound up 2-9 and 12th in the season-opening Governor’s Cup, 4-7 and eighth in the Commissioner’s Cup and 4-6 and seventh in the All-Filipino.
With Laure around, the Turbo Chargers could well be a fighting team this season.
The 25-year-old Laure, a native of Dipolog City, stands to receive a monthly take of 250,000 pesos for 2003, up to 300,000 pesos on his second year and 350,000 pesos in 2005.
Laure thus received a bigger deal than those tabbed ahead of him. Top pick Mike Cortez of Alaska was signed to a three-year 8.7 million pesos deal while Romel Adducul, the No. 2 pick, signed a four-year, 12.7 million pesos pact with Ginebra.
Since he was a former MBA player like Adducul, Laure is not covered by the PBA maximum of 150,000 pesos on rookie players. Shell also signed up its two other draft picks — Ronald Tubid and Adonis Sta. Maria — to three-year pacts.
The 6’2” Tubid, who led University of the East to the Bantay Bata Battle of Champions and the Champions League, will take home a monthly pay of 5.64 million pesos while the 6-foot-5 Sta. Maria, member of the La Salle team that netted four consecutive titles in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), signed up for practically the same amount.
Ronquillo foresees the athletic Tubid as one of the “very exciting players in the league” while the 6-foot-5 Sta. Maria has always been known as a hard-nosed player.
The re-signing of Michael Hrabak, Rensy Bajar and Tony dela Cruz to fresh contracts would also add depth to the Shell bench that already has Dale Singson, Chris Jackson, Chris Calaguio, Eric Canlas, Rainier Sison, Edwin Bacani and Jun Marzan.
