MANILA, Philippines – The celebrated PBA trade that San Miguel Beer made was supposed to be an investment in the future. With the acquisition of top rookies Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao and Rey Guevarra to go with the likes of Jay Washington, Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot, a new SMB squad of the future does loom.
But with youth comes loss of experience, something the team gave up when they let go of Danny Seigle, Dondon Hontiveros, Paul Artadi and Dorian Pena. And that seems to be the price to pay at the moment.
Coupled with a shorter PBA elimination round, the trade seems to have been made a wrong time as per critics.
Indeed, with only 9 games and four teams being taken out after the elimination round, the Beermen may find themselves in troubled waters unless they find a recipe to win.
Expectations are high for the Beermen. With a winning tradition and a lineup that is obviously competitive enough, fresh legs for experience will indeed be costly.
And now at 1-3, it seems that the team is experiencing turbulence from its young jets even with a seasoned reinforcement in Danny Young.
Of course being an import-laden conference, the reinforcements are expected to make the difference.
In fact, no current PBA import could be classified as a one-man wrecking crew meaning that it all boils down to coaching strategy and teamwork.
Coach Ato Agustin is no stranger to such a scenario. He led a virtually unknown San Sebastian squad back in 2009 which was a prime reason on why San Miguel chose him as their new PBA head coach.
San Miguel obviously sacrificed a lot with the departure of the four veterans, all with championship experience. The impact of the four rookies will not be felt immediately but the fans are obviously not used to seeing their team on the losing end.
In fact, seeing San Miguel lose to a team by more than 30 points is devastating as seen via leading social media networks and forums.
Will the SMB squad make it? Now midway to the PBA elimination round games, the Beermen can still ably pull it off.
However, adjustments and the jelling of players should be in place. If they continue to lose games, it may very well be an early vacation for the multi-titled PBA ballclub…something any SMB fan is not used to.
Brian Yalung, Manila Bulletin
