A Better And Stronger Kings

Once again our beloved Ginebra bows out of contention in the 2015 Philippine Cup losing to Global Port 84-83 in a controversial manner. Although the non-call could have changed the outcome of the ball game, there is no point in crying over spilled milk. It is unlikely that the result would be overturned.

In fairness to Global Port, they played their hearts out and deserved the victory. Ginebra had its chances in regulation. If not for the missed free throws, the Kings would have been the one to advance against Alaska. But it was not meant to be. Still there is a lot of hope in the future for the league's crowd darling. The record alone showed much improvement compared to the past conferences. Whereas Ginebra had losing records in the past, this time around they had a winning record at 7-4. They finished the elimination round in a flurry winning 3 straight games to finish no. 4 entering the quarterfinals.

Let us bear in mind that Coach Tim Cone himself did not guarantee instant success. The team was still a work in progress and yet they had a decent 7-4 win-loss record. Just imagine what could have happened if the Kings has already mastered the triangle? They were one step away from a semis stint right on Coach Tim's first conference with the team.

Throughout the conference, Coach Tim slowly assembled the team that he wanted. First, he got Nico Salva and then traded away Mac Barracael for Joe deVance. Next, he picked up sweet shooting Jervy Cruz. With the next conference scheduled in February, the Kings will have enough time to perfect the triangle and boost their offense. With a little fine tuning and perhaps some additional pieces, it will not take long for Ginebra to become a championship contender once again.

And so for now let us forget about that painful loss and move on knowing that our beloved team will much stronger come Commissioner's Cup.

Last Hoorah For Mr. Fast

One of the most celebrated tandems in the Philippine Basketall Association is breaking up this season. Jayjay Helterbrand announced before the start of the season that he will be retiring. It can be recalled that the 2009 MVP already planned to retire as early as 2011 but he deferred the plan to have another run for one last championship. But it looks like Jayjay is firm on his retirement plans this year.

His shot of winning another title on his last year is bright now that Tim Cone, the winningest coach in the league, is at the helm of Ginebra. Winner of four championships, a fifth title has remained elusive for Helterbrand since 2008, the last time they won a championship.

Anthony Helterbrand came over from the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association. He played one game for the Batangas Blades before hooking up with Ginebra in March 2000. He came in as a direct hire as a backup for Bal David and to eventually take over as starting point guard.

Jayjay rose to prominence in the year 2001 when he partnered with then rookie Mark Caguioa. Their explosive backcourt partnership earned them the monicker "Bandanna Brothers" because of the headbands they wore. Eventually they became "The Fast" and "The Furious." That year, Caguioa won Rookie of the Year honors and the two established themselves as one of the deadliest backcourt partners in the league.

In 2004, Jayjay came back to the PBA after a one-year hiatus. He was instrumental in Ginebra's back-to-back titles that year and in 2005 earning him the Comeback Player of the Year award. Five years later, he won the highest individual award-- the Most Valuable Player.

Injuries have slowed down Jayjay over the years. From career high numbers of 18.11 ppg, 6.51  apg, 4.71 rpg during his MVP years, Mr. Fast saw his averages dip in the next few years. Las year, he logged career low numbers of just 2.8 ppg, 1.7 apg, and 1.6 rpg. He also saw limited minutes just 12 mpg from 36 minutes during his heydays.

Age is catching up with Helterbrand. Now 38 years old, Father time is beckoning him. With the influx of younger and quicker players to the team, Jayjay has lost his spot in the rotation. But mind you, the man individually known as "Helter Skelter" can still deliver when called upon. Who can ever forget the 13 points he delivered in Game 1 of their do-or-die series with Rain or Shine during the 2013 Commissioner's Cup? What about his buzzer beating shot against Petron over the outstretched arms of Nick Fazekas?

So it will be the Last Ride for Jayjay Helterbrand and the "Fast and Furious: tandem. With Coach Tim Cone taking over the reins, Jayjay has three more chances to finally win another one before drawing down the curtains on his PBA career.

Will Cone Magic Finally End Ginebra's Drought?

Just last week, I wrote about rumors connecting Tim Cone to a potential transfer to Barangay Ginebra. Well, it is now official. The Tim Cone magic makes its way to the barangay.

The news did not auger well for Purefoods fans. The man who gave them a Grandslam is heading over to its sister team. So shocked were the Purefoods diehards that they even trooped to Twitter and pleaded to Ramon S. Ang to stop the transfer. But the SMC executive would have none of that.

For us, Ginebra fans, this is indeed a huge development. The winningest coach in the league is now the head coach of the most popular team in the PBA. It gives us a ray of hope that finally we have a coach who can bring back our team to the Promised Land. The task of ending Ginebra's 8 year title drought now falls into the hands of Tim Cone.

But just like the other coaches before him, there is pressure on Tim Cone to deliver on the task at hand. Ginebra has been known to sack its coaches when they do not deliver results. You can tell that to Frankie Lim, who just one conference ago was chosen to end the drought. Unfortunately, he did not last long as well.

Before we go on and make pronouncements that Ginebra is going to be champions next season, let us remember that it will not happen overnight. Ramon Ang and Tim Cone himself was quick to temper fans' expectations. Transforming a team that has not won a championship in the last 8 years into a title contender will take some time.

First of all, Tim Cone needs to build on the foundation of that contender team. Ginebra possesses perhaps the most talent laden players in the league led by its Twin Tower combination of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. Coach Tim will have to work on and bring out the potential of these players in order to achieve his goal. That alone is not an easy task.

It is expected that Coach Tim will reintroduce the players to the vaunted triangle offense. The very same system that won for Alaska and Purefoods Grandslam titles. The system is nothing new for the Kings having used it during the time of Jeffrey Cariaso. Again this is where a question may arise. Why bring back a system that did not previously work?

There is a huge difference between the triangle that Coach Jeff instilled and the system that Coach Tim will bring. Now, Ginebra will be learning from the master himself. Second, Coach Tim will have the whole off season to let the players master the system. Something that Coach Jeff did not have as he only had the conference break to teach the system to Ginebra players.

Transforming the team into a champion team will not come right away. With Purefoods, it took Coach Tim two conferences to win his first title with the team. What more with a struggling Ginebra team? But once the team gets used to the triangle, they will be tough to beat.

And so we await next season with a lot of excitement and anticipation. Finally, we have a coach who has the skills and ability to finally put an end to the title drought of our beloved Ginebra. Coach Tim will do everything to achieve that goal. As for us fans, we need to be patient because with Coach Tim as our coach, we could finally be seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

On Coach Tim Cone Joining The Barangay

For the past week, rumors has been swirling around that Ginebra is changing its coach yet again. The man at the center of the talks is multi-titled coach Tim Cone. Initially, my reaction was shock and disbelief. It was unlikely for Tim to leave Purefoods after the success he had with the team culminated by his second Grand Slam as a coach. 

Then I came across this tweet:

FireNathanielsz @FireNathanielsz
IF my source is correct, Cone to Ginebra is true. Just need a greenlight from RSA. Big IF though

Then reality struck me. Is it really true? The winningest coach in the PBA and owner of two Grand Slams with two different teams will replace Frankie Lim as head coach of Ginebra for next season. Different news articles from various sources further fueled this rumor. 

In one of the articles, Coach Tim himself said "I serve at the pleasure of Mr. Ramon Ang. Whatever direction he takes me, I will follow"  which all the more confirmed the likelihood of the transfer. Soon this news was all over the social media in both Twitter and Facebook. According to the rumor, Coach Tim moves to Ginebra while Jason Webb will take over the Hotshots. 

Although there is still no confirmation until Tuesday, this is a huge development for Barangay Ginebra. The Maestro himself as head coach of the most popular team. He brings his success to a franchise that has been without a title for 8 years. More importantly, Tim Cone is someone who can bring out the full potential of the Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. 

But then there are some questions that need to be answered: "Will they thrive in the triangle offense?" They have tried this already when Jeffrey Cariaso became their coach. After only one conference, Jeff was booted out as he reportedly had some disagreements with some of the players. But if there is one coach who knows how to deflate ego, it is Coach Tim Cone. 

Coach Tim has the number of Barangay Ginebra. He has a 17 - 9 record against the most popular team. Can the Ginebra players bury the hatchet and work harmoniously with Cone? For the sake of winning another championship, they need to and they must. 

For the meantime, we are all in a wait and see attitude as to where this new development will take Ginebra if it does materialize. 

What's Next For The Kings?

Once again, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel makes an early exit suffering a come from behind loss to the Alaska Aces. After leading by as much as 16 points, the Aces clawed their way back to Ginebra 114-108. Another season to forget for the team and another season of heartache for its legions of fans.

At the start of the Governor's Cup, Coach Frankie started on the wrong foot on his first conference. He lost the Twin Towers for the first few games of the conference so he needed to make another adjustment. Reinforcement Orlando Johnson looked promising in his first few games. He scored 50 points in his debut game then 46 in the next. He eventually faltered and his game dipped considerably.

Immediately after the loss, social media was bombarded by Ginebra fans showing different emotions. As usual, basketball experts emerged saying different reasons for the early debacle of Ginebra. Poor coach Frankie Lim got the ire of most of the fans just like what happened to Jeffrey Cariaso and Ato Agustin. So let's see what really happened to Ginebra this season. 

Seven years without a title. That is the main contention of fans. Despite having the Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar and a deep supporting cast as well, the Kings have not managed to get past the quarterfinals. Their best showing so far is a semifinal appearance in Slaughter's rookie season. Since then Ginebra has finished below the Top 4. 

Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa are the only remnants of Ginebra's last champion team. The rest are relatively new to the team. From there, you can say that chemistry is already a problem. The rest of the team was acquired either through trades or from the draft. All those wheeling and dealing, however, has turned the Kings into a championship contender. 

However, despite having a formidable lineup Ginebra still remained without a title. Another factor that perhaps had a major  impact on Ginebra still failing to win a title is their constant coaching change. Since Ginebra's last Finals appearance under Alfrancis Chua, the Kings have three coaching changes already. they had Ato Agustin, Jeffrey Cariaso, and Frankie Lim taking the reins over the team in the last four conferences only. It is hard to build chemistry when you keep on changing coach. 

And so the waiting game continues. For Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa, their quest for one more championship before they finally up their sleeves continues. For Greg Slaughter, his first title in the PBA continues to remain elusive. Same goes for the other players. 

Coach Frankie Lim has got a lot of work to do in the off season if he wants to end Ginebra's title woes. There is also the coming rookie draft to look forward to. Management needs to find the missing piece that will complete the line-up that will finally give the Kings their ninth championship. Expect more wheeling and dealing as Coach Frankie finds the right mix that will finally bag that elusive title for the league's most popular team. 

One thing is for sure though. All eyes will be on Ginebra. What changes will be made in the team? Who will be in or out? Will we have a new coach yet again? 

Back From The Grave

Japeth For Threeeee Bang!!!!!!!!!

Once again, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel did it again. Given up for dead for the entire conference, the Kings march on to the playoffs-- their 25th consecutive appearance. It had been a roller coaster ride for the league's most popular team and nobody expected them to advance to the next round especially with the way they lose games.

For Ginebra fans, it was one of the seasons you'd rather forget. Three coaching changes in one season speaks of the struggles that the Kings are experiencing. As I watched the NLEX game, I was not kind of hoping that Ginebra would survive this one. The die-hard fan in me says "Don't give up on your team. They need you now" fueled whatever hope I had of them advancing to the next stage.

As the 4th quarter began, shades of Ginebra's "never-say die" spirit began showing up. NLEX was relentless in trying to end Ginebra's season but the Kings refused to wilt. With LA Tenorio and the two imports leading the charge, Ginebra slowly found their way back to the game. And then it happened as I braced myself for an additional 5 minutes, Japeth Aguilar squared himself up for the three. I could not believe it Ginebra has won. Japeth did it again. He has scored game winning treys on the MVP teams.

And so Ginebra is in the playoffs. It will now be their 25th straight playoff appearance. But once again they will be facing insurmountable odds. As the eight seeded team, they face a twice-to-beat disadvantage against the top seeded Alaska Aces. A familiar situation for Ginebra but one they had overcome before. In 1991, they were also seeded eight and were facing an Asi-Taulava led Mobiline but the heroics of Bal David and the then Gordon's Gin allowed them to topple the top seeds. Ginebra faced the same situation again in 2013 when they were seeded 7th and battled the 2nd seeded Rain or Shine. But with Vernon Macklin leading the comeback, the Kings survived and marched on to the Finals against Alaska.

So if there is one team which can pull off the improbable, it's Barangay Ginebra. They are not known as a "never-say-die" team for nothing. It is just a matter of digging down deep into their reserves. Ginebra is a team loaded with talent and hopefully those talents will prevail and overcome another huge obstacle in their quest to finally ending their title drought.

Ka-Barangay Ka Ba? Anong Klaseng Ginebra Fan Ka?

Well, here we go again. Despite the new coach and a prolific import, our beloved Ginebra is once again lurking at the bottom of the standings. And at times like these, different kinds of Ginebra fans are emerging. The questioning and blaming game begins. What is really bugging Ginebra? Is it really the coach or the players? Let us take a closer look.

The Analyst Fan

"Greg is too soft. Japeth needs to shape up. Retire Caguioa and Helterbrand. Trade LA."

I pity the players. "Bawal ang matalo" kasi ikaw ang sisisihin. Daig pa nila ang coach. Why don't we do it this way? Kayo ang maglaro at sila ang fans. Tapos kayo ang sisishin pag natatalo ang Ginebra. Maybe you will realize how hard it is to be out there playing for the fans who will only blame you in the end game. Or better yet apply as the new Ginebra coach? Maybe you are the one who can end the drought for Ginebra.

The Balimbing Fan

As an active member of Ginebra pages, I get to encounter different responses from fans after a Ginebra loss. "Lilipat na ako ng ibang team nakakasawa na." "Nangagamoy Bora na naman." "Talo na naman." Who's forcing you to cheer for Ginebra anyway? These fans claim to be "die-hard" Ginebra fans since they were young. If you are, why switch team? From the word itself "die hard," one who will stick with the team win or lose. We live in a free world and you are free to choose which team to support. If you cannot support the team during their struggles then don't support them when they are winning. Mas lalo lang kayong masasabihang balimbing or bandwagon.

The Die-Hard Fan

These are the fans who will truly stick it out with Ginebra no matter what. Sila yung makikipagtalo sa mga pages to defend their team. They are the ones who will still troop to the venues and shout "Ginebra! Ginebra! Ginebra!" whenever the team is rallying to overhaul a huge deficit. These fans would not be ashamed to say "Bawi na lang next game or next conference." These fans would continue to hope that Ginebra's glory days would return.

The Governor's Cup is not yet over and there is still a chance. The situation is nothing new for Ginebra. If they advance, then the whole barangay will be happy. If not, then they can always bounce back.

So let me end this article with a familiar song:

Pag Natatalo ang Ginebra
Gary Granada

Sinusundan ko ang bawat laro 
Ng koponan kong naghihingalo 
Sa bawat bolang binibitaw 
'Di mapigilang mapapasigaw 

Kahit hindi relihiyoso 
Naaalala ko ang mga santo 
O San Miguel, Santa Lucia 
Sana manalo ang Ginebra 

Sa Coliseum at Astrodome 
Nakikisiksikan hanggang bubong 
Nang-aalaska, nanggugulo 
'Pag nagfi-free throw ang katalo 

Ang barangay ay nagdiriwang 
Half-time ay kinse ang aming lamang 
Cameraman, huwag mo lang kukunan 
Si senador at congressman 

Pagbigyan n'yo na ako 
Paminsan-minsan lang ito 
Gumaang ang nabibigatang puso 
Pagbigyan n'yo na ako 
Sa munting hilig kong ito 
Kung hindi baka mag-away pa tayo 

Nang second half ay mag-umpisa 
Puro palpak ang tira nila 
Offensive foul si Noli Locsin 
At si Gayoso na-traveling 

Sa kakaibang shorts ni Jaworski 
Ay ipinasok ang sarili 
Kalagitnaan ng fourth quarter 
Tabla ang score, 88-all 

Drive ni Pido ay nasupalpal 
Defense nila na-technical 
Parang gumuho ang aking daigdig 
Nang maagawan si Bal David 

Nang bumusina ng last two minutes 
Three points ni Hizon ay nagmintis 
Kunsumisyon ay nagpatong-patong 
Graduate si Marlou at si Ong 

Pagbigyan n'yo na ako 
Paminsan-minsan lang ito 
Gumaang ang nabibigatang puso 
Pagbigyan n'yo na ako 
Kahit na kahit paano 
Sumaya nang bahagya itong mundo 

Twenty-four seconds, lamang ng lima 
Ang kalaban, bola pa nila 
Dumidilim ang aking paningin 
Ang tenga ko ay nagpapanting 

Bumabalik sa aking isip 
Ang nakaaway ko noong Grade 6 
Parang gusto ko nang magkagiyera 
'Pag natatalo ang Ginebra 

Galit ako sa mga pasista 
Galit ako sa imperyalista 
Feel na feel kong maging aktibista 
'Pag natatalo ang Ginebra  

Is Frankie Lim The Answer For Ginebra?

And that elusive ninth crown remains elusive for the PBA's most popular team. Once again, the hearts of the team's die-hard and most endearing fans gets broken. Tears are once again shed. The waiting game continues for the Barangay Ginebra die-hards. 

In this year's Commissioner Cup, the Gin Kings could only manage an 8th place finish eventually bowing out to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the quarterfinals. The team's recent failure has once again fueled heated debates between its die hard fans and its haters as well. Prized center Greg Slaughter himself could not hide his frustration to the recent debacle of his team. He was the only shining light during Ginebra's game against the Painters. 

Hoping to finally change Ginebra's fortune, management once again implemented another coaching change by sacking Coach Ato Agustin and replacing him with former player and San Beda Red Lions' coach Frankie Lim. He becomes the third coach of Ginebra in the last five conferences. As a player and coach he is a proven winner. But can he bring that winning attitude to a Ginebra team loaded with stars up and down the order?

Frankie Lim was a proven winner in his days as coach of the San Beda Red Lions. He led to the team to the NCAA title in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011. In 2009, the Lions also played in the Finals but got swept by San Sebastian. In 2010, he steered the Lions to a perfect 18-0 season winning 16 games in the eliminations and two in the Finals. As San Beda's coach, he had a 70 - 8 record. 

Frankie Lim is just what the doctor ordered for Ginebra. He also thrives in the "run-and-gun" system which Ginebra is known for all these years. He is a known disciplinarian and strict when it comes to basketball. Something which is very similar to Sonny Jaworski when he was still the coach of Ginebra. As a player, Frankie Lim also showed his "never-say-die" attitude not giving up until the final buzzer sounds. 

Upon taking over as coach, Frankie Lim immediately went to work. First, he shipped seldom used players Dylan Ababou and James Forrester to Barako for the latter's 2015 first round pick. Next, he traded away enforcer Billy Mamaril for a former Red Lion in Dave Marcelo. His being a disciplinarian was seen in the way he handles practice-- rigorous and intense. Twitter feeds from known basketball analysts often post pictures of players huffing and puffing after practice. 

So are we finally seeing happy days for Ginebra in the next conferences? Practice is different from the actual games. Ginebra fanatics are hoping that indeed "good things" will come for Ginebra under its new coach. The Kings have advanced to the playoffs for 24 straight conferences since their last title. However, they could only manage two Finals appearance. With Coach Frankie Lim at the helm, we are all hoping that that Ginebra will finally bag that championship which has eluded them for the past seven years.