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?