BGK - Winner of the last Trade ( and the UPCOMING TRADE)

Last Tuesday, the 3 way trade between Ginebra-Bmeg-Barako has finally been completed. In the approved trade, Ginebra will get the services of Rico Maeirhofer ( from Bmeg ) and Allein Mailiksi( from Barako), the Llamados will get the shooting Giant Yancy De Ocampo( from Ginebra) and 2012 2nd round pick (from Ginebra), while Barako will get the former NCAA finals MVP Jimbo Aquino and a 2013 1st round pick (from Ginebra)

• Barako Bull
• Positive 
• Additional 1st round pick for the 2013 draft ( talents may come from the Sinag Pool)
•  Got a Hot shooting guard 
• The SF position is not clogged anymore, with only Ababou, Salvacion and Najorda sharing the spot
• Lot of CASH gain
• Negative
• Why trade a player whose playing good basketball in your team?
• Bmeg Llamados
• Positive
• Got a player whose comfortable in set-up plays
• Yancy may fit in Tiangle compared to Rico
• Got an additional pick for next year's draft
• Negative
• Yancy is aging
• Rico Mambo is Rico Mambo is hustle is extraordinaire
• Clogged in center/forward position
• Yancy is soft
• Barangay Ginebra
• Positive
• Addition of 2 young bloods
• Lastikman can fill up the spot of the Hbomb 
• Having Maliksi can be the replacement to another Ginebra High Flyer that is offered to another team. 
• Negative
• The two came from injuries, can they bounce back?
• The kings only left with one available legitimate center

Analyzing the trade, we can say that the Kings is the winner of the trade. 

Also, after the approval of the trade, the news came out that the Management gave NEW PROPOSALS to 2 more teams to the second Phase of the Trade,

Clues:

• Team 1 
• Option 1 = Ginebra wants to to get the Center of this team, but Team 1 wanna get 3 players from the Kings.
• Option 2 = Ginebra will get the other Center and a Forward of this team, Ginebra will give 3 players and draft picks if necessary.
• Team 2
• If Gins will not get Team 1's center, team 2 will come in
• Ginebra will get a center/forward, but as we all know, conduit team is needed ;)

The proposals given can be interconnected or not, expect this trade atleast this month or next month. Team 1 is strugglling but their pride is so HIGH, we know how the management of this team handle trades, in Filipino "ayaw nila magpalugi".

But we will see..

PBA POWER RANKINGS

After a busy month, the crew of Barber Speak wanna say, "It's Nice to be BACK!"

POWER RANKINGS ( From the first 28 PBA Games):

• 1st Place: Barako Bull Energy (4-1 Win-Loss Record)

This veteran laden team is currently tied in second place of the standings, but this team deserves to be in the front seat of Power Rankings. After surprising all of us with a fiery 4 game winning streak, this team has become a contender for this year's Philippine Cup (This blog gave the team a top 8 prediction). A mix of good veteran players and fiery rookies lead by the Thriller and Dynamite, this team is now ready to bring back the Glory Years of the Ang Bumangga Giba Franchise. After Losing to Petron in their Opening Game, They return the favor to sister teams Ginebra and recently the Llamados. They also got a good win from the defending champion Talk n Text Tropang Texters. This team just wanna prove that they have a place in this league, and their franchise is no PUSH OVER anymore. 

• 2nd Place: Rain or Shine Elasto Painters ( 5-1 Win-Loss Record)

Paul Lee is here! That's the first thing you will hear about the noise that the Elasto Painters are giving to the League. But the success of this team is more than Paul Lee can give, this former "young team" is slowly but surely becoming a mature team and definitely peaking at the right time. With Gabe's all round performance, Jeff Chan's and Ronjay Buenafe's hot shooting, and with the Extra Rice duo of Belga and Quinahan, this team has become a team to reckon with this conference. Maybe some of you will ask, "why I only rank this team as 2nd place only?" It's because their performance is expected already. The Painters are the most balanced team in the league and the only Problem I see last September to this team is their Maturity. But it is quite obvious that maturity is not anymore a problem. I expect this team to advance in the semi final round.

• 3rd Place: Talk n Text Tropang Texters ( 4-1 Win-Loss Record)

No explanation needed, I will really be surprise if we will not see this team in the Finals.

• 4th Place: Petron Blaze Boosters ( 3-3 Win-Loss Record)

The Boosters had a good start after winning their first three games. But injury haunt them when Hontiveros (out 6 months) and Miranda got injuries. I cannot blame the team with their 3 game slump. It's just hard to win when your only playing with 10 players and only ONE healthy Point Guard. With their game against the Texters, Alex Cabagnot played the whole 48 minutes and seriously Ato Agustin is the person to blame. Why did you not get the 14th player in time? Why did you not give A-Cab a rest? Yes he is only the point guard available, but that's not a reason, remember, the texters feed their game with ENERGY, how can you match your opponent with energy if your players don't have the rest their needed? 

• 5th Place: Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings (3-2 Win Loss Record) 

Seriously, I DID NOT expect that I will rank Ginebra in the upper echelon of the Power Rankings. Their Game is really UNORGANIZED, the only good thing I can see with this team is clutch and hardwork. I really think personally, that trading young players like jimbo is not a solution, they need younger legs, that's why IF I will ask for a trade, the names of Yancy De Ocampo, and Ronald Tubid are the first guys that will float in my mind. 

• 6th Place-7th Place(tie): Meralco Bolts and Powerade Tigers 
• 8th Place: Bmeg Llamados
• 9th Place: Shopinas Clickers
• 10th Place: Alaska Aces

" Philip Zuñiga is a graduate of Philippine Normal University. He is a certified sports fan since 1996. "

PBA PREVIEW PART 1

THE 37TH SEASON of the Philippine Basketball Association will start this Sunday (October 2, 2011). This will be an exciting season for the basketball fans because of some notable players/coaches movements. Similarly, the much-awaited Smart Gilas players who recently gave our country a 4th place finish will finally show their stuff in the professional level. Let us now discuss the the first group of teams. 

• ALASKA ACES
• Key Returnees: LA Tenorio, Cyrus Baguio, and Sonny Thoss ( The Big three of the Aces are expected to lead their team to the championship level of competition. With the loss of Coach Tim Cone, this players must initiate to motivate their teammates.)
• Key Loss: Tim Cone ( No explanation needed, 22 years of leadership to the Aces is no joke. But no worries for the fans of the Aces, Coach Joel Banal is a good choice to change Coach Cone.)
• Key Acquisitions: Marnel Baracael, Eric Salamat ( With the aging Tony DelaCruz, a versatile guy like Marnel will be a good predecessor. Meanwhile, adding former Eagle Eric Salamat will stabilize the troubled guard position of the Aces.)
• Big Question: What will happpen to Mark Borboran?
• Prediction: Aces will play around 5th-7th position in the elimination round, but with the cohesion of the team, we will see a better aces come play off time.

only 15 PBA players earning Max salary?!

"Only 15 PBA plyrs earning maximuum salary of 350k a month"
-Comm. Chito Salud

From: Mr. Fidel Mangonon(PBA Statistician)

Number of Players with Maximum Salary: Alaska = 4, BMeg = 3, TnT = 2, Meralco = 2, A21, Powerade, Ros, and BGK with 1 each and Petron = None

It's hard to believe that there is only 15 PBA players who is earning Maximum Salary, is this a case of Miami Heat team style where the Big Three( Lbj, Wade, Bosh) agreed to decrease their salary to be able to be in one team? Or is this a case of under the table issue that is not new in the league?

These are the exact list of players with Max Salary:

• Alaska Aces with 4:

1. Reyes, Jay R
2. Tenorio, Lewis
3. Dela Cruz. Anthony
4. Thoss, Joachim

• BMeg Llamados with 3:

1. Yap, James
2. DeVance, Joe
3. Raymundo, Kerby

• TnT Tropang Texters with 2:

1. De Ocampo, Ranidel
2. Williams Kelly

• Meralco Bolts with 2:

1. Taulava, Asi
2. Hugnatan, Reynel

• Air21 Express: Danny Siegle
• Powerade Tigers: Gary David
• ROS Elasto Painters: Gabe Norwood
• Barangay Ginebra Kings: Mark Caguioa
• Petron Blaze Boosters: None

It is quite amazing on our part knowing that there are still many notable players that is not getting a max salary. This is some kind of a funny list, one good example is the Reigning MVP Jimmy Alapag, he even doesn't earn Max Salary. How about Petron's Santos, Washington, and Hontiveros? their not having having max salaries as well? Petron is a lucky team because of having 2 BPC awardees last season that doesn't EVEN earn maximum salary. 

If the list given by the PBA is accurate, then I must say that Alaska Aces is the team that players really want to go to. Man, they are the team who has the most Players with Max Salary. But why did Joe DeVance wanna get traded? hmmmmm.


This issue gave the league a big blow, Barber Speak Blog hope that this will be resolve IMMEDIATELY.  

" Philip Zuñiga is a graduate of Philippine Normal University. He is a certified sports fan since 1996. "

2 Gilas players frustrated for Ababou's 10th pick finish

Asi Taulava:

Chris Lutz:

It's understandable about their frustrations, we know that ababou is a good player, he is a great scorer.

But we can't blame Meralco and Ginebra for not getting him, those teams I mentioned needs big man and getting Dylan will just clogged the guard positions of those two teams.

The funny side is the Barako bull, even though they got both Maliksi(8th pick) and Ababou(10th pick), for formality sake, MAYBE, choosing Ababou first before Maliksi is a logical choice.

Back to the topic, it sounds funny how Asi and Chris reacts on Dylan's 10th pick, they should remember, the reference of being a good player is not on the draft day, but on how you play the game. Personally, I really think that Dylan is in good position right now, he will play in the team that needs scorers. And what I said in my previous article, Willie Miller as your teacher will make you a more type of a scorer. Goodluck Dylan!

" Philip Zuñiga is a graduate of Philippine Normal University. He is a certified sports fan since 1996. "