Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The PBA had a lot of stories this season.
Talk N
Text’s
spoiled Grand Slam season is one. Gary David’s super scoring mode is
another. Mick Pennisi’s flop, Erika Padilla’s locker room scene, and Talk N Text’s All-Star snub are one of
many hoop news that made Philippine basketball interesting.
But there’s one more story that
we could follow and sink our teeth into.
It was well-documented that
fans thought it was imba when the Barako
Bull Energy agreed to trade Dondon
Hontiveros and the rights of Chris
Lutz to the Petron Blaze Boosters.
Hontiveros has been part of the San
Miguel/Magnolia/Petron team for almost a decade now and even if his
contemporaries like Olsen Racela, Danny
Seigle, Danny Ildefonso, and Dorian Pena have had their minutes slashed
(Racela has already retired), Hontiveros still continued to flourish.
But will his dominance end now?
At the start of the season, the Cebuano
Hotshot suffered an injury that would sideline him for almost nine months.
When he returned to action, it was evident that he lost his minutes to rookie
and former Smart-Gilas teammate Chris Lutz as well as Petron’s Sta. Lucia Connection of Joseph Yeo and Denok Miranda. Rest
assured he also needs to put up with bench guys like Jojo Duncil, RJ Rizada, and Axel Doruelo.
Here’s the thing…
Dondon Hontiveros started his
pro career with the MBA’s Cebu Gems. This was his first break as he was named the league's first Discovery of the Year Award. He was also part of an ensemble that also had Rob Wainwright, Stephen Padilla, Mike Manigo, Matt Mitchell, and Whitey Almonte. How can you not love a team that has WHITEY ALMONTE!?! In 2000, he successfully made the jump to the PBA via the Tanduay Rhum Masters. When Tanduay went berserk and started trading
their players as the squad was transitioning as the FedEx Express, San Miguel swiped Hontiveros for Freddie Abuda and a 2002 first round pick that turned out to be Renren Ritualo.
In Hontiveros’ 12-year PBA
career, the Cebuano Hotshot has NEVER averaged
below 10 points and 25 minutes in a season.
Never.
NEVER.
Hontiveros will always be one
of my favorite slashers of all time. He was one of the reasons why I watch the
MBA then (Cebu versus Negros would never
disappoint) and why I temporarily followed the Air21 Express last season. Like
I said earlier, Racela lost his spot when SMB began testing a lot of point
guards before settling with Alex Cabagnot.
Same goes to Danny Ildefonso with the entry of Jay Washington and Danny Seigle with the arrival of Arwind Santos. Hontiveros has remained
the only major player from San Miguel’s 2000’s title teams to continue playing
in major minutes.
But perhaps Hontiveros’ time is
up?
I honestly don’t want
Hontiveros’ streak to end because DH has the capabilities of scoring 20 points
in an instant with or without health issues. The last time he scored in the PBA
when he was still playing for the Express in the 2011 PBA Governor’s Cup where he averaged 9.0ppg, 3.9rpg, 1.8apg, and 1.3spg in eight games.
He finished the season with a
13.5 scoring average after a nice showing in the 2011 PBA Commissioner’s Cup – and this was his second-best season output
in his career.
Hopefully the Cebuano Hotshot
will go berserk and dominate the rim to continue his streak.
This story might be a little
smaller than what we usually concern of, but it could be something worth
checking out.
Game over!
