Sunday, July 01, 2012
In a span of one year (or two
since one of team allegedly signed a long term contract) Philippine fans could
witness the best non-PBA rivalry
since the time when Blu Detergent’s Asi
Taulava and Tanduay Rhum’s Eric Menk
ruled the PBL.
These guys are not big men
though. Maybe I’ll confuse people with my analogy. But never was a rivalry so
intense outside the PBA circles. I can tell people that this rivalry rivals
that of The Rock and the Major Pain but when they climb to the
PBA once their Filipino basketball residency has made them eligible, expect
these two to be the new age version of Jimmy
Alapag against Jayjay Helterbrand.
What’s nice about the players
that I picked is that all of these guys are PBA MVPs.
San
Miguel Beermen
dynamo Chris Banchero is a 6’1 point
guard from Seattle Pacific meanwhile
Indonesia Warriors’ Stanley Pringle
is also 6’1 and also plays the same position for Penn State. In the ASEAN Basketball
League, both men can play both guard positions and both guys were midseason
acquisitions. Banchero arrived to the scene after his documents came into
place. However, Pringle and Banchero can’t suit up for the Beermen which is why
Pringle signed with the Indonesia Warriors. Pringle joined two other Filipinos
in Allan Salangsang and should-be
top rookie prospect Jerick Canada leaving
Indonesia to release former PBA player Mark Magsumbol.
Good call.
TALE OF THE TAPE
|
||
CHRIS
BANCHERO
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PLAYER
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STANLEY
PRINGLE
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SEATTLE
PACIFIC
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TEAM
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PENN
STATE
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13.2PPG
1.8RPG
4.8APG
2.6SPG
49%
FG
14%
3FG
63%
FT
|
2011-12 ABL
REGULAR SEASON
STATS
|
18.6PPG
4.8RPG
6.2APG
1.2SPG
46%
FG
45%
3FG
86%
FT
|
12.3PPG
2.7RPG
8.2APG
3.5SPG
52%
FG
25%
3FG
58%
FT
|
2011-12 ABL
POSTSEASON
STATS
|
18.6PPG
4.8RPG
2.OAPG
1.4SPG
42%
FG
33%
3FG
66%
FT
|
Pringle’s 28 points, 8
rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals were enough to choke out the Beermen in our
home turf, 78 to 76. In the regular season, Pringle averaged 6.2 assists per
game but those numbers deteriorated as he took on a more offensive kind of mentality.
Banchero on the other hand scored 16 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals
and was 7-of-12 from the field to a cause that was for San Miguel to take… if
they can finish out the game.
I guess if there’s one thing
different about these two is that Pringle is more of a combo guard than
Banchero. Pringle can shift gears from being a super charged playmaker to a
equally-powered scorer. But how ironic is this because Banchero can multitask playmaking
with scoring. The only qualm I have in Banchero's game is that while I'm comparing him with Alapag, he needs to improve his range. Pringle meanwhile is a never say die performer that needs to cut down his turnovers.
I guess San Miguel needs to
field in a PBA D-League squad. I
think it’s time for the team to test the D-League and to further own Banchero
and Pringle. Their ABL version is nice and all for their practice players and
free agents but for their kids, most especially their rookie bigs like Junmar
Fajardo, they need to give them an avenue where their star player capabilities
won’t be contained. After all, San Miguel has partnered with the DLSU Green Archers and Gee Abanilla might find the D-League a
nice way to hone LA Revilla, Norbert
Torres, Arnold Vosotros, Yutien Andrada, Sam Marata, Joshua Webb, and Jeron Teng.
Even if both players are San
Miguel discoveries, I don’t think both players can play for one squad. Maybe
B-Meg can finally have the starting point guard they want while Ginebra can
finally have their heir apparent to Helterbrand.
No question though, I am pretty
psyched on what these two can do for the future of Philippine basketball.
The people of the 90’s are
dwindling and the people beyond 2005 are considered in or past their primes so I
guess with the Smart-Gilas kids and
the new bunch of Fil-Ams, now is the right to refresh the rosters.
Game over.
