Sa sobrang curious nung case (huh???), I don't know where to start. But we could begin with one question (and it might lead to another... and another... and another).
Japeth Aguilar is spending an awful lot of time in the bench, right?
With Talk-n-Text suffering from a lot of injuries that made his key players either playing hurt or chose to sit on the bench because they are really hurt, the TNT Nation could really use a healthy pair of legs (yes Ryan Reyes and Kelly Williams, how are those doing?) and raiseable arms (yes Jimmy Alapag, those might hurt this morning you wake up from bed after your 29 point-Gilas-mode explosion last night). Japeth have those two. And yes he is a player of his own kind that comparing him to Jimmy, Ryan, or Kelly is pretty wrong, but considering those injury bugs everyone expects him to at least average not below 30 minutes a ballgame. Last night, he was benched the entire fourth quarter. To make you scratch your head even harder, a goofball of a defender (yet effective) named Rich Alvarez (and let's not forget, he's a 2000-whatever Rookie of the Year!) ate those minutes that was supposed to be Japeth's, including those situational substitutions Coach Chot Reyes was doing during the end game. Kung si Gilbert Lao ang ipinasok dun at magkakaminuto instead of Japeth, ay dyoskopo! Pakiuntog na lang ang ulo ko.
So what happened to this guy that could run up-and-down 31 straight times and can jump 18 feet high and 13 meters long (I really want to exaggerate his athleticism para mapansin mo din. Kung hindi, sorry)? Why? What is the because?
(Breaking down Japeth's game... yeah! I've been waiting for a long time to do this!)
Aside from being that athletic, he has a good medium-range jumper. He can knock down those 18 ft. pull-up jumpers with ease (because he jumps high and nobody bothers to reach for it) and in a consistent fashion. He's also an effective wingman (with limitations that I'll tell you later) and could really do serious morale damage if those fastbreaks can be perfectly executed. And note this, he's a hell of a help-defender.
Question (eto na yung another na sinasabi ko kanina)... is he doing any of this in the semifinals?
No. This is what he is doing.
- When he gets the ball into the low post, he'll either back his defender down with one dribble and pass it immediately back outside when his defender is Rob Reyes, a guy who's smaller and a lot less magulang to use his chest, or he'll totally back his defender down and try to make a shot out of it that will eventually miss when his defender is Danny Ildefonso. That will surely happen, specially if you're not the primary option for offense.
- When he gets the ball into the high post, he'll face up his defender and put the ball on to the floor. Whatever he decides to do with it, nothing will happen. He'll either pass or force it up causing a miss or a turnover. He'll miss because you won't see him go for at least a lay-up. He'll turn it over because you won't see him use his body to protect the ball on his way to the hoop or make intelligent passes. Bottom line, he's terrible when he puts the ball on the floor.
- He can't get it on on fastbreak plays. When he's in the floor, Talk-n-Text is not running. When he's off the floor, the Texters are on the 5th gear. Marami ngang wingmen ang Talk-n-Text, but don't these guys wanna go for the one who does morale damaging slam dunk finishes? If there's any team that believes in momentum and firing up the players, diba sila yun?
- He's defending Arwind Santos one-on-one... outside. Without the ball. It seems he knows that he's useless outside so he'll rotate with the defense, go for help and completely lose sight of Arwind. The next thing they know, Petron make that pass to the weak side baseline where Arwind is waiting defenseless. Two points for Petron, and Japeth gets the blame.
- Because he's defending in the perimeter and Petron not eager to pull the trigger on the three-ball, the probability of the rebound going to Japeth's hands is like what... a snowfall in Baguio City?
Coach Chot's fault? (another question... dumadami na!) Not really. Japeth had a lot of chance to improve his game, but it's not his fault either if he's being a bench warmer. He got to WKU and went out being the most athletic 6'9" player in the Philippines. He never got to improve his off-the-dribble move during the Gilas days because they ran a system that should be in full operation 48 minutes of the game. When defenders figured him out, he became BFFs with Dylan Ababou and Jason Ballesteros on the bench. Then came the PBA comeback like he's a human pogo stick. When Petron figured him out, he's now getting to know the towel boy better.
Game 7 on Wednesday. It's definitely a win-now mode. Imagine if Japeth is set up by his teammates to his medium-range, his pull-ups, his fastbreaks, and all his strengths, then Talk-n-Text might make it's improbable comeback. Specially now that everyone discovered Larry Fonacier is a solid liability in defense, it's time for Talk-n-Text to really go to their strengths. And it's time for Japeth Aguilar to use his strengths.
Mag-iimprove pa ba siya? Oo naman. Hindi pa siya hinahabol ni papa time kaya napakadami pa nyang taon para palakasin ang laro nya. Kasabay siguro nun ang pag-improve ng decision making skills nya.
Follow the sportscast engineer on Twitter @sirjhaydelacruz. There is more after the jump break!
SCORE: Have you seen the New York Knicks clusterfuck festival? If not, check your NBA standings for details.
SCORE: Past tense - Kobe Bryant is the 7th best player in the NBA right now (according to ESPN). Present tense - Kobe Bryant made his fourth consecutive 40-point game. Future tense - Put him back up. WAY, way up.
SIPA: A spinning heel kick coupled with bad defense means knockout of the night award for Edzon Barboza (UFC 142, do check it out).
SCORE: Si Jeff Chan ang gawin ninyong basehan kung mananalo ang Rain or Shine o hinde.
SPORTS SIKAT: Natapos na ang wonderful run ng Denver Broncos sa NFL starring Tim Tebow. Kung sakaling magkaroon ng homecoming si Tebow dito sa Pilipinas at by my WILDEST dreams ay naisipan nyang magtayo ng Football academy dito sa bansa, ano na lang ang itatawag natin sa Younghusband Football Academy? Younghusband Soccer Academy? Sigurado ako na ang unang tututol dito ay ang mga fans ng Azkals na matatagpuan sa fanpage nila sa Facebook.
SIKAT: Ako ang hiningal nung pinanood ko si Gloc 9 magperform dito sa Tondo live. Piyesta! Enjoy kaya.
SLAM: Will Chris Jericho (ang pinakatitingala kong wrestler sa lahat) finally speak this week?
At ang malupit na closer na pang-Facebook status para sa entry na ito: VIVA STO. NINO!!!
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