We overreact to the slow start of the Purefoods Star Hotshots!
This chat between the Hoop Nut tag team occurred last Novermber 10, 2014, the day after the Manila Clasico game.
Enzo Flojo
7:10am
I thought I was supposed to be watching Manila Clasico last night. As it turned out, it was more of a Manila massacre. Instead of the Purefoods Star Hotshots, we were treated to the Purefoods Stars’ No Shots
Rolly Mendoza
7:19am
Ah, I see what you’re doing there! HAHA Well, we were still treated to a Clasico, a classic beat down by Purefoods at the hands of Barangay Ginebra. This happened on a night where Purefoods wore their retro jersey of yesteryear, and the current players performed as if they were as old as Jerry Codinera and Rey Evangelista.
Enzo Flojo
10:53am
I guess Purefoods was playing into the whole theme by playing like old men.
Clasico beat down? Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. Okay, I blame the retro theme of the whole night. Retiring jersey numbers? Throwback jerseys? I guess Purefoods was playing into the whole theme by playing like old men. Oh, but even old men wouldn’t shoot as badly as they did — 30% from the field and 56% from the line.
Rolly Mendoza
11:46am
Agreed, their shooting numbers were abysmal. Purefoods was simply out of sync for the whole night. A quick glance at the box scores would show you that they took care of the ball somewhat decently with only 12 turnovers but the 9 assists were alarming. You would expect the triangle offense to produce double digit assists or at least more dimes than turnovers. Also, a team with this core and chemistry should not have more mistakes than assists. Sad to say this but that performance was unbecoming of a Grand Slam team while Ginebra looked like a world beater.
Enzo Flojo
12:53pm
Haha! Ginebra always looks like a world beater until they get, like, ten games into the season and decide it’s time for some drama and they blow themselves out of contention.
Funny you picked up on those 12 turnovers. How can a team have that many turnovers and yet have its main point guard, Mark Barroca, commit ZERO TOs? Who’s to blame?
Rolly Mendoza
1:54pm
Don’t disappoint these fans Enzo!
Whoa! No need to disappoint the millions of Ginebra fans with that statement HAHA Back to topic… The blame should be divided among the players and coaching staff… However, if Purefoods made more shots, then more assists might have been recorded, thus, the turnovers would look trivial. Look at Ginebra. They had 11 turnovers BUT that was surpassed by their 22 assists.
Since I’m trying to look for more things to blame, how about these? Maybe Purefoods (SMC) was still fatigued from a long season last year OR maybe there was some rust because Purefoods last played 10 days ago OR the injuries are hurting them. Blah Blah.
In any case, they have started poorly over the last 2 conferences yet they still managed to reach the finals and win. With the additions of Kia and Blackwater plus the awful start of Barako Bull, Purefoods can still make the next round if the season ended today… Can they recover from their 1-3 start or is this the sign of the end of their dynasty?
Enzo Flojo
5:10pm
Oh, right, I forgot. Purefoods is to the PBA as the San Antonio Spurs are to the NBA. Both teams are old, both teams don’t start seasons very strongly, but both teams win when it counts the most.
Yuck. I hate the drama.
And, no, even if I want a new champion, Tim Cone is too good, too locked in, to let his team slip far down too much.
And, besides, they let Yancy De Ocampo go, which can only be a good thing, right?
Rolly Mendoza
8:28pm
Are you bashing Yancy De Ocampo? Haha Yancy has been solid for Global Port. Anyway, I agree about Tim Cone being the best coach in the league and he won’t allow Purefoods to stay near the bottom of the standings. But what if the rest of the league has caught up with them or simply figured out the triangle offense?
Purefoods has not added anyone new with significant value and no new infusion of talent is currently on their roster. Is it possible that these guys are so used to winning that the drive, passion and desire to be the best is somewhat lacking?
Staying on top is harder compared to getting to the top.
Enzo Flojo
8:47pm
I’m not saying Yancy was bad for Purefoods. All I’m saying is it was a good thing they shipped his 34-year-old-ness out. I mean, look at Yousef Taha right now!
I don’t think any team can say they’ve 100% figured out the triangle. This is because I don’t think the Purefoods players themselves have figured it out. Heck, I don’t think Dennis Rodman had it down pat in the late 90s, and yet the Bulls still won three titles.
The Zen guru
For me, it’s not really about the passion thing, but more of the pacing. I think Tim Cone is just a great student of so many of the all-time awesome coaches. He’s kind of a Zen guru in his own right, and he’s taking a page off Pop’s playbook by pacing his players. The Hotshots are gonna have some bump, and they’ll have to lick their wounds. In the end, though, they’ll still be in the running.
Oh, and staying on top isn’t as hard as some make it out to be… wait, are we still talking about basketball?
