There has been online talk saying that the recent trade between the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the NorthPort Batang Pier – that saw Stanley Pringle shipped to the Gin Kings in exchange for Sol Mercado, Jervy Cruz, and Kevin Ferrer – was a one-sided deal.
Mercado knows it well.
“They say that the trade was one-sided because they see Stanley as one of the best guards. He puts up thirty points a game or whatever,” said the 35-year-old Mercado, himself still one of the better two-way guards in the PBA today.
For Mercado, the deal wasn’t unequal. For the 11-year league veteran, he thinks that most people tend to forget that with Ginebra, under decorated coach Tim Cone, sacrifices have to be made for the betterment of the team.
Among those sacrifices is their output – especially scoring-wise – and of course, the minutes they log in every game. And fans, most of the time, only judge how good players are by the numbers associated with their names.
“What they don’t realize is that at Ginebra, we make a lot of sacrifices. Me, Kevin, Jervy – we made a lot of sacrifices for the benefit of the team,” he said. “People don’t understand.
“It’s not that we can’t play this style of game.”
Mercado was a Gin King for four years. He knows that Pringle will also have to sacrifice for Ginebra.
“Obviously, Stanley here had the ball in his hands. Eighty-five-percent of the time, the ball is in his hands. At Ginebra, it’s not gonna happen. He’s gotta make sacrifices as well if they want to win,” said the three-time PBA champ.
“So he’s not gonna average 30 points a game, he’s not gonna have the ball in his hands majority of the time. So he’s gonna have to adjust, make sacrifices to be able to play a different style.”
Regarding adjustments, Mercado – as well as Ferrer and Cruz – are doing so with the Batang Pier. And they seemed to have meshed well right away, as they helped NorthPort to a 127-99 win over the Blackwater Elite Saturday.
“So over here, it’s obviously a different style. We play with the ball, we’re playing a fast pace. So it’s definitely an adjustment,” Mercado said.
“It’s a new chapter for all of us, and hopefully we contribute to wins.”
