The final game between Philippines and Thailand for 2016 5th SEABA Stankovic Cup suddenly show up in my YouTube page. I watched this game live in 2016 and in fact wrote something about it although I have forgotten most of the details. This is my thoughts about this game (and the tournament) in retrospect.
The BAD
Philippines won this game, so I will save The GOOD at the end.
- Raymar Jose – I remember being very frustrated with Jose while watching this game live. Replay view has not changed it. Jose is a hardworking but undersized power-forward and I normally has a soft spot for such player. Jose is a frustrating player though with his penchant +/- actions play in 1 sequence. Example, he would grab an offensive rebound in traffic (+) but miss the put-back shot (-) or he would grab an offensive rebound (+), dribble it out from the traffic and turned it over with an errant pass (-).
- Von Pessumal – Pessumal could build a house with the amount of bricks he was missing in this game.
- Kevin Ferrer – This is excagerating but this tournament exposed Ferrer! Back then I really though Ferrer had potential to be a 3-D superstar in the PBA and in fact, below is what I though of him before the last 2 games.
- Injuries – Though not really related to this game, re-watching this game gives you a big sense of loss in terms of potential. Pre-injury, Mac Belo was an absolute beast and I really hope he can get back to his best. Russel Escoto meanwhile had have multiple knee injuries but you could still see his potential.
- Flawed Lineup – This was an FEU centric lineup all the way to Coach Nash Racela. By that time, only Rosario and Almond Vosotros had made the PBA and I though GILAS took a big gamble coming to Thailand with only a 10-deep rooster. Ken Holmqvist and 18-year-old Jonas Raphael Tibayan hardly played any minute. I am actually a big-fan of giving the 12th spot ala Cristian Laettneer to a young promising player but bringing 2 was courting trouble! In fact, analyst from Thailand recognized this flawed lineup.
P.S. Unfortunately this move to bring-in 2 young prospects has not bear any fruit. Holmqvist went back to Europe and while Tibayan is still in NU, he has not really light-up the league.
The GOOD
- Roger Pogoy – At the moment, Pogoy is arguable in the top 3 for the best shooting guard in the country. You could never have predicted it looking at this game. He was just “okay”! His defense was okay (e.g. he can chase perimeter players but occasionally would commit stupid fouls) as well as his offense (e.g. he can score but he is not a light out shooter or get-buckets-anywhere-scorer).
- We still WON!
larimorejr 