All the right moves

Of all the moves made by teams in the Philippine Basketball Association in the off-season, I like what coach Ryan Gregorio and the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants have done.

First, the Giants acquired wiry Rico Maierhofer as the no. 2 overall pick and talented Chris Timberlake as no. 7 overall pick in the past PBA Draft. Then, they reacquired big man Marc Pingris and point guard Paul Artadi. Finally, they traded for Rafi Reavis in exchange for center Rico Villanueva.

The addition of Maierhofer and Timberlake makes the Giants younger and more athletic. The return of Artadi not only gives the Giants the fastest point guard with the ball, but more importantly gives them the point guard, who can deliver the ball and bring out the best from former Most Valuable Player James Yap.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Gregorio said his most important appointment this off-season was a lunch meeting with Artadi and Pingris.

"I sat down with Paul and Mark and told them that the reason they are back is because I made a mistake in breaking up the core of our 2005-06 Philippine Cup champion team. I am admitting that mistake and now they are back," said Gregorio.

Gregorio said he has the team that he wants. It is a balanced roster with go-to players and complementary players willing to sacrifice and do what is needed to win.

"My biggest concern now is how to create chemistry within our group," said Greogrio. "I felt that in the last few conferences, we had the talent but not the right chemistry. So that is what we have been working on in the pre-season. We want the players to like playing with each other."

Does this mean a PBA championship for Purefoods? Gregorio is not looking ahead that far. He said that a Final Four or a berth in the semifinals is their immediate goal and then they'll take it from there.

***

The team to beat this coming PBA conference is undoubtedly Fiesta Cup champion San Miguel Beer. Coach Siot Tanquingcen says that by now he is used to the pressure and high expectations that come with coaching a star-studded team like San Miguel Beer.

"You can't fault people for thinking that we should automatically win the title. I have very talented players. But talent does not necessarily win you titles. There are a lot of talented teams which have never won PBA championships. We still had to work harder than everyone else before we finally won it," said Tanquingcen.

The Beermen have become even stronger, at least on paper, with the addition of Arwind Santos and Denok Miranda in the off-season. This means heightened expectations from everyone from the fans to the team management.

"It was a good feeling to finally win a championship for San Miguel Beer," said Tanquingcen. "But, I wouldn't say okay na. Kasi sa basketball you're only as good as your last game. It's never finished. After we won the Fiesta Cup they congratulated us. Then sabi nila: Kailangan manalo kayo ng All-Filipino." Reuel Vidal - Manila Standard Today