WHEN a trade like the San Miguel Beer-KIA deal goes down, we all become armchair basketball analysts overnight.
Commissioner Chito Narvasa may know something we don’t. San Miguel Beer and KIA management may know something we don’t.
The Commissioner must remain independent and must have the trust and confidence of all 12 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) governors. As it is, Commissioner Narvasa doesn’t have the trust and confidence of seven out of the 12 PBA teams.
If I’m Commissioner Narvasa, do you stay as commissioner and finish your term or resign? According to PBA by-laws, eight votes are needed to replace him. The Commissioner’s performance is evaluated annually—if the board is satisfied with his or her performance, then the contract is renewed for another year.
This crisis presently housing the PBA—the longer it pervades—may threaten the existence of the 42-year-old league. In my humble opinion, and I only speak for myself, Commissioner Narvasa should make the supreme sacrifice and resign.
****
LAST Sunday the De La Salle University Green Archers did what six other teams failed to do, and that is to beat the previously unbeaten Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, 79-76.
The Green Archers scored 10 unanswered points in the last two minutes and 21 seconds of the game while nailing the Blue Eagles to 76 points. The score was 76-69 before Coach Aldin Ayo threw away his jacket in disgust and frustration due to lack of defensive intensity from his boys.
It lit a fire in the belly of his kids then they made a run-making stop after stop after stop to prove time and again that defense wins games and championships.
Coach Tab Baldwin can make all sorts of excuses for his team’s debacle, but the point is, they lost—Isaac Go couldn’t finish at the rim because Ben Mbala was lurking nearby, which made him miss. Mbala led all scorers with 28 points, 19 pulls, six blocks and six steals.
Ricci Rivero, slowly emerging as the King Archer only in his sophomore year, ably backed up Mbala with 21 points, five rebounds and two steals.