Who are The Two Secret Weapons of Magnolia?

(c) PBA Media Bureau

I will be honest enough to admit that I did not anticipate Magnolia to win the series against Ginebra. It was hard to see Magnolia winning the series because Ginebra had a better roster. They even have key advantages that were hard for Magnolia to overcome.

At the end of the day, Magnolia slapped me in the face by winning the series in only 4 games! It was a dominant performance by the squad that is looking to get back some lost glory in their upcoming Finals appearance.

Romeo Travis was a revelation to me. I never trusted him to be capable of carrying Magnolia but his work ethic, rebounding, and his defense made Magnolia indestructible against Ginebra.


Other than Travis, I saw two players that deserve some recognition.

ROME DELA ROSA

Dela Rosa averaged 28 minutes of play in the series. His statline of 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists will not amaze anyone. But call him a role player extraordinaire.

Why? If you are a defensive role player, you need to make sure that you will not be a problem on offense. RDR did that by shooting 60% in the field and only committing 2 turnovers all throughout the series!

Rome is also not the most amazing defender. But he is consistent. Even if you score against him, the effort level will be the same. The grit will still be there. And the energy is still high.

JIO JALALON

I think Jio is one of the most popular players in Magnolia but  I do not think the PBA universe understand how good and impactful he is.

Jalalon played off-the-bench but averaged 18.3 minutes. With that playing time, he produced 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Yes. Just like his good friend Scottie Thompson, Jio has the ability to fill up the stat sheet.

Jio is not only putting up a well-rounded statline but his defense is also very good. With his speed and skills, he can defend fastbreaks and he is pretty good in defending players off-the-ball like a leech.

His passing is also incredible to watch. He is very accurate in his passes and very capable of making passes of the move.

Here is a hot take. I can see a future where Jalalon will end up as a much better player than Scottie Thompson.