The Two Teams that Need Renaldo Balkman

We can call the PBA now as the home of second chances. Just yesterday, commissioner Willie Marcial gave his green light in lifting the lifetime ban of Renaldo Balkman. 

The Commissioner waited just for the thumbs up of former commissioner Chito Salud, who was the one who set down the ban. Mr. Salud finally said yes.

Now that he is available, who are the teams that should consider him?

How about these two.

BLACKWATER ELITE

In terms of talent, the Elite was not lacking in any postion. Unfortunately, they were not able to incorporate that into a fluid scheme in the Philippine Cup. They were having problems on both ends of the court, but they may need to choose between defense and offense, before dreaming of dominating both.

The better choice should be defense. JP Erram is already there, anchoring their stand. With him waiting in the paint, his teammates could get aggressive outside. On the wing, Mac Belo has established himself as a passable team defensive player and a superb one-on-one stopper.

Renaldo is a hyper-active defender. He disrupts passing lane and take advantage of opportunities to block shots. That is the best guy to fit between Erram and Belo. With the three of them, I expect their interior defense to be one of the best in the Commissioner's Cup.

Balkman could be the glue that they are waiting for. Balkman continue to be an offensive rebounding machine, and for a young team who has good offensive spit fires, a lot of second chances, matters. 

One last advantage of having a Balkman is his possible impact to Mac Belo and Raymar Jose. They can learn a thing or two in terms of hyperactive defense and rebounding with Balkman. 

SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN

Who has the most loaded line-up in the league? San Miguel Beermen. Can they compete in the Commissioner's Cup without an import? Yes.

So, what is the kind of import that they need to add? A guy who will do the dirty works, who doesn't need the ball, who will inject energy, a defensive stopper, a good finisher and can make the right passes.

San Miguel doesn't need a scorer. And if you look at the current ABL stats of Balkman, he can live without making buckets. 10.8 rebounds, 53% FG, 3.2 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.9 blocks. That is superb, and you may have not realize that I did not include points, there.

Imagine a line up of Fajardo, Balkman, Standhardinger, Santos and Ross. Size, physicality and dominance. I think, you can create a five with an import in the whole PBA, and that San Miguel five will be able to compete. 

If you define deep and star power, just tell them San Miguel Beermen.