Magnolia needs Raymond Almazan

(c) PBA Media Bureau

Magnolia was one of the rumored teams that were interested with Raymond Almazan. I believe strongly that they do need Raymond Almazan and we all saw why in their defeat against Meralco.

In their game against Meralco, Romeo Travis played the power forward position for almost his entire playing time! That forced Ian Sangalang to be the center and he struggled. Ian came up with 12 points, 5/13 FG and 6 rebounds in 28 minutes of play.

Meralco played big for almost the entire 48 minutes, playing Hodge in the small forward position, and that was not solved by Magnolia.

The play of Ian is really alarming. In this conference where he needs to play a lot in the center position, he is averaging 10.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 45% FG per game. 

Compare that to his numbers in the 2018 Commissioner's Cup of 12.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 52% FG per game. 

I do know that Magnolia is winning even with the struggles of Sangalang but they should realize that the playoffs will be a different ball game. 

Their weaknesses will be magnified there and if Ian in the center position is a downside, they will surely feel that against Ginebra and San Miguel who has elite depth in their center rotation. 

That is not their only problem with their frontline. The depth of their frontline is also thin in terms of talent. Behind Sangalang and Travis, they have Aldrech Ramos, Rodney Brondial, Rafi Reavis and Kyle Pascual. The moment Sangalang and Travis have bad games, Magnolia will have a big hole inside.

If Magnolia really wants to try and steal the crown from Ginebra, they need to take the risk and trade for Raymond Almazan.

If they add him, Sangalang will now slide into his natural position of power forward. The Dark Knight will also provide rim protection that Magnolia needs to complete their defense. 

With Almazan's ability to hit 3s, Travis and Sangalang can feast on smaller defenders inside. 

Unfortunately, they may need to send an offer that Rain or Shine will be hard-pressed to reject because ROS management is not letting go of Raymond that easily.