Should Ginebra make a Trade?

(c) PBA Media Bureau

As we read articles of big trades after big trades, one team that is missing in those articles is the franchise with the biggest number of following in the country.

The millions of Ginebra fans are anxiously waiting for their favorite team to answer the big additions of the other franchises.

San Miguel Beermen, the only squad that we can comfortably say that have a better line-up than Ginebra, just added one of the best 15 players in the league. 

NLEX has catapulted himself into the upper echelon by adding one of the five best giants in the league.

The question now is, should Ginebra make a move?

Coach Tim Cone is not known to make a lot of moves. The moment he found a line-up that can win him a crown, he usually keeps them together and magnifies their chemistry.

If you think about it, even if they do not make a big acquisition, they will still have the 2nd best roster in the league.

But if we scrutinize the numbers, you will see the reasons why they need to make a move.

THREE-POINT SHOOTING
I am not sure anymore if they can win another crown with their level of shooting. In the 2018 Governors Cup, they connected on the 2nd least number of three-pointers. They only made 7.4 per game, just higher than the 7.0 of Columbian Dyip.

In that conference, they only have a single player who posted an above average efficiency from beyond the arc and that was Kevin Ferrer with 42%. Joe Devance also hit above 40% but he only played three games.

INJURIES
One of the underrated reasons why Ginebra succeeded in the 2018 Commissioner's Cup was good health. All of their core local players played 7 or more games. 

In the Governors Cup, Greg Slaughter, Joe Devance and Sol Mercado missed a lot of games due to health reasons. That was a problem also in the 2018 Philippine Cup because Slaughter and Devance did not play several games due to injuries. 


If Ginebra stays put, those two problems will remain to be the roadblocks of the most popular ballclub to a crown.