In basketball, being a starter always hold a lot of prestige. That doesn't mean though that the players on the bench are not important to winning basketball games, especially championships.
San Miguel Beermen is the most dominant team in the last five years of the league because they have the deepest bench. After losing June Mar Fajardo to an injury, are the Beermen still the deepest team in the league?
Let us see.
#12 Phoenix:Heruela-Napoles-Intal-Garcia-Marcelo
The center depth is the most important in the PBA and Phoenix is lacking a lot. They do not have enough size and enough skills in their center rotation that it is hard to see them withstand any of the teams that have giants.
#11 Columbian: Khobuntin-Celda-Gabayni-Ramos-Calvo
This depth has size but they are lacking a lot in terms of star power. It is hard to believe that this franchise has been in the PBA for a while and still has not accumulated notable names for their bench.
#10 Northport: King-Nabong-Revilla-Cruz-Manganti
The key to the power of the bench of Northport is in the hands of their 2019 first round pick, Sean Manganti. If he can meet the hype and be an impactful player right away, this bench could be much higher if we rank them again in the future.
#9 Blackwater: Cruz-Al Hussaini-Tolomia-Sumang-Sena
Having a reliable 6'7 on your bench is a huge plus for any team. They also have a reliable 3-and-D in Carl Bryan Cruz and two spitfire scorers. They are just lacking for some more star power to be higher in this ranking.
#8 Meralco: Maliksi-Faundo-Caram-Jackson-De Ocampo
The bench of Meralco just has a lot of questions. Having a starting-caliber wing in Allein Maliksi will help a lot but they are lacking some ceiling in their center position. The injury concerns of RDO will always be there.
#7 NLEX: Alas-Ighalo-Taulava-Galanza-Miranda
The biggest reason why NLEX is here not Meralco is Asi Taulava. Even with his age, Taulava should be more than capable of being an effective 8 to 12 minutes center. They also have skilled players on their bench that coach Yeng can play around.
#6 TNT: Enciso-Reyes-Williams-Vosotros-Semerad
TNT has a good bench because it has a lot of different skills and the experience level is pretty high with Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes. Their biggest problem is the injury concerns to the majority of them.
#5 Ginebra: Dela Cruz-Mariano-Caperal-Chan-Dillinger
In terms of overall size, Ginebra's bench is pretty big. Unfortunately, they could be needing more in terms of the ceiling. That overall size though is the biggest strength of their bench. Dela Cruz, Mariano and Dillinger are all capable of playing three positions which gives coach Tim Cone a lot of versatility.
#4 Rain or Shine: Ponferada-Yap-Torres-Borboran-Wong
Good depth in the center position. Check. A bench-scorer. Check. A shooter. Check. A do-it-all versatile defensive wing. Check. Rain or Shine's bench is complete to handle anything that coach Garcia needs.
#3 Alaska: Ahanmisi-Racal-Thoss-Brondial-Herndon
I did not anticipate that the bench of Alaska is this good. The #1 thing that I love about their bench is its size in the wing. Ahanmisi-Racal-Herndon is more than capable of switching to three or even four positions. Unfortunately for them, Thoss may be around for just another conference.
#2 Magnolia: Barroca-Jalalon-Reavis-Corpuz-Melton
I will not argue with anyone who says that Magnolia has the best bench in the league. It has ceiling, star power and plenty of skills. Even though their triplet of guards is pretty small, we have found out in the last several seasons that they can withstand their height-disadvantage.
San Miguel: Romeo-Escoto-Ganuelas Rosser-Pessumal-Zamar
Even though the bench of Magnolia has more talent and star power, I just feel like San Miguel is more complete. Especially if we consider the importance of three-point shooting in today's game. And of course, they have Terrence Romeo who could be a one-man offense for an entire game.
Comments
Post a Comment