Ginebra's bigger problem is the absence of, Slaughter or live fans support? - 2020 PBA Quarantine Season Primer

 The Philippine Basketball Association is back on track for a possible resumption after Metro Manila returned to General Community Quarantine. According to the Commissioner's office, PBA is set to return for practice by August 25 and if the National Capital Region remains to be under GCQ, we should expect the PBA to announce the date of the return of games.

So, here is the series of articles that will provide the biggest questions for each team as a primer for the possible return of the league.

Today, our focus will be the most popular ball club in the country, the Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel. Greg Slaughter decided that he will leave the PBA. Ginebra decided to stay in-tact. The pandemic will also have an impact on their team because fans will not be allowed to be on attendance.

So, the question for Ginebra is, which absence will have more impact, Slaughter or live fans support?

The easy answer is Greg. Greg may have a forgettable 2019 season as he ony averaged 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 51% FG per game but he was still a positive contributor in his 22.8 minutes per game. The fact is, he was actually very effective in 2019 Philippine Cup, producing 14.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 55% FG per game.

Even though they decided that they do not need to trade to add another capable center, it doesn't mean that they are underestimating his absence. So, I will not be shocked if they end up overestimating the ability of their back-up bigs that will take a lot of his minutes.

Now, how big of an impact were the fans to the performance of the team? You can actually decipher that in the statements of coach Tim Cone about not having live attendance. He said,

It’s going to be a big adjustment for us. We’re going to have to realize that there are certain things that we won’t be able to do or rely on without the fans there. We’re going to have to learn how to kick ourselves in the gear and not rely on the fans to get us in the gear. Play big moments without the fans. Those things are going to be a part of it and things that we would discuss if we get back together and go.

So, which is the right answer?

I think it will be the absence of Greg. The players will learn through experience how to play well without fans. But Greg left a hole that they will need to fill in.