PBA: Four teams tweak lineups in off-season trades

Tuesday, 09 March 2010 12:13 PM Merck Maguddayao

Four teams underwent major trades in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), tweaking their lineups for the upcoming Fiesta Conference, which will start on March 21.

The Air21 Express acquired Mike Cortez from the San Miguel Beermen, sending starting point guard Alex Cabagnot to the Philippine Cup third placers. The Express likewise traded center Yancy De Ocampo—who was acquired last week in a trade with the Talk 'n Text Tropang Texters—to the Barangay Ginebra Kings in exchange for seldom-used forwards Rich Alvarez and Doug Kramer.

The Tropang Texters, meanwhile, acquired defensive specialists Mark Yee, Aaron Aban, and JR Quinahan from the Express in exchange for De Ocampo and seldom used shooter Ren-Ren Ritualo. Ritualo will stay with the Express.

Blockbuster trade

The Cortez-Cabagnot trade may be considered the off-season's blockbuster trade, based on the two players' Philippine Cup statistics.

Cortez is expected to be the starting point guard for the Express, playing alongside rookie Ramsey Williams and veteran Egay Billones. He averaged 10 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and one steal in the previous tournament and shoots a decent 40 percent from the field and a superb 87 percent from the free-throw line.

On the other hand, Cabagnot averaged a superior 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.1 steals on top of a decent 38.3 percent field goal shooting. Cabagnot will play alongside talented point guards Jonas Villanueva and Dennis Miranda for the Beermen.

Exchange of bigs

With the 6'9” De Ocampo in helm, the Kings will beef up its center rotation composed of Billy Mamaril and the injured Eric Menk, while the undersized Enrico Villanueva may be placed in the power forward position with the returning Rudy Hatfield. De Ocampo, seldom used last conference and playing only 13 minutes per outing, averaged 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in the Philippine Cup.

Meanwhile, former Ateneo standouts Alvarez and Kramer tallied low numbers for Ginebra's campaign in the last conference. Former Rookie of the Year Alvarez averaged 2.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per game while former Express Kramer scored four points and hauled three rebounds in an unofficial game against guests Smart Gilas National Team. Both are expected to play the power forward spot alongside veteran Richard Yee.

16 points for five

Ritualo, reuniting with the Express, will play alongside Ronjay Buenafe in the shooting guard spot. The sweet-shooting FIBA Asiad veteran had his lowest output in his career, scoring an average 5.4 points on top of a 19.6 percent three-point shooting. Ritualo's career averages are 13.4 points and 32.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The Tropang Texters meanwhile acquired from the Express three quality players who are expected to play intense defense under Talk 'n Text's offense-oriented system. The trio of Quinahan, Yee, and Aban had a combined average of 16.7 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.1 blocks in the Philippine Cup.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites