October 18 News and Rumors Recap: Erik Menk, Coach Victolero and etc.
We have some big news to tackle today.
Controversial: Eric Menk criticize the inclusion of two NLEX players in the mythical team
If you haven't heard yet, Major Pain shared his thoughts about the Leo Awards and his biggest take was his opinion about Taulava and Anthony on the mythical team.
"If there’s 12 teams in the league, and they (Road Warriors) finished in the bottom half of each tournament, how did they get two of the top 10 players in the league?... If you cant finish in the top half of the league, you do not deserve to have a player, more or less two players on the Mythical team... These guys didn’t make it while the two guys from NLEX made it. Now It’s nothing personal against NLEX, it’s nothing personal against those two players that made the Mythical 10. It’s not their fault. They did the best they could do. However, if you win, you should get rewards. And if you don’t, you shouldn’t.”
The bold statement is basically his point about the mythical team award. And I totally disagree with it. Mythical team is all about the players who played the best in their respective positions. This is a team game so no matter how good you are, that will not be enough to carry your team to the top. You will need fourteen more men who will help you in the court and coaches who will build a scheme that fits your squad. Not to mention the utilities.
Just half: Rain or Shine re-sign Beau Belga
As expected, Belga signed a three-years maximum contract with Rain or Shine. That means, he will be a sole corporation now as his partner in the Extra Rice Inc. is already traded to a different team.
He is only 29 years old so he should be on his top form for the whole duration of the contract. I don't think he deserves a maximum with what he showed this season. He averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 44.5% FG in 20.4 minutes of play. I do understand though that Rain or Shine cannot lose him too to maintain a little bit of the personality and image that they have built in the past few seasons.
The replacement: Star choose coach Chito Victolero to replace coach Jason Webb
The wish of a lot of Star fans has finally come true as Governor Rener Pardo signs coach Chito to a contract. Jason will be retained as a consultant and even the assistant coaches will stay behind. Coach Chito resigned as the Mahindra coach after their run in the Commissioner's Cup.
So, what can the Star fans expect from coach Chito?
He is good in encouraging a team to play hard on the defensive end. His team in Mahindra was one of the most consistent in disrupting offensive flows of their opponent and forcing a lot of turnovers. He also emphasize rebounding pretty well.
The problem will be on the offensive end. In his last two conferences with Mahindra, they were the last place in the assist department. Not only that, they also finished in the bottom two on the FG% department. So, the assistant coaches will need to help him in developing their offensive scheme if they want to work this out.
