PBA: B-MEG Llamados 2012 Draft preview

2011-12 season recap:

• Philippine Cup: 10-4 (1st), swept by Powerade 0-2, despite a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals
• Commissioner's Cup: 6-3 (3rd), beat Talk 'N Text 4-3 in the finals
• Governors' Cup: 9-5 (2nd), lost to Rain or Shine 3-4 in the finals

What happened? The first year of Tim Cone’s reign as the head coach of the B-MEG Llamados started out painfully. They breezed through the elimination round of the Philippine Cup only to be eliminated by the Powerade Tigers in the quarterfinals, even with their twice-to-beat advantage. The Llamados bounced back in the second conference thanks largely to the exploits of their talented import Denzel Bowles. The Llamados defeated the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in Game 7 of the Commissioner’s Cup in what will go down as one of the most dramatic games in PBA history. The Llamados then rode the momentum of their championship as they targeted back-to-back titles. They got an inexhaustible import in Marqus Blakely, who complemented his teammates perfectly, but they ran into an inspired Rain or Shine squad that was raring to win its first championship in PBA history. The past year also featured the departure of Kerby Raymundo who, for so long, has been the face of the franchise alongside James Yap. They also let go of Rico Maierhofer. In exchange, the Llamados received swingman JC Intal and veteran center Yancy De Ocampo, who surprised everyone by resuscitating his career with the Llamados. Where do they go from here? A year is too short to learn all of the quirks in Cone’s Triangle Offense, but because of the depth in B-MEG’s line-up, they still had an eventful season. The team can only get better once they have an entire off-season to learn more of Cone’s famous system, plus they will get Intal and Devance back from long injuries. Cone came into this franchise wanting to build a dynasty, not just to win one or two championships, and so one must take the long view with this team. What do they need most? B-MEG needs a big who can score on the perimeter or another energy guy In the upcoming draft, the B-MEG Llamados only need to look back at the success of their last two conferences to determine exactly what they need. Bowles provided them with scoring in the front court which opened everything up for his teammates. Blakely on the other hand gave them another energy guy outside of Marc Pingris. B-MEG has a solid six-man rotation for point guard, shooting guard, and small forward and that’s not counting Pingris who could play both forward positions. Among B-Meg’s front court, only Yancy De Ocampo can boast of a low post game. Rafi Reavis is really not known as a threat on offense, while Devance is more of a face-up player. What this team needs ideally, is a pair of big men. Possible trades Trading up in the draft could be an option for the Llamados. In a perfect world, they could trade Jonas Villanueva and the ninth pick to the Barako Bull Energy, in exchange for the fifth selection. That would give them an outside shot at Chris Ellis, or even Calvin Abueva, should he slip that far. The hustle of “The Beast” would be an absolute joy to have alongside that of “Sakuragi.”  - AMD, GMA News