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PBA: Barangay Ginebra Kings 2012 Draft preview

By CARLO PAMINTUAN, GMA News

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2011-12 season recap:
  • Philippine Cup: 9-5 (4th place), swept 0-2 in the quarterfinals by Rain or Shine
  • Commissioner’s Cup: 6-3 (2nd place), eliminated 1-3 in the semifinals by B-Meg
  • Governor’s Cup: 9-5 (3rd place), lost a playoff in the semifinals against B-Meg
         
     PBA Draft Previews
What happened? The Barangay Ginebra Kings were always at the thick of things throughout the season. They started slow but gained steam and almost made it to the Governor’s Cup Finals if it wasn’t for a late B-Meg put-back. The Ginebra campaign in the 2011-2012 PBA season only showed that Mark Caguioa is still at his prime. He won the MVP award but as he said in many interviews, he’d gladly trade it for a championship. The problem for the Ginebra Kings last year was that some of their key players were not healthy. They were also involved in mid-season trades which cost them some points in terms of chemistry. Where do they go from here? When they traded for Allein Maliksi and Dylan Ababou, Ginebra partly secured their future. With this upcoming PBA Draft, they want to take another step forward in their youth movement. With a complete off-season under their belts, the Ginebra Kings should be better this upcoming season. Being in the thick of things next year won’t nearly be enough though. They want to get back into the Finals for a shot at winning another championship. It’s been a long wait for the team and their fans, and as such, they will surely be out to make this dream a reality next season. What do they need most? The Kings need legitimate big men. A quick look at their lineup shows that only Enrico Villanueva is the legitimate center. They move guys like Kerby Raymundo and Eric Menk to the center position sometimes when they are really power forwards. Then they also have small forwards who spend some time at the four position. They need size and they should be filling that need in the upcoming draft. However, the PBA Draft often boils down to getting the player your team needs versus getting the most talented player. Luckily for Ginebra, the team has two first-round picks, meaning they may be able to fill a need as well as add to their overall talent level.
Possible first round pick (6th and 8th overall): Ronald Pascual, Alex Mallari, Aldrech Ramos Although getting big men will address a lot of their issues, it’s highly unlikely that they will get two bigs with their sixth and eighth picks. There is a possibility though that Ronald Pascual may still be available at number six, with June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ellis, Cliff Hodge, Calvin Abueva, and Chris Tiu being penciled as the first five selections. Basically, Ginebra needs to select whichever of those players is still available.   The next two options after those guys will be Aldrech Ramos and Alex Mallari. Rain or Shine will surely select one of those, so Ginebra should take whoever was passed up on. This year’s PBA Draft could be a very good one for Ginebra. If they get Pascual and Ramos, they’ll get extra scoring punch and a good defensive big man. If they get Pascual and Mallari, their wing positions will be set for the years to come.  
Possible trades If they can get a good big man by trading any of their picks, they should. It will be much better for them to get help from a big who already has PBA experience. If they get Pascual with the sixth pick, it might actually be better for them to trade away their eighth pick for a quality big man. Rumors also abound that the Kings are one of the teams involved in a multiple-squad blockbuster. If that pans out, then that could change their draft plans drastically, depending on whom they land.  - AMD, GMA News
Tags: pbaseason, pbadraft, barangayginebrakings
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