PBA: In another world, Mark Barroca is Air21’s savior

It seemed like a match made in heaven.

On August 28, 2011, the then-Shopinas.com Clickers used the fifth overall pick on point guard Mark Barroca, fresh off a stint with the first incarnation of the Gilas national team. Pairing him with rookie PBA head coach Franz Pumaren seemed like a great fit. Pumaren’s DLSU Green Archers teams were at their best when they had a heady, bull-strong guard leading the charge, someone unafraid to score when needed, but at the same time, capable of playing lockdown defense on the other end.

However, Barroca never put on a Shopinas.com jersey.

Shopinas.com needed to give that pick to the B-MEG Llamados, now known as the San Mig Coffee Mixers. The Clickers had thought they had gotten the pick by virtue of a trade involving Rich Alvarez, but the Llamados/Mixers were able to show proof that the old Barako Bull franchise, from which Shopinas.com came from, had sent the first rounder back, in exchange for future considerations.

The Clickers managed to find themselves some leeway, working out a trade where B-MEG got Barroca, Shopinas.com got rookie Bryan Ilad and Elmer Espiritu, while Barako Bull (no relation to the Barako franchise that became Shopinas.com) acquired former Llamado Don Allado.

Wheeling and dealing aside though, it still meant Shopinas.com had to go into their maiden season sans Barroca, who would benefit from being brought along slowly by head coach Tim Cone.

But what if Shopinas had managed to keep Barroca? Would he still be putting up MVP-caliber performances, albeit on a different team?

Barroca normed just 5.37 points, 2.32 rebounds and 1.13 assists in his rookie season with the Llamados, but he averaged just 17.42 minutes per game, playing behind Josh Urbiztondo and Jonas Villanueva. If he had remained a Clicker, Barroca would have probably become the team’s best weapon from the get-go, with enough firepower to possibly avert the squad’s winless first conference.

Come the 2012 import-laden conferences, things could have only improved for him. Now renamed as the Air21 Express, Barroca would have had Marcus Douthit as his import in the Commissioner’s Cup, with the two already having chemistry due to their stint with Gilas. Then in the Governors’ Cup, he would have been partnered with scoring machine Zach Graham, with Barroca probably getting his import better shots, while making opponents pay for double-teaming the import.

 

Air21 made the postseason with Mike Cortez. How about with Mark Barroca?

In the “real world,” Air21 finally made the postseason when they consummated a deal in the middle of the 2012-13 Philippine Cup to reunite point guard Mike Cortez with his college coach Pumaren. With a 5-9 record, followed by a 6-8 card in the Commissioner’s Cup, the Express made back-to-back trips to the quarterfinals, though they did lose both times to the top-ranked teams.

It’s highly possible that Barroca could have replicated those results, and possibly bettered them, simply because he would have had a full training camp with the team entering the 12-13 season, as opposed to being a mid-conference addition. Now surrounded with Nonoy Baclao, KG Canaleta and John Wilson, Barroca’s playmaking skills could now take the driver’s seat, allowing him to shift energy to playing better defense. Furthermore, Air21 could now dangle Yousef Taha for other reinforcements, instead of shipping the center to Ginebra for Cortez.

That said, not having Cortez now leaves the team without any particular asset to acquire veteran center Asi Taulava in the 2013 Governors’ Cup. The Express shipped the slumping Cortez to Meralco for “The Rock” mid-way through the Governors’ Cup, but the deal failed to reignite their postseason chances. It’s possible though that Barroca’s numbers would not have any similar drop, and might in fact still be trending upwards, like they were in San Mig Coffee, leading to another quarterfinals spot, even without the 6’9” giant.

 Finally, in the 2013-14 Philippine Cup, with Barroca running the club, the team would not be hindered by their obvious lack of a playmaker. As it unfolded here, Air21 finished 3-11, with an injured Atkins, an old Arboleda, and failed experiments to turn wingmen Joseph Yeo and Bonbon Custodio into point guards. Having Barroca throws that out the window, and having Joseph Yeo and Mark Cardona on the wings might be just as good as having James Yap and PJ Simon in those positions.

That said, there’s really no guarantee that Barroca would be every bit as good with Air21 as he was with B-MEG/San Mig Coffee. For one, Barroca had some excellent guard coaches in the form of Johnny Abarrientos and Olsen Racela, two of the all-time greats working to improve his game. Furthermore, there’s always the possibility that being the best player on a bad team leads to bad basketball habits being developed, such as settling for poor shots, or conserving energy on defense in order to play harder on offense.

As for San Mig Coffee, they would have probably held on to Urbiztondo and Villanueva longer, as opposed to dealing them away for future assets. That however would mean they wouldn’t get the draft pick that turned into Ian Sangalang in the 2013 draft, which means the team might have been more inclined to keep tenth overall pick Justin Chua, who’s a more polished option than project Isaac Holstein.

In the end, Barroca might have possibly become a bigger name had he remained with Air21. In fact, he might even be THE marquee player for the Ube Republic, assuming of course they never trade him for some magic beans and a second round pick. However, by biding his time with the Mixers and acquiring the basketball equivalent of a point guard PhD under his illustrious mentors, Barroca is now the face of the future for San Mig Coffee Mixers, a three-time PBA champion, and a PBA Finals MVP to boot.

For the Coffee Prince, sometimes things happen for a reason. - GMA News