So far, as of press time, it appears the Converge FiberXers and Magnolia Hotshots are the runaway winners of the PBA offseason. But it doesn’t mean other teams can’t catch up. The Blackwater Bossing, for instance, are a couple of moves away from truly making a splash this offseason, even as they’ve somewhat won it to a degree.
The Terrafirma Dyip, however, are a different story. Marked by years of ineptitude in the PBA, Terrafirma seems to have fumbled the ball once more as they passed up on a big league-ready rookie, lost a key player, and made a head-scratching trade.
That being said, let’s take a closer look at the offseason of both Blackwater and Terrafirma—two franchises that have perennially been at the bottom of the standings in every conference of every season. At least now, however, one of them appears to be making moves to actually get better.
Blackwater Bossing (Grade: B–)
Last Season: 10 wins, 23 losses (Missed the playoffs in all three conferences.)
Key Offseason Moves:
- Acquired Jio Jalalon from the NorthPort Batang Pier in exchange for Justin Chua (trade put on hold).
- Drafted Dalph Panopio with the 3rd overall pick of the PBA Season 50 Draft.
- Resigned Christian David.
Blackwater’s record didn’t exactly reflect it, but the Bossing had two of the PBA’s best players last season in Sedrick Barefield and Christian David. The only question was whether or not Blackwater could keep them. David, in particular, was a free agent and was attracting attention from at least a couple of teams.
Lo and behold, both players will be back in action for the Bossing, with David reloading for another two years and Barefield back for his sophomore season with no drama at all. This alone is a win for Blackwater, who will at least enter the season with their two dynamic cornerstones leading the way—only this time, they’re a year wiser and have already played together.
Now, it appears the Bossing have added potentially another star in Dalph Panopio with the third overall pick of the PBA Season 50 Draft. Panopio is undeniably a top-tier talent, having been on the radar of Gilas Pilipinas for the longest time now and getting international experience in India and Division 1 college ball in the US. At 6-foot-1, Panopio figures to share main playmaking duties with Barefield in a backcourt that could quickly become one of the league’s best and most dynamic.
However, it’s a bit harder to make sense of Blackwater’s other notable move this offseason, which is trading big man Justin Chua to the NorthPort Batang Pier for point guard Jio Jalalon. Talent-wise, it’s an upgrade for sure, but the Bossing also lost a big man, leaving Blackwater’s frontcourt a lot thinner now. Then again, in this age of pace-and-space basketball, having three explosive guards and one versatile wing as core might actually make sense. (As of press time, however, it appears this trade has been put on hold by the PBA. Even so, getting Barefield and David back and adding Panopio make for a good offseason for Blackwater.)
All in all, it’s been a solid offseason for Blackwater—and it’s so far enough to net them a grade of “B–.”
Terrafirma Dyip (Grade: F)
Last Season: 3 wins, 30 losses (Missed the playoffs in all three conferences.)
Key Offseason Moves:
- Replaced coach Raymond Tiongco with Ronald Tubid.
- Acquired Jerrick Ahanmisi and a second-round pick in the PBA Season 50 Draft in exchange for Javi Gomez de Liaño.
- Drafted Geo Chiu with the 1st overall pick of the PBA Season 50 Draft.
- Lost Kevin Ferrer to free agency.
Ronald Tubid could yet turn out to be a great coach, but pulling a woebegone franchise out of the quagmire might not be a job for a rookie coach with so little experience as head tactician.
It also doesn’t help that the Terrafirma leadership essentially drafted a project in Geo Chiu. Like Tubid, Chiu could turn out great one day, too, but playing for a franchise with no sense of leadership and very little veteran smarts would likely hinder the young man’s development.
Trading Javi Gomez de Liaño for Jerrick Ahanmisi hurts as well, as the Dyip gave up a versatile 6-foot-5 shooter for Jerrick Ahanmisi, who’s basically a play-alike of incumbent point guard Mark Nonoy. A Nonoy-Ahanmisi backcourt could get sizzling hot every now and then but would probably get brutalized defensively most games. So, it’s likely that either one will start for Terrafirma while the other comes off the bench. Gomez de Liaño, in contrast, would have been a surefire starter.
Another likely starter would’ve been Kevin Ferrer, but the Dyip lost him to the TNT Tropang 5G in free agency. The former UST Growling Tiger is no main man, but he plays hard, can make open treys, and defends multiple positions. He’s also a veteran with championship experience from his Barangay Ginebra San Miguel days, and he could’ve at least provided some guidance to his younger teammates. Unfortunately for the Dyip, Ferrer would be taking all that to TNT.
Needless to say, nothing Terrafirma has done so far in this offseason figures to make them a better team than the one that won a measly three games in Season 49—and for that they get a grade of “F.”
