Basketball’s Twilight Zone
Bleacher Talk
October 21, 2007
Basketball’s Twilight Zone
This time of the year in the basketball world is always the “worst” for us. Just as most of the collegiate leagues end, everything suddenly comes to a stop. After going through a high of watching the exciting championship series of the CESAFI, UAAP and NCAA, we’re suddenly left with nothing as big and as exciting.
It’s the basketball year’s twilight zone when everything is relatively quiet and the natural transition of basketball action will take us from college ball and on to the commercial or pro leagues. If you take a closer look at it, the transition is very much a mirror of what takes place when the careers of college players come to a close. The most logical next step in their careers is to go one notch higher to try their luck in the commercial leagues.
In a sense, this time of the year is spent for anticipating the next steps of both the basketball scene and the careers of our local collegiate stars. For starters, it’s easier to see the transition of basketball’s activities from the collegiate scene to the commercial leagues. The PBA kicked off its season last Sunday while the PBL launched its own yesterday. But did you even notice any of these leagues’ opening ceremonies. Or did you even know that they’ve just launched their respective seasons?
If your answer is “no,” I don’t blame you at all. I guess you’re still recovering from the high of following the CESAFI Finals between UV & USC.
On the local front, the MVBA is well into its second conference with three Cebu-based teams and three other teams in Mindanao? They’ve played games in the Cebu Coliseum and the Mandaue City Sports Complex, and the Cebu teams have already made trips to Davao and Cagayan de Oro. If you’re a diehard basketball fan, I’m sure you’re aware of this, aren’t you?
Meanwhile, the NBA has already had a series of pre-season exhibition games with some of these played in as far as China and Macau. Already acknowledged as the biggest basketball show in the world, basketball fans around the globe are expected to be glued to their TV’s and the internet once the regular season begins. What we’re seeing now is just an appetizer of sorts with a main meal that will take us from November this year all the way to around June or July in 2008.
Transition is the name of the game and just like its technical use in the actual game, the best type is that which is smooth and missing of any rough edges. As fans, we’ll have to switch to another type of basketball: from the “amateur” ball to the big leagues or the pros. Some will say that college ball is better, but for now, they’ll have to deal with the big leagues until June next year.
This brings me to our second major transition concern as we look into what’s next for the likes of Cebu’s promising players like Niño Ramirez, Enrico Llanto, Rino Berame, Ariel Mepaña and company. As we watch both the PBA and PBL on TV, we can’t help but ask or keep our eyes open for products of Cebu basketball. Remember that if someone does well in the big leagues, people will always ask about his “origins.” Dondon Hontiveros is probably the most popular Cebu product these days and all his fans know he came from Cebu.
What’s next for our CESAFI products? Will they use up their remaining years of (playing) eligibility or will they move on? I cite the cases of the four above as I believe they’re already ripe to move on to the PBL whether or not they still have playing years left in the CESAFI. I’d like to see them sign up with the PBL but I think it’s too late for them to join the ongoing tournament.
There’s a specific time in one’s career when it’s better to move on than stay, as staying behind could mean a stagnant growth or development in one’s career. Hontiveros is an example of this case as he made the bold move to hook up with the Cebu Gems even if he still had two or three more years of playing eligibility left with UC. He then made an even bolder move of jumping to the PBA at the peak of his MBA stint. Moving on while at one’s peak proved to be a move that we’re all now appreciating after maybe failing to understand the action when it took place.
I’m sure there are other CESAFI players who find themselves in a similar situation, and this is where they’ll need the unselfish and fatherly guidance of their superiors.
The twilight zone is sometimes described as a period of transition and uncertainty. But this is what makes it interesting. You don’t know what will happen next. And we also have our own share of this in the basketball world. Interesting?
***
Time-out: I’ll dedicate this section to our colleague Gabby Malagar who deserves to be voted as councilor of Brgy. Mambaling. Making the transition from journalist to councilor will be a breeze for Gabmals and you in Mambaling won’t go wrong if you remember him on October 29.
October 21, 2007
Basketball’s Twilight Zone
This time of the year in the basketball world is always the “worst” for us. Just as most of the collegiate leagues end, everything suddenly comes to a stop. After going through a high of watching the exciting championship series of the CESAFI, UAAP and NCAA, we’re suddenly left with nothing as big and as exciting.
It’s the basketball year’s twilight zone when everything is relatively quiet and the natural transition of basketball action will take us from college ball and on to the commercial or pro leagues. If you take a closer look at it, the transition is very much a mirror of what takes place when the careers of college players come to a close. The most logical next step in their careers is to go one notch higher to try their luck in the commercial leagues.
In a sense, this time of the year is spent for anticipating the next steps of both the basketball scene and the careers of our local collegiate stars. For starters, it’s easier to see the transition of basketball’s activities from the collegiate scene to the commercial leagues. The PBA kicked off its season last Sunday while the PBL launched its own yesterday. But did you even notice any of these leagues’ opening ceremonies. Or did you even know that they’ve just launched their respective seasons?
If your answer is “no,” I don’t blame you at all. I guess you’re still recovering from the high of following the CESAFI Finals between UV & USC.
On the local front, the MVBA is well into its second conference with three Cebu-based teams and three other teams in Mindanao? They’ve played games in the Cebu Coliseum and the Mandaue City Sports Complex, and the Cebu teams have already made trips to Davao and Cagayan de Oro. If you’re a diehard basketball fan, I’m sure you’re aware of this, aren’t you?
Meanwhile, the NBA has already had a series of pre-season exhibition games with some of these played in as far as China and Macau. Already acknowledged as the biggest basketball show in the world, basketball fans around the globe are expected to be glued to their TV’s and the internet once the regular season begins. What we’re seeing now is just an appetizer of sorts with a main meal that will take us from November this year all the way to around June or July in 2008.
Transition is the name of the game and just like its technical use in the actual game, the best type is that which is smooth and missing of any rough edges. As fans, we’ll have to switch to another type of basketball: from the “amateur” ball to the big leagues or the pros. Some will say that college ball is better, but for now, they’ll have to deal with the big leagues until June next year.
This brings me to our second major transition concern as we look into what’s next for the likes of Cebu’s promising players like Niño Ramirez, Enrico Llanto, Rino Berame, Ariel Mepaña and company. As we watch both the PBA and PBL on TV, we can’t help but ask or keep our eyes open for products of Cebu basketball. Remember that if someone does well in the big leagues, people will always ask about his “origins.” Dondon Hontiveros is probably the most popular Cebu product these days and all his fans know he came from Cebu.
What’s next for our CESAFI products? Will they use up their remaining years of (playing) eligibility or will they move on? I cite the cases of the four above as I believe they’re already ripe to move on to the PBL whether or not they still have playing years left in the CESAFI. I’d like to see them sign up with the PBL but I think it’s too late for them to join the ongoing tournament.
There’s a specific time in one’s career when it’s better to move on than stay, as staying behind could mean a stagnant growth or development in one’s career. Hontiveros is an example of this case as he made the bold move to hook up with the Cebu Gems even if he still had two or three more years of playing eligibility left with UC. He then made an even bolder move of jumping to the PBA at the peak of his MBA stint. Moving on while at one’s peak proved to be a move that we’re all now appreciating after maybe failing to understand the action when it took place.
I’m sure there are other CESAFI players who find themselves in a similar situation, and this is where they’ll need the unselfish and fatherly guidance of their superiors.
The twilight zone is sometimes described as a period of transition and uncertainty. But this is what makes it interesting. You don’t know what will happen next. And we also have our own share of this in the basketball world. Interesting?
***
Time-out: I’ll dedicate this section to our colleague Gabby Malagar who deserves to be voted as councilor of Brgy. Mambaling. Making the transition from journalist to councilor will be a breeze for Gabmals and you in Mambaling won’t go wrong if you remember him on October 29.
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