CHICAGO - The unlimited height limit for imports was supposed to make the PBA Commissioner's Cup competitive in a way that will allow teams to aspire for a championship by simply adding one giant difference-maker.
Well, it turned out to be a fake ingredient for parity. Like MSG on chicken adobo, it enhanced the flavor but not necessarily the substance.
Because in the end, two teams - TNT and Barangay Ginebra - stuck with their 6-foot-6 resident reinforcements and will now battle for the championship.
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Moral of the story?
Unlimited rice only makes the stomach full, but satisfying the soul is another matter.
Also it's not just about length but the quality of those inches. Terrafirma, for instance, paraded 7-foot Ryan Richards who turned out to be so weak that he got a DNP before being replaced.
DAMAGED GOODS?
Good health is also paramount. Magnolia had a solid acquisition in Ricardo Ratliffe but at age 35 he looked like he left the best years of his playing career in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and the Korean national team.
Dealing with an injured shoulder, the Hotshots never really got the full measure of Ratliffe's might.
Bottomline is, good imports, big and small, are expensive.
TNT's Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, I am told rakes in $70k a month and I still think he's underpaid. With SMC's admitted one billion peso annual budget for basketball, it's safe to say Justin Brownlee, and deservedly so, is the highest-paid import in the PBA.
Not all teams mint money like TNT and SMC, which means the smaller teams don't really have the dough to bring in high-caliber help that are over 6-foot-6.
Converge, multiple sources said, paid $40k a month to sign former NBA player Cheick Diallo, a former NBAer and triple-double threat. But the FiberXers locals failed him.
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
NLEX didn't even sign an import until it was too late. The Road Warriors haggled for a price point and ended up missing out on at least two good finds, NBA sources told me,
San Miguel Beer had money, always has, but they somehow couldn't wrap their brains around how to spend it on a reinforcement piece that could complement June Mar Fajardo et al.
Rain or Shine showed all and sundry how to maximize a modest budget and ink a piece that fits. But then again, coach Yeng Guiao is in a league of his own when it comes to personnel and talent evaluation.
The fact that the Elasto Painters made the semis while the big-budgeted Magnolia and SMC vacationed early is a triumph for independent teams.
Still, after all the hype and feel-good vibes about extra large dudes roaming in the Commissioner's Cup and wreaking havoc on the status quo the Finals is still an SMC-MVP affair.
Boring, predictable.
I'm still gonna watch it, though. But only out of duty, not for pleasure.
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