CHICAGO - The historic losing streak crested at 19 games and was temporarily halted only when Blackwater was mercifully eliminated from the PBA Philippine Cup semi-bubble in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Not long after the bloodbath, the crime scene revealed that the chalk outline of the vanquished victim belonged to coach Nash Racela.
Reportedly "taken aback" by the sudden shift, per colleague Gerry Ramos of SPIN.ph, Racela has yet to comment on his "dismissal," which these days is a sanitized euphemism for getting fired.
But what is there to say if you're Racela?
Blindsided, the poor guy was tasked to drive a bad car and then shoved underneath it when the ride got too bumpy and laughable.
If there's any consolation, his contract, worth around P100,000 to P150,000 a month for the remainder of the year according to sources, will still be paid or bought out, depending on the clause.
Hopefully, that will tide him over until he finds the next sideline with which to roam.
Meanwhile. it's only a matter of time before the Blackwater Bossing will continue to lose more games.
I may be wrong but the problem here is not coaching.
Brothers Deoceldo and Silliman Sy are wonderful people blessed with a kind heart and an astute business acumen. They turned a modest sum of money into a serious pile of cash that allowed them to procure a PBA franchise.
But can they run a team?
They sure can as shown by their sterling success in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL). But the PBA is a much deeper waters, with riptides and other perils, to wade into.
"They keep saying they want to win but their player movements/trades made their team weak," said a former head coach and team executive.
THIS IS HOW WEAK AND DEPRIVED BLACKWATER IS.
Per the unreliable official PBA website, the Bossing are shooting just 28.2 percent from the field overall and 10.8 percent from 3.
Actually, those figures are wrong because 224 shots made out of 606 tries is 36.9 percent while 56 made 3s out of 250 attempts is 22.4 percent.
But as I've tweeted so many times, the league website is also arithmetic-challenged.
Either way, the Bossing's stats are broken, a close-your-eyes type of performance that has added 11 defeats this conference to the eight that had previously stacked in the prior conference.
They do have a robust budget and are willing to spend on top-rate players. The problem is, "they trade them once they're signed to max contracts," he added.
A reporter and podcast host, who requested anonymity to protect his employment, also told me that Bossing's management, citing that it once had Ray Parks and Poy Erram in their roster, keeps making "one bad trade after another, it's mystifying."
Team ownership is solid, five-star. The leak, it seems, is how the basketball operations are being managed.
No disrespect to the Sy siblings but they can use a good basketball mind like an Alfranchis Chua. Say what you want about Chua but the much-maligned and under-appreciated kingmaker has guided SMC teams to countless titles in a stellar run of sustained excellence.
Chua is taken, but there is someone out there who is exceptional and world-class. In fact, Blackwater and other God forsaken teams such as Terrafirma should get this gentleman's email, cell phone, Viber, and WhatsUp phone number.
He would turn their sorry states around in a jiffy. More on that in the coming week.
In the meantime, a capable and decent man is out of a job. A casualty of his circumstances, not his skills.
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