Webb to rely on guards to run new Star offense

MANILA, Philippines -- With Star set to get rid of the triangle offense, the Hotshots will be relying on their guards to run the offense under rookie mentor Jason Webb next season.

Guards Mark Barroca, lightning-quick Fil-Am Justin Melton and Alex Mallari are expected to take the lead as the Hotshots veer away from the ‘triangle’ and shift to a running attack.

Two-time league MVP James Yap will be reassuming the role of a marksman after spending the past four seasons playing under-control basketball at Cone’s system.

“I’m an equal opportunity guy. The guards will be integral in what we’ll be doing, while we will also try to take advantage of the strengths of the others,” Webb confided to Philstar.com on Sunday.

Webb is inheriting a team that won five championships in four seasons under Cone, including the grand slam in the 2014 season.

The 41-year-old Webb met with the Hotshots for the first time last Friday to lay down his expectations and try to set the chart the direction of the team for the future.

The Hotshots begin their early preseason on Monday at the Ronac gym with Webb and his assistants Johnny Abarrientos and Mon Jose reintroducing the fundamentals of the game.

The former TV broadcast analyst-turned-coach said everyone’s excited to face the challenge of playing in a new system.

“It was nice to hear the guys. I’m excited with the new season. I know there’s a lot of challenge in front of us,” he added.

Outside the guards and Yap, Webb is also welcoming veteran forward Marc Pingris, who will be joining the team’s preseason preparation after the spending the last two years with Gilas Pilipinas.

On Saturday, Pingris officially bid farewell to Gilas coach Tab Baldwin and the team in an emotional weekend at the Meralco gym.

“Either way, we’re happy to have Ping back in the team to join us,” said the Star coach.

“It will be the first time to see him join us in the preseason because we missed him the past years because of his commitment at Gilas.”

Although the Hotshots failed to defend all their three PBA titles last season, Webb reiterated the team still had a decent season under Cone, before eventually transferring to Barangay Ginebra three weeks ago.

Webb said except for the All-Filipino conference which saw Star take an early quarterfinal exit after losing to Meralco, the Hotshots were able to reach the semifinals in the Commissioner’s Cup and Governors Cup, respectively.

“We made it to the semifinals in the last two conferences. We ran over a hot Talk ‘N Text team in the semis of the Commissioner’s Cup,” recalled Webb.

“Jason Castro was unstoppable in that series. Remember, we even took a 1-0 lead heading to Game Two and I think we had a nine-game win streak at that time,” he added.

Talk ‘N Text rolled past Star, 3-1 in the series.

Come the Governors Cup, the freshman coach said expectations were high for a third straight crown with the return of import Marqus Blakely.

Although the Hotshots managed to overcome another customary slow start in the eliminations, they were eventually swept by the Alaska Aces, 3-0 in the semifinals, putting an abrupt end to the Star’s season.

“We had a decent year and at best, a nice year,” said Webb.

“But the nice thing about these guys is that they wanna get better. They know we have a chance to win and these guys wanna win,” he added.