For a team that failed to make it to the Final Four in any of the three conferences last season, the Star Hotshots are suddenly in contention for the PBA Philippine Cup championship. They’ve won six in a row in swashbuckling fashion, bowling over victims like a bulldozer. The Hotshots aren’t just beating opponents, they’re crushing them to bits. It’s like they’re venting their frustrations after winning only 12 of 36 games last season, a lowly rate of 33 percent compared to 55.6 percent the previous year.
It took an extreme overhaul from top to bottom to get things back on track for the Purefoods franchise. Chito Victolero, 41, was brought in to take over as head coach from Jason Webb who slid back down as assistant, a role he mastered while seconding for Tim Cone before his move to Barangay Ginebra. Victolero played for San Miguel Corp. sports director Alfrancis Chua with Stag in the PBL and was on the historic Pale Pilseners team that captured a Grand Slam in 1995. If there’s anyone who can vouch for Victolero, it’s Chua. Victolero, a former PBA player with Sta. Lucia Realty and FedEx, was previously with Mahindra and made a good account of himself under tough conditions so he walked into the Star camp with eyes wide open. He inherited a staff made up of Webb, Johnny Abarrientos, Mon Jose, Juno Sauler and Tony Boy Espinosa and the transition came smoothly.
To shake things up some more, key players were moved in and out. Long-time team anchor and fan favorite James Yap was traded to Rain Or Shine for Paul Lee in a deal that rocked the foundations of the franchise. It served notice that no one would be spared in the effort to turn the team’s fortunes around. Alex Mallari, R. R. Garcia, Jerwin Gaco and Jake Pascual were others who bid farewell as the Hotshots welcomed Lee, Jio Jalalon, Aldrech Ramos, Rome de la Rosa, Chris Javier, Samboy de Leon and Mon Abundo.
Ramos came from Mahindra so he’s worked with Victolero before. Curiously, Ramos’ first PBA team was San Mig Coffee in 2012-13 so it’s been a homecoming for the 28-year-old sniper. His career has gone full circle with stops at Alaska, Air 21, NLEX and Mahindra along the way. Ramos is enjoying an upswing in his career, hitting at a 9.8 clip and a scorching 54.8 percent from beyond the arc. De Leon and Abundo were CEU teammates who were drafted in 2015 but are only playing in their first conference. De Leon was the 39th choice by Star and Abundo, the 51st by Blackwater. In the last four games, Abundo has averaged six points so he’s making a case for himself as a fixture off the bench. Abundo is in the record books as the lowest-drafted player ever to make it to the PBA.
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Jalalon, 24, is the Star’s Gilas rookie and while he’s started only once in 13 outings, the former Arellano star is averaging 10.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. UE’s Chris Javier, 24, is the fourth rookie on the Star roster. The influx of youth has given the Hotshots a solid base for the future with only four players who are at least 30 years old –Mark Barroca, 30, Marc Pingris, 35, P. J. Simon, 36 and Rafi Reavis, 39.
The holdovers are Allein Maliksi, Pingris, Simon, Ian Sangalang, Barroca, Melton, Reavis and Rodney Brondial. Last season, it was rumored that Maliksi had asked to be traded because of sparse playing time. Now, he’s the team’s leading scorer with a 15.4 clip. Victolero has started 11 different players this conference and not a single one is logging at least 30 minutes a game. In fact, seven players are averaging at least 20 minutes so nobody’s grumbling. Victolero gives everyone equal opportunity to shine.
Simon has sat out the Star’s last five games but he’s expected to get back on the floor any day now after recovering from the flu. Even with Simon out of commission, the Hotshots haven’t skipped a beat. In those five games that Simon missed, Star averaged 112 points. The Hotshots are No. 1 in the league in offense, norming 100.8 points with an average win margin of 26.4. In nine wins, they averaged 107.7 and in four losses, only 85.3. Clearly, Star thrives in a high-scoring, up-and-down game.
Star was unforgiving on both ends in the quarterfinals where the Hotshots faced Phoenix in a best-of-three series. The Hotshots blew out the Fuel Masters, 114-83, in Game 1 and clinched it in Game 2, 91-71. Their biggest margin of victory was 47 in a 120-73 romp over Meralco.
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In the best-of-seven semifinals, Star is up against Barangay Ginebra, a team that wins with defense. Ginebra is No. 1 in points allowed at 83.8 and No. 1 in field goal percentage allowed at 38.02 percent. So it’s offense versus defense. Star overwhelms opponents with an avalanche of points while Ginebra makes victims bleed for their points.
Cone has worked with a lot of the Star players so he knows them well. That familiarity and a wealth of experience give Cone a huge advantage in the series. But Star’s depth is a major factor and Victolero’s ability to rotate flame throwers will be a cause for Cone’s concern in a long series. Although shock troopers like Aljon Mariano and Kevin Ferrer played stellar roles in Ginebra’s quarterfinal survival over Alaska, Cone basically relies on a small nucleus and that could be fatal unless he’s able to orient the series into a deliberate, half-court, defensive duel.
Star is hungry for recognition. The Hotshots’ best finish was eighth place in the Commissioner’s Cup last season. Now, they’re assured of at least fourth spot but Star’s not settling for anything less than No. 1. The Hotshots are well-armed and well-equipped for a long, drawn-out firefight. They’ve got the ammo and the weapons to go all the way. Two of their four losses this conference were dealt by San Miguel Beer and Ginebra. Star was held to 88 by San Miguel and 79 by Ginebra. If the Hotshots are to go far, they’ve got to attack relentlessly with the mindset of taking no prisoners. It remains to be seen if Star is up to the mission.