(First of Three Parts)
A little more than halfway through the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governor’s Cup, the Meralco Bolts fanbase, have been subject to a few surprises and disappointments we surely didn’t see leading into the 2013-14 season.
As far as how the season has gone thus far, a majority of it has been expected. The team is expected to be between the middle and bottom of the rankings. Nobody in their right mind expect the Bolts to dominate any one conference with coach Ryan Gregorio at the helm.
Aside from coach Gregorio, it seems that there have been more disappointments than anything, mainly overzealous expectations. It happens all the time, especially for the Bolts in desperation mode hoping to make a savior out of what turns out to be a role player and not much else.
We are here to do things a little differently and pick three players in the Bolt’s line-up who had the most disappointing 2013-2014 season. This was determined by a couple of different factors including; expectations, salary, overall team performance, and in the case of coach Gregorio all of the above.
Once again, just to be clear this is not a list of the worst players in the PBA, or players who have had the worst season, just the three most disappointing Meralco Bolts players based on this season alone.
Gary David
Right off the bat, I want to get it started with a player that is sure to have a few Bolts fans calling for my head at the conclusion of this sentence. However, there are a couple of factors that have landed veteran swingman and formerly feared gunner, Gary David, on the list.
First off, before he was traded to the Bolts before the beginning of the 2013-2014 season for Chris Ross, AJ Mandani and a couple of second round draft picks, David was an absolute nightmare, averaging 25.84 points per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three with Powerade in the 2011-2012 season! At times he played like a young T-Mac hitting every shot he took.
Then came the inevitable trade that made him the go-to-guy of the Bolts and all of sudden his numbers began to gradually decline to 16.48 points per game and his shooting percentage plummeted to 41.7 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from three. This culminated in numbers hitting rock bottom at the start of the third conference, where he saw his scoring output drop again to 10.83 points per game and 36.9 percent shooting from the field!
Naturally the Bolts also struggled and have had a very rough past two months that saw them relinquish their stranglehold on the upper half of the pack to the bottom o the standings. Basically, David is on this list because of the lofty expectations that people had for him before the season and after the first few months.
Is it his fault that people were saying he was the second best guard scorer in the league after a Jason Castro? No, but it is disappointing that he didn't get there.
Also, there have been the embarrassing stories about him sucker punching opponents when they are not looking at him. My personal favorite explanation for why he has been struggling and the team has gone cold in the third conference? Allegedly, he was not the designated closer of the game by coach Gregorio, which affected his self-confidence tremendously. On the other hand, if they go on and advance in the season-ending cup, I will issue a statement apologizing for this ranking (not likely), but as of right now, David is the most disappointing Meralco Bolts player.
(to be continued)
(Part 2, Part 3)
As far as how the season has gone thus far, a majority of it has been expected. The team is expected to be between the middle and bottom of the rankings. Nobody in their right mind expect the Bolts to dominate any one conference with coach Ryan Gregorio at the helm.
Aside from coach Gregorio, it seems that there have been more disappointments than anything, mainly overzealous expectations. It happens all the time, especially for the Bolts in desperation mode hoping to make a savior out of what turns out to be a role player and not much else.
We are here to do things a little differently and pick three players in the Bolt’s line-up who had the most disappointing 2013-2014 season. This was determined by a couple of different factors including; expectations, salary, overall team performance, and in the case of coach Gregorio all of the above.
Once again, just to be clear this is not a list of the worst players in the PBA, or players who have had the worst season, just the three most disappointing Meralco Bolts players based on this season alone.
Gary David
Right off the bat, I want to get it started with a player that is sure to have a few Bolts fans calling for my head at the conclusion of this sentence. However, there are a couple of factors that have landed veteran swingman and formerly feared gunner, Gary David, on the list.
First off, before he was traded to the Bolts before the beginning of the 2013-2014 season for Chris Ross, AJ Mandani and a couple of second round draft picks, David was an absolute nightmare, averaging 25.84 points per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three with Powerade in the 2011-2012 season! At times he played like a young T-Mac hitting every shot he took.
Then came the inevitable trade that made him the go-to-guy of the Bolts and all of sudden his numbers began to gradually decline to 16.48 points per game and his shooting percentage plummeted to 41.7 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from three. This culminated in numbers hitting rock bottom at the start of the third conference, where he saw his scoring output drop again to 10.83 points per game and 36.9 percent shooting from the field!
Naturally the Bolts also struggled and have had a very rough past two months that saw them relinquish their stranglehold on the upper half of the pack to the bottom o the standings. Basically, David is on this list because of the lofty expectations that people had for him before the season and after the first few months.
Is it his fault that people were saying he was the second best guard scorer in the league after a Jason Castro? No, but it is disappointing that he didn't get there.
Also, there have been the embarrassing stories about him sucker punching opponents when they are not looking at him. My personal favorite explanation for why he has been struggling and the team has gone cold in the third conference? Allegedly, he was not the designated closer of the game by coach Gregorio, which affected his self-confidence tremendously. On the other hand, if they go on and advance in the season-ending cup, I will issue a statement apologizing for this ranking (not likely), but as of right now, David is the most disappointing Meralco Bolts player.
(to be continued)
(Part 2, Part 3)
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