QUO VADIS, MELO?
the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Pirates. Now holding a new league record of owning 22 men’s basketball titles, the perennial NCAA champs also finished the tournament with just a solitary defeat— a seven- point setback to is—they never had it easy this year.
Unlike in 2017 when the Lions dominated all major tournaments – Philippine Basketball Association ( PBA) D- League, Fil Oil Premiere Cup and the NCAA— this season started on a sour note. Fresh from a month long Christmas break, the Lions had to scamper in training after having been invited to represent the Philippines in the highly prestigious and competitive Dubai Invitational Basketball Championship in Dubai, UAE in late January. It was a tourney previously participated by Gilas Pilipinas and PBA teams, and no Philippine team has ever won it. With barely two weeks to prepare, the Bedans headed to West Asia to measure swords with some of the best club teams in this region that are reinforced with at least three American imports. SBU lost all four assignments even as the game versus the UAE National Team and the Moroccan champion team had a controversial ending. From Dubai, the Lions just had a week to train for the Philippine Collegiate Champions League, where they were the reigning back- to- back national champions. But a knee injury to star guard Robert Bolick took its toll on them as they bowed to LPU in the lone championship game. In the same month, the Lions also absorbed a beating from of the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) Invitational Cup. Then came the FilOil Cup, the main pre- season tournament joined by most NCAA and Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) schools. But the defending titlists fell short in the championship match versus the undefeated Ateneo Blue Eagles.
A tumultuous condition followed as the Red Lions camp struggled with some internal hitches. Always a talent- laden squad, personal interests got in the way of the team’s goals but a solid team-bonding trip in Bataan cleaned up the cobwebs and set the team back on the right track. By the start of the NCAA’s 94th Season, the Red Lions were again the Big Red Machine, led by Bolick, last year’s Finals MVP Donald Tankoua and Mythical Team member Javee Mocon. The chemistry and talent were evident. But multi-titled hoops guru Boyet Fernandez, now a fourtime NCAA champion coach, must take some credit for SBU’s brick-wall showing this season, especially on the defensive end. The six-time PBA D-League champion coach is a master in game preparation and scouting. Under his watch, SBU has always been the league’s best defensive unit. Lions limited the best scoring team in the league to less than 60 points in the title-clincher. Fernandez, in my opinion, is a Top Threecollege coach in the country today in a time when
The Red Lions took home their 11th NCAA diadem in the last 13 years the school as a university. But each year brings new challenges, and it just gets tougher and tougher for the Mendiola-based squad. Next year’s campaign will undeniably be arduous will be graduating from the program, including Mocon and Bolick, both the coming PBA Rookie Draft. The other three are skipper Radge Tongco, starting point guard Joe Presbitero and playoffs sensation Jeramer Cabanag. Tankoua can still play one more year but is having second thoughts because he’s almost done with his academics. The task of keeping the dynasty now falls on the hands of veterans Clint Doliguez, AC Soberano, Franz Abuda and Calvin Oftana, and young guns Kemark Carino, James Canlas, Evan Nelle, Damie Cuntapay, Eugene Toba, Arnaud Noah and JB Bahio. And it still looks promising. DON’T look now but Carmelo Anthony could be in a freezer until February next year if intends to continue with his NBA career.
The Houston Rockets, where he’s supposed to be playing, had announced that Anthony will not return to the team despite remaining on the roster, which, actually, could have opened the door to him to find a new team.
Problem is, there are no clear suitors and may not be for a while. One Western Conference executive Marc J. Spears told The Undefeated that a certain Western Conference executive told him that Anthony would not find a new team until after the trade deadline, which doesn’t arrive until next February 7.
There are several reasons why Anthony finds himself in this situation. First, it’s early in the season and teams aren’t looking to significantly change their rosters right now.
In addition, Anthony’s poor season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, compounded with his mediocre start to this season with the Rockets, have led to questions about how useful and effective he’d be.
The Rockets openly admitted that Anthony wasn’t a good fit with the team. A lot of other teams, at least at this point, seem to feel the same way about him with their rosters.
The Rockets, meanwhile, issued a somewhat unusual announcement on Thursday saying they were parting ways with Carmelo Anthony, but GM Daryl Morey added, the club is still “working toward a resolution” on the situation.
In other words, “parted ways” isn’t actually a euphemism for “waived” in this case — Anthony is still technically on Houston’s roster, just not with the team.
While it may seem odd for the Rockets not to just request waivers on Anthony and move on from the situation entirely, there are a handful of reasons why it makes sense for the team to hold off on such a move.
For one, waiving Carmelo could lead to an unfavorable outcome for either the Rockets or Anthony — if he goes unclaimed on waivers, Houston would be on the hook for his entire salary and the tax penalties that will come along with it.
On the other hand, if Anthony is claimed off waivers, taking his contract off the Rockets’ books, he could end up being acquired by a team he has no interest in joining, eliminating his ability to pick his new club.
Although most players go unclaimed on waivers, Anthony’s contract is pretty claim- friendly. The league’s waiver rules allow any team to use the minimum salary exception to place a claim on a player who is on a one- year, minimum salary contract.
Only the Thunder and Hawks would face restrictions on Anthony, since they recently traded him and bought him out, respectively. Any other club could theoretically put in a claim.
Finding a trade partner willing to take on Anthony would be the easiest way to avoid waivers altogether and to create a win-win situation for the team and the player. The Rockets could send Anthony to a team he’s interested in joining and clear his contract from their cap at the same time, reducing their tax bill.