The benching

It has quickly become the subject of such outrage. From coffee shops to Congress, basketball fans are talking about how Shell Turbochargers head coach John Moran did not play top pick Rich Alvarez in his first game as a pro.

To be frank, Moran was well within his rights as coach. He and he alone can decide who will and will not play. And he alone will face the consequences, in the win column, and with the fans. It was an acceptable decision, but an unpopular one.

Rapport and chemistry between coach and player is critical in determining the trajectory a neophyte’s career may take. Let’s take a look at how some other famous newcomers fared when they also faced adjustments to new coaches.

Charles Barkley was a gruff, unsophisticated anomaly in college. Truth be told, the robust and rotund "Round Mound of Rebound" tore up the tryouts for the 1984 US Olympic team. Nobody could stop him, not even Michael Jordan or Patrick Ewing. He was going to demolish the opposition.

There was just one problem. Barkley and coach Bobby Knight didn’t like each other. But the fiery Knight was the coach, and he dropped Barkley from the star-studded line-up. Barkley went on to become an All-Star and MVP, and made the All-NBA team five times.

Tracy McGrady was a spectacular but painfully shy high schooler when he was picked up by the Toronto Raptors in 1998. He was constantly benched his first two seasons by head coach Darrell Walker, then by Walker’s replacement, Butch Carter. Walker went so far as to say that McGrady would be out of the NBA by the end of his three-year contract.

T-Mac remains adamant that he should have been played.

"Think of what Tracy had to go through," explains former Raptors and now ESPN announcer John Saunders. "He had to leave his country. He couldn’t go anywhere. He didn’t have close friends on the team."

When he left Toronto for Orlando, he exploded for 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game in 2001. That is the highest scoring average for any NBA player that age, higher than Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Isiah Thomas and Allen Iverson.

Moses Malone was the first high schooler to turn pro back in 1975. Literally hundreds of colleges went after him. He was drafted by the Utah Stars in the ABA, and averaged 19 points, 15 rebounds and almost 39 minutes a game in his rookie season, the most for any pro rookie straight out of high school.

Big Mo won three MVPs and a championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983.

It is highly unusual for a top draft pick not to see action in his first game. There have been cases of great youngsters being brought along slowly, or biding their time. When Jojo Lastimosa joined the Philippine team, he naturally played behind Samboy Lim and Allan Caidic. When Caidic started his PBA career on the high-powered Great Taste squad, he lined up behind many players his senior. But both men always got playing time.

On the other side of the coin, people are asking if it would have hurt Shell if they had played Alvarez for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Alvarez has been a beneficiary of tremendous national and international exposure via the UAAP and PBL. And the juxtaposition with number 2 draftee James Yap is inescapable. Yap played, Alvarez didn’t. Purefoods won, Shell lost.

And perhaps, at the end of the day, the fans want a little sensitivity to their needs. Why would they watch if their favorite players aren’t going to play?

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