Waiting for Vroman's breakout

Barangay Ginebra finally picked up a win over B-Meg in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semifinal series at the Cuneta Astrodome last Sunday night but for the Kings to survive, they’ve got to beat the Derby Ace Llamados twice more in a row and unless import Jackson Vroman starts playing like the NBA veteran that he is or is replaced by a more impactful center, it’s unlikely.

Vroman, 30, was the man in the middle as Ginebra posted a 4-2 windup in the eliminations and made it to the semifinals outright via a 93-84 decision over B-Meg in a playoff. But more than Vroman, it was Mark (The Spark) Caguioa who powered the surge. The problem is Caguioa has been out of commission with a slight fracture in his right orbital socket and double vision in his right eye, missing three semifinal contests so far. Without Caguioa, the Kings are vulnerable and Vroman’s inadequacies are accentuated.

Vroman is averaging only 9.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in the semifinals compared to B-Meg’s Denzel Bowles’ norms of 17.7 points and 11.7 boards. Vroman’s glaring inadequacy is his free throw shooting – he’s hitting 33 percent from the line. He was 0-of-5 in Game 3 of the B-Meg series last Sunday.

Why Vroman is clanking from the stripe is a mystery. In two years with Iowa State, he shot 51.1 percent. With the Phoenix Suns, he hit 57.1 percent. With the New Orleans Hornets, he improved to 64.7 percent in the 2004-05 NBA season. His clip dipped to 47.7 percent the next season. In 2007-08, Vroman shot 71 percent in the Spanish league. A year later, he shot 68.5 percent in Iran. Before moving to the PBA, Vroman hit 53.3 percent with the ET Land Elephants in Korea and 68.3 percent with Jiangsu Dragons in China. So his 33 percent clip with Ginebra is inexcusable.

Vroman is no dud, that’s for sure – or at least, he isn’t on paper. He was the Suns’ second round draft pick in 2004. Chosen after Vroman were players like Chris Duhon, Trevor Ariza and Marcus Douthit (25 rungs lower). Vroman came highly recommended that Lebanon made him a naturalized citizen to play for the national team at the FIBA-Asia and World Championships. Vroman averaged 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists at the World Championships in Turkey in 2008, shooting 42.5 percent from the line.

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In Game 2 of the B-Meg series, Vroman didn’t play like an import, deferring to his teammates and declining to take the big shot. If an import is supposed to be a go-to guy, Vroman didn’t fit the bill last Friday. He lost his confidence as a scorer and went 3-of-10 from the floor in the Kings’ 83-77 loss. In the semifinals so far, he’s shooting less than 40 percent from the field.

Last Sunday, Ginebra beat the Llamados, 88-79, in Game 3 but Vroman played only a supporting role. He compiled eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot in 37 minutes. Vroman shot 4-of-11 from the floor and went 0-of-5 from the line in another atrocious performance on the offensive end. The Kings got lucky when B-Meg’s Marc Pingris was ejected after playing only six minutes and Bowles took the night off, hitting only 3-of-14 from the field.

In Game 4 at the Big Dome tonight, Ginebra will try to stay alive once more in a do-or-die predicament. Caguioa won’t be reactivated so coach Siot Tanquingcen is hoping Nino Canaleta, Mike Cortez, Dylan Ababou, JayJay Helterbrand and Rudy Hatfield will step up to the plate and come out swinging. Cortez delivered a rare triple double – 17 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists – in Game 3 and will be counted on to spearhead the charge.

“It’s highly unlikely that Mark will play in Game 4,” said Tanquingcen. “In Game 3, we just kept different guys on Bowles and played hard defense but I wouldn’t say we shackled him. It was a combination of good defense by our players and likewise him having an off night.” Assistant coach Allan Caidic confirmed that doctors haven’t cleared Caguioa to play. In Sunday’s win, Tanquingcen relied on five key players to carry the load and each logged at least 30 minutes. Enrico Villanueva and Willy Wilson didn’t even get to play. Kerby Raymundo tallied three points in 14 minutes and continued to struggle with 1-of-4 from the floor and 1-of-2 free throws.

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Rico Maierhofer and Eric Menk are in Ginebra’s playoff lineup but they still haven’t reported for duty. In Ginebra’s case, the problem isn’t the locals – it’s the import. Vroman has played listlessly in the semifinals and is being schooled by the league’s youngest import at 22. Tanquingcen is waiting for Vroman to break out, to show the stuff that convinced Phoenix to draft him so highly in 2004 and Lebanon to give him citizenship.

Ginebra is the PBA’s No. 1 defensive team, holding opponents to an average of 86.7, but B-Meg ranks right behind at 87.3. That’s the reason why in the series, neither team has scored 90 or more points. B-Meg has racked up more turnovers in each game but held Ginebra to an average of 72 in the Llamados’ two wins. The Kings erupted for 88 in their only victory in Game 3 while limiting B-Meg to 79 and 38 percent field goal shooting.

If the series continues to be defense-oriented, maybe Vroman’s offensive deficiencies won’t be so conspicuous. But it’s obvious that for the Kings to bowl over B-Meg, they’ve got to get more production from Vroman if only to neutralize Bowles.