Shell Velocity - Home of the PBA Shell Team

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PreSEASON HOMEWORK

Traded away Vic Pablo for Bryan Gahol and Mark Telan and then dealt away Noy Castillo for practically free to Purefoods, presumably to free cap room to reel in free agents next year. Gahol was then shipped to Alaska for sleek swingman Brixter Encarnacion. Coach Perry Ronquillo did not get anybody notable from the draft but then, neither did most of the teams. He, however, finally used the club's rights to a direct hire half-Filipino by singing up Anthony de la Cruz.

OFFENSE

The All-Filipino defending champs will have a problem lighting up the scoreboards this year. Pablo and Castillo were big losses on the offensive end and Ronquillo is hoping that converting Telan into a small forward will help the Zoom Masters counter that. Much of the scoring load will fall on reigning Most Valuable Player Benjie Paras, who normed 15.7 points a night, eighth best among locals last year. Playmaker Gerry Esplana will have to take a more active role offensively while Shell hopes that Encarnacion blossoms into the all-around scorer he was known for in college. None of the bench players can really score, although sixth man Jun Marzan can run the break well and backup playmaker Rommel Santos can hit the three. It still remains to be seen whether De la Cruz can shoot as advertised. Even then, the 21-year-old, 6-4 swingman will be missing half of Shell's All-Filipino campaign to finish his studies in the US.

DEFENSE

Chris Jackson will be the team's main stopper. The 6-3 defensive wall not only has the strength to match up against the league's premier post players, he also has the quickness and the brains to overplay them. Jackson is also the team's top rebounder, finishing fourth among locals with 10.0 caroms a night last year. Paras (6.6 rpg) can help in this area. Marzan is also a nasty defender who pressures his man into committing errors while off the bench, guys like Jay Mendoza and Joel Dualan can provide bodies for banging. Rookie dela Cruz also wants to be known as a tireless worker in defense and promises a lot of hustle for Ronquillo. But the question is whether he can guard the league's top wingmen one-on-one.

ABOUT HIS TEAM ...

"No doubt, we gave away very good players in Vic Pablo and Noy Castillo. Our chemistry will suffer a bit but we did manage to add young legs to the team and we also became taller. I think that's good for us. We just have to shoot consistently in order to be competitive."

--PERRY RONQUILLO