EDITORIAL: After bizarre moves, Kia must come clean with the public By Rivals PH November 18, 2014 MANILA — KIA Motors owns quite a pedigree when it comes to sports, having sponsored some of the biggest athletic events in the world. That is why its entry to the Philippine Basketball Association was greeted with so much optimism. Here was a company that certainly knows how to run huge international tournaments now making its foray into Philippine basketball. Certainly, there were questions raised when it appointed Manny Pacquiao playing-coach, way before it was even sure that Pacquiao could play for them. But the team was well within its right to appoint anybody to any position. After all, it had the financial muscle to do so. While Pacquiao’s entry to the league has been divisive, with both sides of the is-it-good-or-bad-for-the-league debate presenting valid arguments, we reserve further comment until history itself does the judging of the eight-division world champion’s basketball career. Recently, though, we are left to wonder if KIA really knows what it is doing. Let’s skip the part where the Sorento could have made better choices during the dispersal draft. And let’s concede that KIA management has every right to make decisions for the good of the team. People will still wonder what your team is really up to when you shake up your teams more times than you can chalk up wins. And when your latest round of roster alterations relieves some of your best performers for untested guys, people will raise eyebrows. KIA recently activated Jonathan Parreno, Eric Suguitan, Jopher Custodio, Mike Burtscher and Kenneth Ighalo while dropping to free agency the likes of Rudy Lingganay, Hans Thiele, Chito Jaime, Chad Alonzo, and Alvin Padilla. Sure, you will say, KIA is trying to find the right chemistry and combination to add to its current tally of one win. And that it is simply auditioning players before coming up with an intact roster it can build its PBA future on. But you don’t start chopping down the roster from the front end of the rotation. Besides, isn’t that what the preseason was for? To get a chance to audition the players it drafted from the expansion pool and the Draft? What was the thinking process behind the roster change? It certainly isn’t scrimping on salaries because some of the players dropped are still owed money from their existing contracts. They still will get paid even if they are dropped into the free agent market. Could it be that it intentionally dropped these players so other teams can assume their contracts and therefore do away with the need to trade away guys to acquire them? Whatever its reasons are, KIA must come clear with the public. After all, KIA is a topnotch name when it come to sports in foreign shores. It has a reputation to keep here. The last thing it needs are doubts on its sincerity in building a winning program in the PBA. There’s simply a lot of those already in the league. — Rivals 2014 - LA
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:02:40 +0000
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