Time to Reinvent Rafael Nadal

Time to Reinvent Rafael Nadal

When Roger Federer won against Rafael Nadal a couple of years ago in the hallowed ground of Wimbledon, he said that he was just “lucky to get another before he (Rafa) takes them all”.

True, Rafa has won quite a few of Grand Slams in his young career. So far he has six of them: Four French Opens, an Aussie and a Wimby, quite impressive since he is only 23 years of age. While Roger Federer continues his onslaught and is frequently mentioned as the Greatest of All Time debates, Rafa has repeatedly beat him in the French and in the past few non-clay tournaments as well. In terms of number of Grand Slams won, Rafa is the only one who is on pace to beat Roger’s record.

But that is the problem, isn’t it? “On pace”.

The thing that Rafa leans heavily on to beat the other masters and Roger is his pace. He’d run from one end to another without tiring and often, with a little school boy glee as if running one’s ass off all the time is a natural thing. In terms of play, he relies more on being capable of returning whatever is thrown to him until the opponent becomes impatient or tires out and makes a mistake.

That’s his pace. And while his lungs could take it, his knees apparently cannot. In this year’s Australian Open, Rafa quit while behind against Britain’s Andy Murray citing knee tendenitis. This marks the third straight Slam that his knees have affected his game. Last year’s French and US Opens ended with him performing below par because of his gimpy knees.

It’s the start of the season. If your knees are not holding up now, it wouldn’t hold up as the year goes on.

This is why Rafa should start adjusting his game for longevity reasons. There have been many athletes who have performed well enough to have won major championships but still found out that they needed to readjust their methods in order to get to the next level, remain on top, or to prolong their career. Rafa should take his cue from these people:

Tiger Woods

A couple of years after winning the Masters by 12 strokes, Tiger Woods decided that he needed to change his swing. That’s right. The most dominant golfer of all time who destroyed the field in the Masters decided that his swing could get better. So Woods reinvented his swing both as a way to improve and maintain his form and also to help ease the knee problems that he’s been having. It’s important to realize that if a person is doing something so devastating, it’s only logical that it is also has devastating effects on the body of the person.

Manny Pacquiao

Manny was already a champion by the time he beat Marco Antonio Barrera in the Alamodome. His wicked left hand pounded the Mexican hero to the point that the latter’s brother cried and surrendered. A couple of fights later, he went up Erik Morales and lost due to the ability of Morales to avoid his left hand. That woke Pacquiao and his coach, Freddie Roach, up. It told them that while his natural talent was good enough to win fights against majority of his opponents, it was not enough to beat the best consistently. This is why they started to develop his right hand, his defense and his ring generalship. The left hand will always be there no matter what but now he doesn’t have to rely on it. He has other tools.

Roger Clemens

Clemens was already a Cy Young winner and known universally as The Rocket, because of his incredible pitching arm. Clemens was young and brash and was always ready to show his stuff in the mound and dare the batter to swing at his pitches. While immensely successful, it also did a lot of damage to his shoulder resulting in a torn rotator cuff and had to undergo major treatment. Undaunted, Clemens returned, adjusted his game and won six more Cy Youngs in a 24 year career.

If there ever were other athletes that Rafa should take his cue on, these three are it. Rafa has tremendous talent and has shown that his shot making is about as good as anyone not named Roger Federer. His reliance on his being able to run down any shot may have won him six Grand Slams so far but for the same reason, he might not win any more of them. There are other tennis players coming up from behind him such as Murray, Cilic, Del Potro, Davydenko and Gonzalez, all of which are capable of hanging tough with him until he breaks.

He has unmistakable talent and while his return game is his calling card, it will always still be there once he adjusts his game. In my opinion, his goal this year should be to improve other aspects of his game, such as his serve, and not to focus so much on winning a grand slam. It will eventually come because he has the talent to do so. All he needs now is the game that allows him to use his talent without destroying his body.

Should he not win a Grand Slam this year but succeeds in reinventing his game then the year should be considered a success. He needs this. At his age of 23, he has the time. And as a 6 time Grand Slam Champion, he sure has the talent.

Firepower: Pacquiao-Cotto

"Sipain mo! Sipain mo!"


Those were the words I heard as I watched a Pacquiao fight nearly ten years ago at a friend's house. The gentleman beside me screamed at the tv and nearly kicked the tv himself after Pacquiao knock downed his opponent. I laughed heartily and thought about how crazy this guy was.

On Sunday, Manny will be fighting Miguel Angel Cotto.

I've seen Cotto fight and is in fact one of my favorite fighters, outside of Manny. A couple of years ago, Bob Arum, while praising Manny, said that Pac could beat anybody but added, "just keep him away from Cotto".



Quite simply, the statement was made to show how strong and powerful Miguel Cotto was and at Welterweight, was probably unbeatable, even by Manny.



Flashforward to the Antonio Margarito fight, Cotto shows just how good he is especially in the first few rounds. Unfortunately, Marga could take it and, probably with illegal handwraps, pummelled Cotto into submission.



Pac now has an opportunity. The fight is at 145 and PAc is riding high on a 19 round winning streak. There is no doubt in my mind that Pac can beat Cotto. Problem is, I still think Cotto can beat Pacquiao.



The last time I saw Cotto fight, it was the Clottey fight. I thought Clottey won that one and even though the decision showed that Cotto won, it's only because Clottey gave it away. Watching it, I told my friend that if this was the Cotto that Manny would be fighting then I think Manny would win EASILY.



I'm hoping that this is the type of Cotto that Manny would be facing because it would be a sure win come Sunday. The old Cotto was good and I'll give Manny 50/50 chance to beat that guy. This Cotto however, I'm giving 65-35 in favor of Manny.



My prediction is Manny would win based on cuts. Look for that scar tissue in Cotto's left eyebrow to open up. That scar is just like where Pac hit De La Hoya practically a hundred times last year. If that opens up, Cotto's done. He should've been done when it happened against Clottey. Problem was Clottey forgot to fire again. Manny will not make that mistake.



Pac via TKO on cuts (9th)

Fight Analysis: UFC 104 Machida vs. Rua

Machida vs. Rua

I wasn’t able to watch UFC 104 last Sunday as I was at my goddaughter’s birthday party. I wasn’t particularly interested in the card except for the last two featuring Cain Velasquez and the Machida-Rua fight.

To begin with, I thought Machida would win this one handily. I thought Round 4 would be just right and Machida would KTFO Shogun who would be slowed down considerably by then. Of course it wasn’t how it turned out. As I was enjoying myself at the party, I received texts and read from ESPN/Sherdog that Machida was losing the fight. When he got the UD win, people started texting me showing their disgust with the decision and naturally I was intrigued with whether or not it was a bad decision.

Today I watched it. On mute, so that I wouldn’t be distracted with the howls of the fans and the comments of Goldberg and Rogan.

Rounds one to three are Machida rounds. I heard some quarters say that Round 1 could go either way but that’s just plain wrong and forgetful. While everybody was still looking for their seats, Machida has already unleashed four solid knees to the body of Shogun and another one followed soon after without Shogun hitting Machida of any consequence. The rest of the round was back and forth with Machida landing punches and Rua landing kicks. If those even out then Machida clearly won the round due to his first minute salvo.

Round 2 was the closest of the first three rounds but the best offense that Rua was able to deliver were knees to thighs during a clinch. Surely those had effect especially later on but Machida was also able to land knees to the body and leg sweeps as well.

The third round was clearly Machida’s. Without the sound, one could clearly see how Machida hit more than got hit himself. In several exchanges, Rua was able to attack the body of Lyoto with his awesome kicks but if you watch it again, while his kick was clearly the most visible, you would realize that Rua ate a punch to the face and a leg kick right at the same time. Of all the rounds, the third was the most clear of all rounds and it goes to the Champ.

Round 4 was Rua’s. His knees to Machida’s thighs were back at work and a couple of body shots also tilted things to his favor. Leg kicks added to those as well. Machida was clearly slowing down but he was able to get a couple of shots in as well. Rua however had clearer strikes and damaged Machida’s midsection and it showed. A slip was an opening that Rua took and even then he wasn’t able to take down Machida.

Round five was a toss up but if one were to go with the most significant of blows, the knees of Machida at around 2:47 would be the most important. He had a couple of flurries and a few kicks and while he appeared to have been badly damaged by Shogun in the fifth, his cuts to the face readily shows that the punches he received were merely glancing blows.

Machida won the fight by the score of 4-1 in my book but you could make the argument that it was 3-2 if you were to give Shogun round two. At the very worst, Lyoto lost the fight 2-3 but that is almost a stretch already.

What makes the fight a bit controversial is the fact that Shogun looked good after and Machida looked beaten. But that’s just how they look. Shogun is the type of guy who would still look fresh even after going through a forest fire. He just looks cool no matter what. Lyoto is different. He always looks exhausted afterwards and doesn’t have that James Bondish quality of looking cool.

Hits wise, Machida had the more solid strikes and hits even though he looked worse. I could blame Machida for being too fast that one doesn’t see the knees landing and the punches hitting Shogun’s face.

For sure it was a close match but Machida clearly won it. Granted fights aren’t meant to be watched on one’s computer with the easy scroll back for replay and mute button for better focus but in the end, using the same, clearly Machida won the fight.

Smart-Gilas and the National Team

Smart-Gilas and the National Team

Whenever a National Team is formed, controversy always erupts.

This is especially true in basketball and there are always questions around the team like:

Who should coach it?

Who should be in it?

How will training be done?

Are the players going to be paid?

Should we naturalize a player?

Note that this article is not about questioning the team that is currently formed, the Smart-Gilas team funded by the Basketball Godfather Manny Pangilinan. All indications would show that the current team under Toroman has a good system in place and seems to be ahead of the learning curve so to speak. I’m firmly behind the team and I’m enormously excited to see how they will do in international competition.

This does not mean that it cannot be tweeked. As good as this basketball team is now, it is completely the opposite of how I envisioned the ideal national team.

Let’s face it. The best players that the Philippines have are mostly the pros playing in the PBA. This is a no brainer. For this reason, whenever there is a need to form a National Team, we borrow from the PBA.

The problem is the team composed of PBA players would not or could not go all out when playing in international competition. These players get paid to play and the risk of injury while playing in an “unpaid” event can screw with their psyche during the games. Whether such accusation or observation is true or not is not the important part. They have the right to think about their future as basketball players as this is their livelihood, the way they earn money for their families.

What we need are players who have nothing to lose.

What we need are players who have nothing to lose. We need players who are willing to take the risk of injury just to be able to have the chance to play. For this reason, the best players to form the squad would be PBA “washouts”. I do not mean players who cannot hack it in the PBA but those who could but for some reason or another, was not given the proper minutes and opportunities to showcase their talents.

There are many of these players. Collegiate stars who had bright futures at the end of their stint in the UAAP and the NCAA and were even drafted by a PBA team only to be relegated to the end of the bench beside the ball boys and gofers. Promising stars who got buried in the rotation after a trade that sent them to a team with a star player firmly in his position.

These are the players who should be chosen to represent the country. Get them in a room and tell them the truth: They have no future as a PBA player. They’re good, talented players but they won’t make it as a pro. But—they can play for the National Team and be paid like a professional. Lock them down three years. Guaranteed.

Some of you may ask, “Wait, this is similar to Smart-Gilas. They’re professionally paid to be part of the National Team.” Uhm, No. The big difference is that the Smart-Gilas team is composed of players who are still very young and may still have an eye towards playing in the PBA. That’s a huge difference. They can be playing well now but what happens when the threat of injury becomes a reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uiuk4WMyRVo

Consider the now infamous game between SG and Burger King. Smart Gilas led and was beating BK through style and system until BK turned it up a notch in the thug department. Every SG player was getting hit and getting mugged. Did you see anyone stand up to BK? Not one. HesuChris Tiu laid down on the floor after getting knocked out of his feet. Same with Barocca after Arboleda’s potentially career destroying move of going under a player while he’s in midair. While everybody saw Arboleda beat up a fan (the only person who actually stood up to BK’s rough house tactics), I saw that Smart Gilas began to become tentative, become less physical and, in short, play scared. BK despite taking a huge blow in the 2nd quarter, crept up and beat Smart Gilas.

Smart Gilas never fought back.

Smart Gilas never fought back.

Why?

Because they couldn’t.

They were essentially kids, 22 year olds getting clobbered by thirty year olds who feel slighted and betrayed by Japeth Aguilar. Some quarters say that SG kept their cool as they got hit again and again. That’s a lie. They cowered and slid underneath the table. They got bullied and they went home with their shirt in tatters and pretend that it’s okay. It was classic schoolyard bullying.

The risk of injury was there as well as a healthy dose of “respect thy elders” mentality which combined killed whatever heart Smart Gilas had. While being paid by SG, they still have a future to think about.

We can say that Burger King played dirty (actually, filthy could be a better adjective). But in the end they won.

In international competition, it could only get worse. The BK game was between Filipinos and some of them are even friends. What more if the game is between two teams who do not even share the same language and truly hate our guts?

A team composed of “washouts” has a different mentality. They feel they weren’t given the chance. They feel they were disrespected by these PBA players. Unlike Smart Gilas who only felt being pushed in the last game, these players have been pushed around for a long time. Push them again and they would push back---hard.

Who are these “washout players” that I speak of? There are plenty. At the top of my head, I can name several. Granted I do not know what has happened to them but the idea here is to find players under a similar situation.

Leo Avenido was a star player in college who left too early.
Don Camaso was 6’7 Small forward who can dunk and rain threes.
Omanzie Rodriguez was a defensive powerhouse.
Jervy Cruz is underused.
Chris Calaguio almost never plays anymore.

These players may no longer be viable players these days (except Jervy) but again we should pick up these players and be part of the National Team.

What of Smart Gilas then? What needs to be done?

Experience will come with age. However, that would mean waiting. They will be pushed around and abused in the coming games especially now that it has been shown that they would wilt under that type of physical play. If you think the international teams do not know what happened, you’re kidding yourselves. Right now, the blue print to beating Smart Gilas is exactly that: beat them up.

So how do we change things? How can we make this team better?

What we need is an enforcer.

For starters, we need an enforcer. We need a couple of players who can take rough housing and could dish them out themselves. I don’t see Chris Tiu delivering any elbows and I do not see JV Casio confronting any player after a bad foul on him. As big as he is, Rabeh Al-Hussaini is an enormous sissy who complains after a slight slap to his forearm. I don’t see them fighting back. It’s just not in their nature because they are simply too nice.

We should get at least one player who could be the designated enforcer but also plays decent basketball. We used to have a ton of these players mostly from Ginebra. Chito Loyzaga was one, Wilmer Ong was another. Maybe Jervy can fill this void as well as Jared Dillinger. I may be wrong in naming these players but I do know that Smart Gilas cannot just fold when the going gets tough.

The National Team is always ripe with controversy and we all have an idea what an ideal team should be. Heart plays a big role in this and I am not questioning the current players’ hearts. But there is no question that something is still missing. And it’s not too late to make things better.