Barangay Ginebra in trouble again

(MENAFN- Arab News) MANILA: In its third conference of the year under a third coach and with yet another complete lineup Barangay Ginebra is still struggling in the PBA Governors' Cup.
With barely two weeks left in the elimination round the Gin Kings armed with a super import in Orlando Johnson and blessed with a super-loaded local lineup led by twin towers Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar are still out of the playoff picture.
And in this conference where qualifying in the top four is a premium it seems like Ginebra if it does make it past the eliminations will be facing tremendous odds in the quarterfinals as the Kings would need to beat a higher-ranked foe two straight times to march on.
So what could be ailing this talent-laden team this very team that plays in its veritable homecourt each night and this team that has the complete backing of a basketball-crazy taipan in Ramon S. Ang?
Frankie Lim the former PBA point guard with Tanduay and Purefoods is the third coach for the year for Ginebra after Ang and the Kings fired Jeffrey Cariaso after the Philippine Cup and then transferred Ato Agustin to San Miguel Beer after the Commissioner's Cup.
Many have said that Lim is exactly what the Kings need as a coach because of his point guard mentality his glorious record as a champion NCAA coach with San Beda and most of all his personality.
After eight games everyone is still left with their conclusions on how Lim is doing so far. With a 3-5 record many are left wanting to see more victories.
The question here is: whether it is Lim Cariaso or even Agustin coaching does a team as loaded as Ginebra deserve to be 3-5 at the moment? I just think it is unimaginable that a squad like that is struggling this hard.
Frankie I think should push the panic button right now and start saving this conference for Ginebra because another failure would simply be unacceptable for its millions of fans.
And most of all it could be unacceptable again for Ang who has done everything to make this team a winner again.
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Lim got complete authority and did what he wanted right after assuming the reins at Ginebra.
His first order of business was to trade Joseph Yeo to Barako Bull and the team then shopped around for takers reportedly for LA Tenorio Chris Ellis and Mac Baracael.
There was a report that Ginebra wanted to acquire Stanley Pringle from Globalport in exchange for Tenorio the former Jones Cup MVP with Gilas Pilipinas and ex-Mythical Team member.
Yeo is going great guns as an Energy who are already in the playoffs with a 6-2 record and with a prime shot at bagging a top four berth with still three games left in their schedule.
There was a stretch in the tournament where Yeo averaged close to 23 points a contest and the Energy went 3-1. There is no local in the Ginebra lineup that is averaging numbers close to that and the Kings' record is also not even close to what Barako Bull has.
Did Lim make an error in trading away Yeo who made it public in an interview that he felt that Frankie traded him away simply because he 'does not like me.'
Mark Caguioa is playing very limited minutes like fellow former MVP Jay-Jay Helterbrand and Baracael who flourished at the shooting guard position under several coaches before Lim hasn't left the bench practically the entire conference.
The decision on who to play or not is entirely the prerogative of the coach but people the throng of Ginebra fans are simply wondering where the Kings would be at this point if Yeo is still with the squad tossing the numbers he is turning in for Barako Bull.
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Back when the Kings were struggling under Agustin there was wild talk that Caguioa and Helterbrand were both headed to stints on the bench sooner than later their playing careers after all nearing an end.
Caguioa and Helterbrand are good buddies forming the Fast and the Furious tandem for the Gin Kings because of their breakneck pace of play and relentless energy whenever they are on the floor.
Both have been playing shorter minutes under Lim with Caguioa even winding up scoreless in one of the games that the Kings lost a couple of weeks back.
Arab News got the chance to talk to one of them after one loss and this corner asked if he regardless of what his buddy would say has heard of the rumor that both of them are being groomed to coach the Kings in the very near future.
He said that both of them have heard of the news but stressed that he in particular is not ready for that kind of job at the moment.
'I just don't know what .. thinks about that' said one of them referring to the other who most of the fans want because of the charisma he has.