CSS Basketball Season 4: Director’s Cup Preview

After 7 months of hiatus, Consumer Sports Committee will launch its 4^th basketball season this coming Saturday July 30, 2011 happening at Ynares Center. Five teams will be vying for the coveted championship and bragging rights as the 4th Champion Team in CSS Basketball league.

Last year’s preview: http://chris-champs.blogspot.com/2010/10/ccs-basketball-2010-preview.html

Before the opening of the tournament, there will be a special event that every Consumer engineers love; the CSS’ 2^nd All Hands Meeting. Speeches, discussions and talks will be delivered by our beloved managers; food will be served afterwards and the opening ceremony of the tournament should start afterwards.

Some league analysts say that this might be the worst and dirtiest draft ever in CSS Basketball history. Legacy was lost; teams were broken; rivalries converge and so much more. Some popular players will be banned to play due to career movements that affected their consumer basketball contract. Others departed to what they think is a Happier Place but put an end on their consumer basketball career.

Rumors have it that all these may cause a CSS Basketball lockout next year. Nonetheless, let’s keep that on hold for the mean time. This year’s league seems more promising than the last three seasons. The league is under new management; and so far they showcased what Consumer Team has to offer when it comes to events like this. Plus, from what we’ve heard; tournament such as Badminton, DOTA, etc. are on the pipeline, so watch out.

Now here are your new bands of brothers who will compete for the tournament. Forecasts were based on last season’s performance. We do apologize in advance; and no pun was intended to any CSS Teams or players. Rookies; most of you were not mention in this article, possibly our game analysts haven’t seen you play but we’re surely excited on what you can contribute to this league.

Team Color: White

Team Name: Trend Micro Basketball

Sounds like the Varsity team of Trend Micro. Who cares? These self proclaimed varsity blues have a promising line up but have yet to prove a dime. Do they have the rights? Maybe, since they have the deepest and tallest bench lineup this season. This franchise made a risky investment on this year’s draft by acquiring too many rookies. However, it seems their young talents have great potentials. Everyone is looking forward to beat this ala Miami Heat’s Super Friends fiasco.

The team is composed of former Arsenals players and a bunch of rookies. Key players either opted out of the league or drafted by other troops. Former team captain Jefferson "TTe or Tall and Terrible" Valdepena moved to ENT; while Christian “Wood Chopper” Lumanglas forced by the draft, will play with his BraviaX comrades.

Jerameel “JheBron” Baustista dons a Lebron James number “6” will take the lead for this team hopefully reassuring his gun shy MVP post last year; joining the caravan and wears his old number back, Jayson “The Tactician”/”Jays-Wade” Lim suits up number “3” and Joren “Bosh” Gonzales a surprise rookie that will deliver his inside power and will carry on to complete the Super Friends parade.

For the supporting cast, last year’s Arsenals’ captain Gerald “The Big Ticket” Bona will demonstrate his athleticism in rebounding and how good he is in playing Angry Birds, Paolo “Fun Run Boi” Mercado always provide his interior scoring presence, George “Killer Smile” Dela Victoria will continue to rock opponents world, Mark “QA Master” Gaerlan offers quality assurance support if he needed to and lastly Sir Jonathan “The Ageless” Capulong will still continue to supply needed help in scoring, but he may also need help from our Medicard once his body goes down. Under the radar are Adrian Tan and Erickzon Fajardo heard some gossip that these rookies are also making some buzz.

Team’s Challenge: Will this Super Friends a-like team get their 1^st ever championship? Or Will JheBron and company choke on big stage?

Analysts’ Prediction & Ranking:

>> Will advance to Playoffs (Twice 2 Beat): Rank 1

Team Color: Gray

Team Name: Baskills

Critics love their name. Baskills does not mean Basang-Kilili or Wet Underarms; the real meaning of Baskills is Basketbal Skills. They would like to show us how to play good basketball and learn the basics.

To set things straight, this is the dangerous team in the league. If Caloy “Former Rookie Sensation” Ocampo plays for your squadron, nothing is impossible. “MVP’ Ocampo single handedly rose to challenge against Team Arsenals on last year’s Finals; down by as much as 7 points with 105 seconds left on regulation, he delivered the goods to claim the 1^st ever championship for Team Kankunis (Team FoxRot). Caloy wowed the crowd with his ability to play excellent basketball. This guy has really BIG IQ when it comes to the game and no doubt why he was named MVP.

Baskills is a combination of the last year’s champion Team Kankunis, young guns from Arsenals plus explosive rookies. Mr. MVP now has a solid supporting cast. Francis “New Found Rookie Sensation” Racosas will showcase his talents once the tournament starts. We’ve seen this guy play and he is a quite good. Valor “Steady” Calour dictates the offensive thrust, Allain “D Workhorse” Umalin is the core of their rebounding and interior defense. Jan Lear “Alcohol Lover” Leonida will offer necessary backcourt help for the team while Leo Neil “Spiderman” Castro will be the defensive stopper. James “Egg Busted” Aspillaga will present the outside shooting, and lastly Stephen “Big Baby” Fernandez, will provide some help in interior.

Team’s Challenge: Will Caloy “MVP” Ocampo duplicate his championship and continue to build his legacy on this league despite injury rumors on his team lineup?

Analysts’ Prediction & Ranking:
>> Will advance to Playoffs (Twice 2 Beat): Rank 2

Team Color: Yellow

Team Name: HotFIX

Team name comes from the fixes and patches for Trend Micro products. We can expect this group to fix all the troubles on the hard-court. Among the five contenders who will compete for this tournament, this is the comprehensive team where in all positions of their roster were filled up.

This gang is combination different players and managers from the past seasons. However, HotFix, faced an early set back as Sir Ryan “D Versatile”Alberto withdrew his participation to play due to hectic schedule; this is surely a huge blow for the squad. They will be missing his toughness and best lock down defender especially on guarding the superstars of other teams.

HotFix has the finest backcourt combination. The explosiveness of Giane “D Groom” Ira, who is dangerous on the open court and Nicolo “D Slasher” De Jesus, will give their opponents a lot of trouble once he gets his game going. Mark Aurelio “5cm Beard” Beloy will be a huge factor for this team, it will be almost impossible to stop him especially on the paint once he’s in the zone. Roie “Dhie Man” Exconde will serve as the floor general of team while Sir Benett “The Great” Reyes will offer his greatness in ringing the baskets from long distance. Fans can’t wait to witness another match up once he faces Sir Jonathan “Ageless” Capulong and co. It will surely be a pure trash talking and physical battle.

Team’s Challenge: Can this team fix all the troubles on the hard-court? Or are we going to wait for another season for their hot fixes resolve their issues?

Analysts’ Prediction & Ranking:

>> Playoffs candidate: Rank 3

Team Color: Blue

Team Name: Pawnstars

Caped in blue, they would like to be called Pawnstars, as a tribute to consumer’s former Technical Specialist Nathaniel “Pawner” De Vera, who recently moved to a different department. His passion for DOTA online game is the reason why they chose this name for their team. They want to PAWN or DEFEAT all their opponents. Others thought the name was homage to star Peter North.This also an executive team, since they are packed with managers. Drafting four managers; two TC and the rest were players from different squads. Supposedly, the team planned to regroup the Escalation players. Unfortunately, due to unusual turn of events during the draft they only managed to save a few talents.

Glenn “The Scoring Machine” Suegay will provide the usual spark for this team, as he will try to lead his team quest to the post season. Sir Nathaniel “Pawner” De Vera will give his toughness and physical to every single the game. Luckily, he was drafted before he moved to SaaS Dept; this didn’t affect his playing eligibility. Vitto “Ang Tunay na Mahina” Padre, will conceptualize the slashing attack to that will cause some early foul troubles for their opponents big men, Dexter “Furious” Lopez will be the game changer for the pawners and Lolijim “D Camera Man” Gonzales will take shots of their interior.

In addition to their department, Sir Glenn “The Tower” Esquejo ends his career time out and now on playing mode once again. He promised that he will bounce back from no show last season. Sir Jed “The Master Zen” De Leon will serve as the energy booster; Sir Monroe “No Drama Vocalist” Paulino will give his usual leadership on the backcourt and lastly Sir Julio “The Secret” Reyes will be their top secret weapon in offense, just keeping their team fingers crossed that he will play for this season.

Team’s Challenge: Will all Managers keep their oath to play for this Executive Packed team every single game?

Analysts’ Prediction & Ranking:

>> Will slug out for the last Final Four slot: Rank 4

Team Color: Red

Team Name: HitMan PRO

This is the smallest team in league; consists of eight point guards and six big men. We can only imagine that this team will be the David in the land of Goliaths, literally.

Right after the draft day, this squad already faced some dilemmas in the beginning. One of the bigs of the team, Adrian “AXE” Miranda is unsure to play due to his work schedule; while Sir Ebenizer “Lung Buster” Padua withdrew his participation to have respiratory timeout.

The PROs were composed of mostly Team Online and Team Braviax, Season 2 Champs, year 2009. Captain Christian “The DirkMAN” Nava will be the focal point for this squad as he continues to progress by adding outside shooting touch to his game and now he’s healthy, expect him to have an MVP type performance this season. The arch nemeses in backcourt position for 3 years will now join forces as Christian “Wood Chopper” Lumanglas and Tristan “Mr. Cool” Samonte will finally team up in patrolling the plays for the PROs. This will be a must see event as both ball gurus share their knowledge on crunch time.

Fyle “Terminal Break Master” Sildo will help the team a lot with his sweet shooting touch from the rainbow; while JP “The Apprentice” Conde will be the energy booster as expect him to dive for every loose ball and make some acrobatic shots. Percineth “Lover Boy” Apolonia and Joel “El Aparador” Liray will provide some muscle in the paint and control the boards, Jon Eric “Defense Minister” Guevarra will give his team a lock down defender, Sir Williand “Oh My Manager” Osabel will offer his team the much needed energy drinks like Gatorade and Mineral water to sustain his team’s energy, Timothy “Muscle Man” Tabaniag will bring his charm and last but not the least, let’s not forget Eric “Happy Man” Villaluna and Jamie “The Last Piece” Cardines who will be the official mascots / escorts of the team.

Though said to be the smallest team; these players have lots of experience to brag about. Most of the players already fought numerous battles; some even winning championship for themselves. HitMan PRO’s crew must double their effort, as they need to help each other in securing the boards if they really want to reach the Playoffs or better yet achieve the Championship.

Team’s Challenge: Would height be a disadvantage for this team? Or should we expect them to win at all?

Analysts’ Prediction & Ranking:
>> Will slug out for the last Final Four slot: Rank 5

That is all we have for now… Let us all give our best performance in every game. Let’s make Love not WAR and more importantly have FUN!

This article is meant to entice, tempt, attract and invite all our fans from Consumer Department to come out and watch all our players’ gun for this year’s CSS Basketball Season 4: Director’s Cup Championship.