A couple of conferences ago, Tim Cone wanted Terrence Romeo to play for the Asian Games alongside Calvin Abueva. That scenario failed to gain fruition because of the 40-man or whatever draft pool then-Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes submitted.
Meanwhile, Vic Manuel has been one of the reasons why San Miguel fans are calling for Jorge Gallent’s head coaching position. Known for scoring a lot in just a so-so amount of playing time, The Muscleman has been reduced to a cameo act.
After two conferences of championship drought, the San Miguel Beermen finally approved the trade that would send Romeo and Manuel to Terrafirma for reigning Mythical Second Teamer Juami Tiongson and Andreas Cahilig.
The most shocking thing about this trade is that it’s a lackluster one, with Terrafirma getting the proverbial talent shaft.
Like most San Miguel Beermen trades, Romeo and Manuel entered the team as stars but came out of the system as their broken-down versions. Both players are enjoying their worst seasons, with Romeo averaging in single digits for the first time in his career. Bromeo is also leaving a team that brought bad juju to his game. In fact, after starring in 48 games in the 2018-19 PBA season, Romeo was saddled with just 37 games for the next three seasons, before hitting 30 games in the 2023-24 season.
Tiongson, on the other hand, is probably the best Terrafirma player of all time. Spending around five seasons with the squad, the former Ateneo Blue Eagle virtually had Romeo-like numbers in his final three full seasons. Unfortunately, like Romeo’s GlobalPort stint, individual glory happened because he couldn't lead his team to a championship. Tiongson saw talent after talent leave the team and I guess it’s his turn to go after the departure of Johnedel Cardel. The same can also be said with Cahilig, who spent most of his time with the squad with Cardel and Tiongson.
TERRAFIRMA GETS:
TERRENCE ROMEO | 2024-25 SEASON | VIC MANUEL |
20 | GAMES | 12 |
9.45 | POINTS | 2.75 |
1.40 | REBOUNDS | 1.50 |
1.85 | ASSISTS | 0.33 |
0.20 | STEALS | 0.00 |
0.00 | BLOCKS | 0.00 |
SAN MIGUEL GETS:
JUAMI TIONGSON | 2024-25 SEASON | ANDREAS CAHILIG |
4 | GAMES | 10 |
9.50 | POINTS | 5.00 |
1.75 | REBOUNDS | 3.30 |
3.00 | ASSISTS | 0.60 |
0.25 | STEALS | 0.30 |
0.00 | BLOCKS | 0.50 |
If you think about it, Terrafirma has a good starting lineup now. They got Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle from Ginebra, and they are now going to team up with Romeo and Manuel. Back in the day, The Slash Brothers combo of Pringle and Romeo powered Globalport to a couple of quarterfinal and even semifinal appearances. If you can add Kevin Ferrer or rookie revelation Paolo Hernandez in the starting five, then Terrafirma will have a dream team of sorts in their lineup.
However, recent reports have suggested that the SMC is just sending their players to Team Dyip because some of them are looking for other opportunities after their contracts expire. Standhardinger’s contract is up, and while he might have frontcourt privileges with Terrafirma, he can also try his luck in other international leagues as an import. The same thing can be said with Romeo, who could use his contract expiration to test the international waters. At the peak of his popularity, he wowed crowds with his dribbling skills and shotmaking abilities. When he moved to San Miguel, it was the beginning of the end of his superstar status.
Maybe he can restart his awesomeness in Taiwan or maybe he can go to where Avan Nava once played in Korea (I checked and Justin Gutang is the Asian import of the Seoul Samsung Thunders.)
Even Vic Manuel, who is at the tail end of his career, has an offer to join the MPBL after his PBA days are over. And while the PBA salary is better than the MPBL, this depends on what team you are in – as Terrafirma would probably lowball veterans which is why some of the players are moving out of the squad.
One qualm I had with Terrafirma at the start of the season is that they released Eric Camson, Allen Mina, and JP Calvo despite the fact that they have a weak roster. Aside from losing quality players, they also messed things up in terms of quality, and at that point, maybe asking the San Juan Knights or the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards to replace Terrafirma is not a bad idea.
I know Terrafirma just leveled up on their depth with the entries of Mark Nonoy and CJ Catapusan, as well as acquisitions of Aljun Melecio and Kit Zaldivar for the rights of Jordan Heading, but this is NOT a team that could even topple the likes of Phoenix, Blackwater, and NLEX.
I guess the only good thing about this pick is that Terrafirma still kept their first-round pick. As mentioned, I think the pick will eventually fall to the SMC, particularly with Ginebra for Kai Sotto, Carl Tamayo, or Kevin Quiambao.
I don’t want to be like this, but I doubt if Terrafirma will use these players to their advantage.