Buzz words reveal hoop trends

Every industry or discipline has its buzz words and basketball is no exception.
These are the terms or catch phrases everyone in the sport understands and express immediately what the user wants to say.
There are three buzz words that are gaining extended use in basketball circles. Many wordsmiths find their current popularity a tad redundant. However, these are just commonly used to quickly express a point.
In time, they will most likely be replaced by other expressions conveying the same meaning, as part of the constant evolution of a sport’s lingua franca.
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First, there’s “athleticism.”
Coaches both here and abroad seemed to have found an it-all, be-all phrase for a player who can do unusual things in the air or when hammered by defenses. There’s a nimbleness in the player, an agility that allows him to adapt to any situation on court.
Today, “athleticism” is often attached to PBA players like Petron’s Arwind Santos and Alaska’s Cyrus Baguio.
In the UAAP, Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena is in this category and we are just beginning to witness what he can do with a basketball.
Ravena was junior hoops’ best-kept secret until his unveiling in the senior ranks this season.
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“Physicality” seems to be in vogue all of a sudden with the way the current finals of the PBA Governors’ Cup has gone. There have been hard fouls and a ton of shoving and pushing that’s revealing both a mind game and frustration on the part of both teams.
It seemed to have tapered off in Game 3 as Jason Castro and Larry Fonacier put on a dazzling offensive show that just took the fight out of the tired Blaze Boosters.
“Physicality” is nothing new in Philippine basketball. The term just seems to be a suitable euphemism for the macho moves and stare downs that are a staple in the game.
The use of tirahan or balyahan often used to describe rough plays and body contact used to gain an edge in a game seemed to have faded in recent years.
Not every Pinoy fan uses “physicality” but will merely say the day after the game, “Napanood mo ba ‘yung banggaan kagabi sa laro?” (Did you see the banging in the game last night?).
Lastly, there’s “positives.” I get a kick out of this word because it sounds and feels like a term bandied about in team-building sessions and group dynamics.
Loosely, the word is about finding good in every effort, even if a team is mired in adversity or is being buried by an avalanche of points.
Positives are probably what Petron was looking for after two successive blowouts in the ongoing PBA finals. In Game 1, Petron got a lift after an inspirational last-second win courtesy of ageless Danny Ildefonso.
However in Games 2 and 3, the burden of a depleted roster, the travel to Lanao del Norte and the endless banging and jostling just took its toll on Petron.
Unless they found some positives from those two straight losses and in Game 4, the Petron Boosters will be in an uphill climb against the Grand Slam-seeking Tropang Texters.