For the past few seasons, Barangay Ginebra has been one of the tallest teams in the PBA.
With 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar teaming up with 6-8 Christian Standhardinger in the paint, the Gin Kings have always posed match-up problems for the opposing teams.
Add 6-5 Justin Brownlee to the mix, and you have a potent frontline rotation.
Unfortunately for Ginebra, none of those three players are seeing action in the PBA On Tour preseason tournament, and their absence was painfully obvious on Sunday night after the Kings were badly outrebounded by San Miguel Beermen -- 60-44 -- in a 90-78 loss.
It was the first time Ginebra were in action since Game 6 of the 2023 Governors' Cup Finals, and fans could have been forgiven if they thought they were watching a different team, because -- in some ways -- they were.
Aside from the three aforementioned big men, Stanley Pringle, Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo were also unavailable and, while regulars like Jeremiah Gray and Aljon Mariano suited up, the other Ginebra jerseys had unfamiliar names such as Gumaru, Espanolo, Ubalde, Cu, Aurin and Salcedo written on their backs.
None of the newbies is even remotely a center, and acting head coach Richard Del Rosario knows he has his work cut out for him.
"From one of the biggest teams with Japeth, Christian and Justin, now I think we're the smallest team. I think I'm already the tallest on the team," Del Rosario, who stands 6-5, joked. "It's really a struggle."
Ginebra elevated their entire 3x3 team -- composed of Kim Aurin, Ralph Salcedo, Louis Rafael Cu and Donald Gumaru -- and signed free agents JJ Espanola and John Ubalde to fill some roster spots.
The hope is that some of these players will develop well enough to make it to the final roster, alongside the continued development of bit-part players like Jayson David and Von Pessumal.
"We're missing key players, as you all saw," Del Rosario explained. "So it's really about new roles for these players, so we're really trying to develop them. Even the 3x3 guys.
"It's a challenge for us. We just have to figure things out. We've practiced for nine days and I think we still don't have a feel for each other's game as we have to change the dynamics of how we play on both ends because the personnel is different. We suddenly don't have bigs.
"It's a work in progress. We're going to try and build on this and hopefully at the end of this tournament, the players will achieve growth. And also for us coaches.
"Coach Tim (Cone) is not here, so it's a chance for us, the coaching staff, to achieve growth. Now we're the ones handling the team. So we just have to not look at who's not here.
"We just have to look at who's here and try to maximize the skills and the talents that they have. Hopefully we can compete every night."
Cone was at the game and seated on the Ginebra bench, but at the far end. He never stood up once during the game and left immediately after the final whistle even though there was a heavy downpour outside. But Del Rosario said Cone talked to the team earlier.
"Tim said this is a chance to really develop," Del Rosario revealed. "It's a summer league -- (a) pre-season tournament. So you try to develop the facets of players' games.
"Winning or losing comes secondary as long as they improve. Right now, we have to work on rebounding because we were really out-rebounded."
Against the Beermen, it was Aurin who stood out among the new faces as he finished with a team-high 18 points in 26 minutes.
Overall, Del Rosario gave the new guys a passing mark, adding: "They were okay. I think some were still overexcited. I just told them, especially in the first half, the energy of the opponent can't be higher than ours.
"On the positive side, we have 29 assists out of 32 made field goals, so that's really good. We're averaging almost 30 assists per game, so we were able to sustain that. That's good for us.
"We're just going to try and build on that. We want 'Miah (Gray) to be more aggressive, develop his game. 'Nards' (John Pinto), Jayson David, even AJ (Aljon Mariano) and Raymond Aguilar. Because they're really our only bigs left. We'll see. It's gonna be challenging. But it's okay. We're up for the challenge and hopefully we're better next game."
This was only Ginebra's first game in the tour, and things won't get easier as they face the tall Magnolia Hotshots next weekend.
Thompson, Malonzo and Aguilar are focused on Gilas Pilipinas, while Del Rosario does not expect Standhardinger and Pringle to suit up anytime soon. The team has to make do with a very short frontline rotation.
"This is it," Del Rosario said. "If there were only a 6-2 and below league, that's where we'll go. We have so many guards. Even our bigs, it's a stretch to call them 'bigs'."
In the meantime, Del Rosario has an appeal for the Ginebra faithful.
"For Ginebra fans, just a little bit of patience. We're all new. This is all new, and we're trying to figure out a system that can bring out the talents of the players that we have."