The Final Score: For Air 21's Bert Lina, it's business as usual

I'm greeted by Bert Lina's smile. He doesn't have off-putting Wall Street demeanor. He's more grandfatherly PBA team owner. Hence, it's easy to pull Mang Bert away from an Air 21-Powerade game. He welcomes my request for a chat. As always. I'm not sure if he welcomes my queries. As expected. I ask Lina about the huge 2011 trade (and past trades as well). He doesn't try to justify them by citing basketball statistics or financial equations. Like he knows exactly what I want to know but is unwilling to provide the answers people want to hear. Instead, he offers a corporate mantra, in many ways, a valid reply. "We're in the business of logistics," Lina, whose companies also support football, cycling, running and golf, affirms. "We have to cover a lot of things." Logistics: procurement, distribution, replacement. All in the details. Air 21 nga naman kasi. Many get lost in the details. Some, like business wizards like Lina, know their way in and around details better than most. What boggles the average fan, like bringing in 30-year olds, sending out the apparent future of the franchise (and doing this over and over again), makes as perfect sense as 1 + 1 = 2 in Lina's head. As Lina explains the way he builds, rebuilds teams, his smile stays, never morphs into a frown. In the grown-up world of the PBA, an owner can swing from basketball lover to business executive. In the gray-scale world of pro sports, a team owner must also live with the consequences of such a privilege. Each time Air 21 conducts business in the PBA, people often ask. Bakit siya? Bakit ngayon? Bakit ganoon? "We do that by consensus. It's what my people think is best," Lina asserts. "If people think negatively, that's their own opinion and we respect that." Picks from picks. Trades from trades. From Yancy de Ocampo, their first-ever number one pick, to Nonoy Baclao, their most recent top choice. It's a 150-step process from then 'til now. Lina owns a dream team: Yancy, Nonoy, Ranidel, Washington, Santos, Cardona, Tubid, Pingris, David, Canaleta, Intal, Al-Hussaini et al. Add Danny Seigle and Dondon Hontiveros to this amazing list of past and present Air 21 players. It's the ultimate roster of someone's imagination. PBA realities, however, prevent this roster from being real. Because Lina prefers to keep it real. I ask, "How do you convince people that you're team is always out to win?" He pauses, like a baker who refuses to reveal the magic recipe for the best muffins in the village. "In basketball kasi, like in life, we're balancing team, and the players, and other things," Lina, who grew up playing 3-on-3 basketball in Tondo, says. "That's how we look at it. Mico, may halong logistics yan eh." Mang Bert has spoken. It's in the language of procurement, distribution, replacement. I just had to ask. And you just had to hear his answer. - GMA News