 |
| Calvin Abueva continued to impress in his second game in the PBA. |
The Alaska
Aces are now 3-0 (since October 14) thanks in no small part to Calvin Abueva suiting up and finally
strutting his stuff in the pros. In his first two games, Abueva has averaged 14.0ppg
and 14.0rpg. He has supplanted Cliff Hodge as the most efficient rookie in the
Philippine Cup, and he seems to be the new “it” guy in the PBA.
It hasn’t,
however, been exclusively a Calvin Abueva show. JV Casio has also been doing
well of late for Alaska. In the Aces’ current three-game winning run, the
former Green Archer has normed 17.3ppg, 5.0apg, and 3.0rpg while shooting 40%
from beyond the arc. Those numbers are up from the 7.5ppg and 17% 3-point
shooting he registers in Alaska’s first two games.
One cause
for concern, though, is the injury that Cyrus Baguio sustained late in their
win over Air21. Early signs point to a probable knee injury for the highflyer. If
that turns out to be the case, then Alaska’s run might come to a premature end.
Another team
on a winning run is Petron. After losing 3 of their first 4 matches, the
Boosters have won back-to-back games, the last one without former Smart-Gilas
head coach Rajko Toroman.
Many have
pointed to the peculiar bench set-up involving Toroman and current head
tactician Olsen Racela as one of the big factors that affected Petron’s lethargic
start. Curiously enough, with Toroman out (he wasn’t even present in the
arena), the Boosters posted what was easily their most dominant game of the
tournament so far.
Five guys
finished in double-figures, with Arwind Santos and Jay Washington each
registering double-doubles. The backcourt tandem of Chris Lutz and Alex
Cabagnot also did well, combining for 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 15 assists.
Is this a
sign that Toroman’s main contribution was plain distraction?
Game Recaps:
ALASKA ACES over AIR21
EXPRESS, 92-81
Calvin
Abueva posted another double-double performance in his second game in the PBA,
and the Alaska Aces went on to win a third straight match.
Abueva
picked up from where he left off in his debut, finishing with 16 points and 12
rebounds as he helped the Aces to a 92-81 triumph over the slumping Air21
Express Friday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“Hindi ko
nga napapansin yung stats niya, but he had another double-double performance.
But I think there are better games out there for Calvin,” said Alaska coach
Luigi Trillo.
“I can’t
remember the last time we won three, but I think that happened with Jason Forte
as our import.”
But Abueva
wasn’t the only one who came up with big plays.
JVee Casio,
who missed the Aces’ last practice as he was not feeling well, stepped up and
played steady basketball. He had 19 points on three three-pointers along with
five assists.
“Defensively,
we’ve been working hard. In our last two games, we were down big, but defense
brought us back. JVee made things difficult for Wynne Arboleda. He was able to
wear the veteran down and that took its toll on Air 21,” said Trillo.
With their
defense working double time, the Aces were able to jump the gun on the Express
en route to a 50-33 halftime lead.
Dondon
Hontiveros and Cyrus Baguio finished with 15 points apiece. But Baguio suffered
a knee injury late in the game that has Trillo worried.
“Mukhang
tuhod ang tama ni Cyrus. He can’t even walk. We’ll have to get an MRI for him
and hopefully it’s not serious,” said Trillo
ALA 92 – Casio 19, Abueva 16, Baguio
15, Hontiveros 15, Thoss 11, Espinas 8, Reyes 4, Jazul 2, Baracael 2, Laure 0,
Dela Cruz 0
A21 81 – Custodio 20, Canaleta 16, Isip
12, Baclao 10, Wilson 7, Taha 6, Reyes 4, Omolon 4, Arboleda 2, Atkins 0, Sena
0, Escobal 0, Ritualo 0
QS: 26-17, 50-33, 74-60, 92-81
 |
| Bon Bon Custodio goes up for an easy lay-up. |
 |
| JV Casio sizes up the defense of Air21's John Wilson. |
PETRON BLAZE BOOSTERS over GLOBAL
PORT BATANG PIER, 110-98
No Rajko
Toroman on the bench, no problem for Petron Blaze.
With Olsen
Racela taking full control of the team, the Boosters cruised to a 110-98
victory over the GlobalPort Batang Pier Friday night at the SMART-Araneta
Coliseum.
Despite
being shorthanded up front after injuries to centers June Mar Fajardo and Danny
Ildefonso, Petron showed up relaxed and confident to notch their third win in
six games.
“I gave the
players more freedom and that resulted to us scoring 110 points. But this game
also gave us an indication that we needed to work hard on defense as we gave up
98 points,” said Racela.
“But that’s
a given thing. If we had difficulty defending our opponents, then we should
also give them a difficult time with our offensive game.”
Petron
scored 17 points in transition and 20 off turnovers.
Arwind
Santos, the most consistent player on the Boosters side, came through with a
season-high 29 points and 17 rebounds.
Chris Lutz
and Jay Washington contributed 16 points apiece while Alex Cabagnot and Denok
Miranda added 15 and 10, respectively in a display of balanced firepower by the
Boosters.
Petron led
91-78, but saw their lead trimmed to five in the final three minutes. But
Cabagnot scored five straight points to weather a late rally by the Batang
Pier.
“What I like
about today, we were running. I gave the players the freedom, but they need to
make sure they will make smart decisions, kasi nasanay sila half court set,”
said Racela.
“If they
start recognizing which ones to attack or when to pull back out, we will be a
more dangerous team.”
PET 110 – Santos 29, Lutz 16,
Washington 16, Cabagnot 15, Miranda 10, Yeo 9, Pena 8, Lassiter 3, Mallari 2,
Duncil 2, Sison 0
GLO 98 – Manuel 23, Miller 15, Deutchman
14, Antonio 13, Vanlandingham 9, Mandani 8, Vergara 6, Al-Hussaini 4, Adducul
3, Yee 2, Guevarra 1
QS: 30-27, 48-48, 76-68, 110-98
 |
| Arwind Santos pulls up over Will Antonio. |
 |
| Coach Olsen Racela nails win number one as a PBA Head Coach. |
 |
| Vic Manuel sends it home hard. |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game
recaps were compressed and compiled from InterAKTV. (Writing credit to Rey
Joble.)
Images: All images are from InterAKTV.
(Photo credit to Paul Ryan Tan and Paolo Papa)
0 Comment