2012 PBA Philippine Cup Roundup: November 21, 2012

The Rain or Shine Elasto-Painters are known for being one of the most physical teams in the league, but they found themselves on the receiving end of some roughhousing in their win against the Meralco Bolts last night.

Taken from InterAKTV.com: “(Meralco rookie Cliff ) Hodge was called for a flagrant foul on a rebound play where he looked to have made a swinging motion at Arana after the Rain or Shine wingman made physical contact with the rookie.”

Hodge was given a Flagrant 1 foul, but the Painters thought the punishment should’ve been a bit more severe. From the Painters’ perspective, the Bolt rookie threw a punch at Araña. Now THAT would’ve, categorically speaking, been enough for a Flagrant 2.

Weirdly enough, it was ROS that actually lost a couple of its key players throughout the game. Araña committed his own F2 foul while teammate JR Quiñahan was ejected in the third period after he, likewise, was tagged with an F2 for hacking Sol Mercado. That was probably an act of retaliation as Meralco’s Kelly Nabong, another rookie, roughed up Quiñahan a few moments prior.

It was an intense game, to say the least, and the intensity didn’t seem to dissipate even after the Painters’ rousing come-from-behind OT win.

“We’re ‘dedicating’ this victory to Cliff Hodge and Kelly Nabong,” Guiao said in a post-game interview. “Coach Ryan said last week they were just complacent when they lost by 25 points against us. Baka complacent lang ulit sila.”

Cliff Hodge was involved in some of the more
intense moments against Rain or Shine.

Fighting words from the fighting coach of a fighting team. Then again, knowing it’s coach Yeng Guiao, are we even a wee bit surprised? He’s known for many things, but subtlety and timidity are certainly not any of them.

It’s more fun in the PBA after all!

Game Recaps:

RIAN OR SHINE ELASTO-PAINTERS over MERALCO BOLTS, 102-98

Already banged-up and frustrated by what they thought were calls not going their way, Rain or Shine appeared to be easy pickings for Meralco.

But instead of simply folding, the Elasto Painters displayed the heart of a champion, climbing back from a 23-point deficit to post a heated 102-98 victory over the Bolts Wednesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

With Paul Lee, Chris Tiu, and Jireh Ibañes in sick bay, Rain or Shine lost stalwarts JR Quiñahan and Ryan Araña to ejection because of separate flagrant foul penalty two infractions.

The Elasto Painters, however, used Quiñahan’s ejection as a flashpoint for their rally.

“We got frustrated in the beginning and we couldn’t get anything going from our offense. But we drew a lot of energy and motivation from the ejection of JR Quiñahan,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.

Quiñahan was in an altercation in the early part of the third period after fouling Sol Mercado. Meralco rookie came over to give Quiñahan a shove, leading to a near-melee.

Mercado (technical foul) and Nabong (flagrant foul penalty one) were penalized for their involvement in the scuffle, but it was Quiñahan who bore the brunt of the punishment after being ejected.

But that seemed to fire up the lethargic Rain or Shine side, which outscored the Bolts 25-6 to end the third quarter with just a five-point lead after trailing by as much as 26 points.

In the fourth, Rain or Shine’s guns came ablaze as Beau Belga, Ryan Araña and TY Tang each nailed a three-pointer in a 20-7 spurt to give their team an 80-72 lead.

The Bolts didn’t go down without a fight as Mercado scored his team’s last nine points, all coming from the three-point region, to send the game into overtime.

But Gabe Norwood and Belga conspired in the extra five-minute stretch while Mercado missed a jumper and committed a crucial error in the Bolts’ last possession as the Elasto Painters held on to the win.

ROS 102 – Chan 25, Norwood 15, Belga 15, Tang 12, Arana 11, Cruz 10, Quinahan 6, Matias 5, Rodriguez 3, Jaime 0.

MER 98 – Mercado 28, Cardona 12, Hodge 9, Ross 9, Borboran 9, Buenafe 9, Hugnatan 8, Nabong 6, Salvacion 4, Reyes 2, Artadi 2.

QS: 8-21, 26-40, 60-65, 88-88, 102-98

Beau Belga flashes a devilish grin after hitting a
big shot for the Painters.

Sol Mercado's heroics weren't enough to lift
the Bolts past Rain or Shine.

TALK N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS over SAN MIG COFFEE MIXERS, 92-63

Against the No. 1 defensive team in the league, usually offensive-minded Talk ‘N Text got out of its comfort zone and gave San Mig Coffee a dose of its own medicine on defense.

The Tropang Texters handed Tim Cone his worst beating since taking over the old Purefoods franchise, winning convincingly, 92-63, in the PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Talk ‘N Text held San Mig Coffee below 32-percent shooting from the field and made life miserable for the Mixers’ top guns, James Yap and PJ Simon, who were grounded all game long.

Simon, the team’s spark off the bench, was only 1-for-6 from the field and was limited to three points on 20 minutes of playing time. His points only came in the fourth period when the game was already decided.

Yap, the two-time Most Valuable Player, went 4-for-14 from the field, but was scoreless in the entire second half.

With Talk ‘N Text doing a great job defensively against their two high-scoring guards, San Mig Coffee’s production was greatly affected as well their mindset of stopping their opponents.

“We came with good defense against the No. 1 defensive team,” said Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black. “Our mindset is to match San Mig’s effort. With our defense clicking, we were able to get our rhythm offensively, knocking down our outside shots and we were able to make good spacing on the floor.”

With the win, the Tropang Texters continued to stay on top and improved to 9-2 win-loss mark, bolstering their chances for one of two automatic berths for the semis.

“We will try to get there,” said Black, referring to the top two slots. “Obviously, by beating san Mig Coffee, it gave us a better chance for the top two. But we cannot let our guard down. We still have tougher games ahead, including Sunday’s game against Air 21. We need to come out and win, otherwise, this victory against San Mig Coffee is nothing.”

TNT 92 – Alapag 19, De Ocampo 15, Fonacier 11, Castro 10, Williams 8, Peek 7, Reyes 5, Aban 5, Carey 5, Dillinger 3, Raymundo 2, Gamalinda 2, Alvarez 0, Ferriols 0.

SMC 63 – Yap 13, Devance 12, Intal 10, Barroca 9, Ramos 4, Simon 3, Pingris 3, Reavis 3, Ponferada 2, Gaco 2, Villanueva 2, Pacana 0, Gonzales 0, De Ocampo 0.

QS: 20-15, 37-29, 71-45, 92-63.