Niño
Cañaleta has all the tools to dominate in the PBA. At 6’6”, he has the size to
be the perfect “stretch forward” (i.e. a combo forward) in the PBA. With his
handles, shooting, and leaping ability, Cañaleta is a more versatile scorer
than another comparable “stretch” – Arwind Santos, though, admittedly, Santos is
better at the dirty work. There’s a reason, after all, that Santos, one of
Cañaleta’s old rivals from the UAAP, is at the very top of the PBA’s Player
Efficiency ladder.
Still, Cañaleta
has gone a helluva long way from the unsure and inconsistent slotman he was in college.
When he was still playing for the UE Red Warriors, he found it difficult
getting overshadowed by the likes of FEU’s Santos and Mark Isip, Adamson’s Ken
Bono, and even Ateneo’s Paolo Bugia and Doug Kramer. He was forced to play
center and bang bodies under the boards when he had the skill set of a natural
swingman. He was a rare find in local hoops, but he wasn’t exactly being maximized.
Now, with a
team devoid of the star power prevalent in the PBA’s more ballyhooed squads,
Cañaleta finally has the time of day to really strut his stuff. The 6th
overall pick in the 2005 draft currently has the second highest player
efficiency rating in Air 21’s roster (only Mike Cortez is better). He is
averaging a career-high 29 minutes per game, registering, unsurprisingly, his
best scoring numbers yet – 14.7ppg. He’s also norming nearly 6 rebounds per
game for the first time since his sophomore season back in ’06-’07.
 |
| Niño Cañaleta may be ripe and ready to finally be one of the PBA's brightest superstars. |
And, get
this, those were his numbers BEFORE unloading 41 (yes, FORTY ONE markers) on
the hapless Batang Pier to go along with 7 rebounds. With him finally breaking
out in the biggest way possible, is Niño Cañaleta finally ready to realize his
vast potential and rise to the uppermost echelon of stars in the PBA?
Game Recaps:
AIR 21 EXPRESS over GLOBAL
PORT BATANG PIER, 113-92
KG Canaleta
outdueled Gary David in their scoring battle and the athletic swingman towed
the Air 21 Express to a 113-92 victory over the GlobalPort Batang Pier
Wednesday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-6,
slam dunking forward set a new career-high with 41 points. He shot a steady
6-for-9 from beyond the arc, grabbed seven rebounds and came up with a
highlight reel play that punctuated his big game against David, last season’s
scoring champion.
“When I got
him (KG), I wanted him to prove himself and be considered as one of the top
players in the PBA,” said Air 21 coach Franz Pumaren. “He’s really talented. It
was just unfortunate that he played before for teams loaded with star players.”
“With this
game, I hope it would be a springboard for him to play better in the playoffs,”
added Pumaren, whose team has already matched its total number of victories
posted last season when the squad was known as Shopinas.com.
Canaleta set
the tone early, scoring 21 points of his total output in the first half, the
most scored by any player at the half this season.
With
Canaleta catching fire, the Express, too, performed on a high level.
A
backbreaking 18-2 run in the third quarter, capped by a jumper from James Sena,
turned a close encounter into a rout and gave the Express an 80-59 lead.
The Batang
Pier never recovered from there. The team lost its ninth straight game and fell
to a 1-12 record.
“When we
lost the game to Ginebra, everybody was frustrated. Everybody came to practice
really determined to bounce back to get ourselves in contention for a playoff
spot,” said Pumaren.
“Good thing
they’re out of the race already, but we’re wary of them and we don’t want them
to get their momentum because it’s so hard to play a team when they’re already
out. But we’ve done our job today. We just have to wait depending on Friday’s
game.”
GlobalPort
will face San Mig Coffee in its final elimination round schedule on Friday at
the MOA Arena.
A21 113 — Canaleta 41, Sena 18, Reyes
12, arboleda 8, Omolon 7, Wilson 6, Cortez 5, Ritualo 5, Custodio 4, Isip 4,
Andaya 2, Baclao 1, Atkins 0.
GLO 92 — Al-Hussaini 20, David 16,
Manuel 11, Salvador 11, Mandani 8, Guevarra 5, Antonio 5, Yee 4, Miller 4,
Lingganay 3, Vanlandingham 3, Vergara 2, Deutchman 0, Crisano 0.
QS: 30-31; 60-55; 87-67; 113-92.
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| Mark Isip goes up uncontested against Global Port. |
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| Josh Vanlandingham gets hacked by Air 21's James Sena. |
ALASKA ACES over PETRON
BLAZE BOOSTERS, 79-71
Alaska has
built a reputation in the Calvin Abueva era as a defensive, hustling team.
Make the
Aces the new comeback kids this time as well.
The Aces
held the Petron Blaze Boosters to an all-time franchise low six points in the
fourth quarter to complete a hard-earned come-from-behind victory on Wednesday
night in the PBA Philippine Cup at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Down by 21
points in the closing minute of the third period, the Aces willed themselves to
victory behind the efforts of JVee Casio, Abueva and Cyrus Baguio.
Casio and
Abueva have recently returned from sick bay.
But neither
injuries nor the Boosters could keep these Aces from spurring their team to a
huge comeback win.
“There were
injuries all around, but these guys just willed themselves to victory. I was
kind of quiet during the huddle and going through the motions, but guys just
don’t want to quit,” said Alaska coach Luigi Trillo.
The Boosters
were held down to only a single field goal for nearly nine minutes and saw
their lead chopped down by repeated Alaska uprisings.
Arwind
Santos broke the silence for the Boosters with a jumper, giving his squad a
69-63 lead.
JVee Casio
scored on a triple to push the Aces within three, 69-66, but Chris Lutz had a
jumper from the right corner.
That was the
end of the line for the Boosters, though, who failed to score in the next 2:43
of the match and watched as the Aces scored the next 13 points.
Overall, the
Boosters shot a measly 3-of-18 from the field (16.7%).
ALA 79 – Baguio 20, Abueva 12, Casio
12, Hontiveros 10, Thoss 8, Espinas 7, Reyes 3, Baracael 3, Eman 2, Dela Cruz
2, Jazul 0, Laure 0, Belasco 0.
PET 71 – Lassiter 14, Santos 13,
Cabagnot 11, Fajardo 10, Yeo 9, Miranda 8, Lutz 4, Ildefonso 2, Washington 0,
Pena 0.
QS: 19-25, 29-41, 46-65, 79-71.
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| Calvin Abueva had another interesting match-up with Petron's Arwind Santos. |
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| Gabby Espinas flashes a wry smile opposite Joseph Yeo. |
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| Coach Olsen Racela and Marcio Lassiter can only muster frowns as the Boosters lose their 8th game in the conference. |
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 Paolo Papa & Paul Ryan Tan)
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