The
Elasto-Painters brought the Batang Pier back to earth with an emphatic win,
while the San Mig Coffee Mixers remained bogged down by anemic shooting as they
got plastered by the unheralded Air21 Express on the third day of the 2013 PBA
Governors’ Cup last night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
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| Ryan Araña was on-target against GlobalPort. |
Saturday’s curtain-raiser
saw Rain or Shine beat GlobalPort, 94-74. My MVP for this game? Why how about
that Ryan Araña? The former Green Archer connected on all 7 of his two-point
field goals on his way to 21 points, his best for the current season. If he
continues to shoot at a high percentage, then maybe coach Yeng Guiao can afford
to limit Jeff Chan's minutes as he recovers from the grueling FIBA Asia
campaign.
On the other
end, whatever hype Markeith Cummings built heading into this game was nullified
by his atrocious free throw shooting - 3/10. He contributed 7 of the 16 FT
misses by the Batang Pier, who, as a team, shot just over 51% from the line.
Still wondering why they lost by 20? Nope? Thought so.
Another GlobalPort
player who struggled was Jay Washington, who, after a great performance in his
debut, had a forgettable outing here. The former Booster shot just 2/9 from the
floor and coughed up 3 turnovers. His final line read 5pts and 6rebs in 33
minutes. A big plus, however, was blocking 4 shots.
The main
game, meanwhile, had Air21 defeating San Mig Coffee, 93-82, as Zach Graham unleashed
a monster game. Graham scored 38pts, grabbed 16rebs, assisted thrice, blocked 3
shots, and netted 2 steals. The best bit, however, was his 58% shooting from
the two-point area. Looks like Air21's penchant for signing do-it-all imports
continues with Zach.
Over on the
Mixers’ side, the loss can be analyzed through simple math, really. SMC lost by
11 points. Marqus Blakely shot 9/26 from the free throw line. That's SEVENTEEN
FREE THROW MISSES. I honestly cannot remember any player missing that many in
one game. Not Shaq. Not Dwight. Not even Ben effin' Wallace. This loss is on
you, Mr. Blakely.
Oh, but another
guy can be blamed, too. How does one produce just 2pts in 37 minutes? Ask James
Yap, who did just that in this game. After some really bad shooting in his
first game, "Big Game" James continued to wax cold here, shooting 1/10
from the floor. Why, yes, this officially makes him the suckiest PBA star out
there. Oh well, at least he has a pretty Italiana to comfort him afterwards.
Game Recaps:
RAIN OR SHINE over GLOBALPORT,
94-74
Defending
champion Rain or Shine put itself right on target to be on top of the standings
in the short elimination round of the Governors’ Cup.
On Saturday,
the Elasto Painters notched their second win in three days, adding the
GlobalPort Batang Pier to their list of victims following a 94-74 victory at
the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Import
Arizona Reid played another steady game, finishing with 27 points, while the
conference breakout performance of Ryan Arana helped the Elasto Painters to the
victory.
Arana had 17
of his 21 points in the second and third periods as the Elasto Painters turned
a close game into a rout.
Rain or
Shine coach Yeng Guiao also attributed the win to good defense the whole game,
setting the tone for the team’s solid execution.
Only
Markeith Cummings and Willie Miller had at least a field goal in the second
quarter for GlobalPort, which was held to only 10 points in the period,
allowing the Elasto Painters to take a 41-33 lead.
“I was quite
satisfied with our defense the whole game. Ang difference lang is we were
executing better in the second half,” Guiao told InterAKTV.
Guiao added
that they remained on target on their projected win total that would give them
a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.
“Six games
ang target number of wins to make it to the quarters. Six wins to guarantee us
of a twice to beat advantage. The key is to win early which is what we’ve been
doing so far,” added Guiao.
GlobalPort
import Markeith Cummings scored 23 points after exploding for 37 in the last
game.
ROS 94 — Reid 27, Arana 21, Lee 15,
Belga 6, Quinahan 6, Matias 5, Rodriguez 5, Chan 4, Ibanes 3, Cruz 2, Tiu 0,
Norwood 0, Tang 0.
GLO 74 — Cummings 23, Mercado 13,
Miller 8, Yee 7, Belencion 6, Washington 5, Hayes 4, Nabong 0, David 3,
Buensuceso 1, Lingganay 0, Alonzo 0, Salvador 0.
QS: 21-23; 41-33; 71-58; 94-74
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| Arizona Reid slips past Markeith Cummings. |
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| Markeith Cummings challenges the ROS defense. |
AIR21 EXPRESS over SAN MIG
COFFEE, 93-82
The real
Zach Graham finally showed up for the Air 21 Express.
Asked to
play with more aggressiveness, Graham did more than that in the Express’ 93-82
triumph over the San Mig Coffee Mixers Saturday in the PBA Governors’ Cup at
the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Graham
finished with a game-high 38 points and 16 rebounds while holding his own
against San Mig Coffee import Marqus Blakely.
“Zach really
played well. He gave us a lift. He inspired the locals to really play well. I
told him that I was looking for an aggressive Zach, somebody who I knew from
last year and he just proved himself,” said Air 21 coach Franz Pumaren.
Graham was a
picture of consistency all game long. His inspired performance rubbed off on
the rest of the Express, who concentrated on shackling the Mixers’ locals,
particularly James Yap and PJ Simon.
Alex Mallari
was the only other double digit producer for San Mig Coffee with 10 after
Blakely’s 37-point production as Yap and Simon struggled all game long.
Yap was held
to only two points on 1-of-10 shooting while Simon could only come up with nine
points.
Pumaren
praised the Express’ defense, most notably Ogie Menor, who took turns guarded
Simon and Yap, as well as Vic Manuel, who provided the intangibles.
“We played
good defense despite the fact that we fell into foul trouble early,” said
Pumaren. “We were able to pull together and limit San Mig Coffee to only 80
points.”
A21 93 — Graham 38, Cortez 13, Canaleta
12, Manuel 8, Menor 8, Isip 5, Sharma 4, Sena 3, Custodio 2, Omolon 0, Ritualo
0, Arboleda 0.
SMC 82 — Blakely 37, Mallari 10, Simon
9, Devance 6, Maliksi 5, Acuna 5, Reavis 4, Ponferada 2, Barroca 2, Yap 2,
Alvarez 0, De Ocampo 0.
QS: 21-25,
49-46, 75-68, 93-82.
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| Marqus Blakely goes up strong. |
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| Zach Graham challenges Joe Devance |
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| Presenting Mr. James Ty III, one of the most interesting personalities in local sports media. |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game
recaps were compressed and compiled from InterAKTV. (Writing credit to Rey
Joble)
Images: Images are from InterAKTV. (Photo
credit to Paolo Papa)
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