Resurgent teams
GlobalPort and Petron turned back more fancied foes this past Friday, while LA
Tenorio wielded his magic as Ginebra nailed a big win last night in the 2013
PBA Governors’ Cup.
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| LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar receive plaques for their feat in the 2013 FIBA Asia tourney. |
In Friday’s
curtain-raiser, GlobalPort beat Alaska, 91-88, by showcasing premium three-point
shooting. It’s a prime weapon for the Batang Pier, and when they manage to hit
at a good clip from long range, they are pretty tough to stop. In this game,
GlobalPort nailed 44% of its trey attempts, making 11 of 25. The Aces had more
rebounds, more assists, and a slightly higher FG%, but the bombs of the Batang
Pier made the biggest difference in this game. Markeith Cummings, Willie
Miller, Jay Washington, and, of course, Gary David all hit at least two
triples.
It’s
actually nice to see guys like Willie Miller, Jay Washington, Gary David, and
Sol Mercado, all of whom were toasts of the town at some point in their careers,
seem to be on the redemptive path. These players have all recently hit snags in
their PBA tenures, and this is why, with the exception of Gary D, all those
guys were shipped to this franchise. The Batang Pier are 2-1, however, and are
in the top half of the standings. These guys might yet end up with the last
laugh.
Now, Alaska
was, arguably, the better team in this game, so why didn't they win? Easy --
free throws. The Aces missed 16 of their 30 freebies. That's a 46.7% shooting
clip from the line, which is sure to be something hounding Luigi Trillo. Cannot
win with that atrocious FT shooting. Just cannot.
In Friday’s
main game, Petron defeated Rain or Shine, 99-84, with Alex Cabagnot hogging
much of the spotlight. Cabagnot netted a double-double -- 16 points and 11
rebounds! He seems to be having a resurgent Govs' Cup campaign, and it really
looks like he's on a mission to return Petron to championship relevance. He
shot 7/12 from the floor here, including 2 triples. He also logged 4 assists.
If he keeps this up, he might be in consideration for a Gilas slot to the 2014
FIBA World Cup (hey, who knows, right?).
Speaking of
Gilas, Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood just cannot seem to find the hole. In this
game, they shot a combined 1/12 from the field. The great game of Arizona Reid
was able to compensate in ROS's previous match, but not this time around.
Needless to say, both Chan and Norwood have to get back into the groove if the
Painters want to avoid a second straight loss moving forward.
Another
Gilas mainstay, though, had a great outing.
June Mar Fajardo ended up with 12 points, 4 steals, and 4 blocks! Heck,
if Elijah Millsap weren't around, Fajardo would surely grab more than 4 boards,
too, right? The Gilas big man looks to be a vital cog as the Boosters continue
to improve.
In the lone
Saturday encounter, Ginebra overcame Meralco, 98-85, thanks to the career-high
34 points of LA Tenorio. Methinks he's trying to make a case for himself since
a lot of people are talking about the prospects of Jayson Castro MAYBE getting
a chance to try out for the NBA. The Lieutenant just dominated everyone here,
hitting all 5 of his three-pointers, missing just two of his eight other field
goals, and going 7/8 from the stripe. Oh, and did I mention he also grabbed 7
rebounds and had 7 assists? #WhatIsGodMode
Meanwhile, as
a team, Meralco shot poorly from the field -- just under 38%, which was mainly
because of their poor shooting from beyond the arc -- just over 21%. The main
culprits? How about John Wilson and Sunday Salvacion combining to go 3/19. Yikes.
They reflect the epitome of streaky shooters -- when they're hot, they're red
hot, but when they're cold, man, they're ice cold.
As a side
note, did you see that super slamma jamma by Japeth off a dish by Tenorio?!
Wow. Insane. Even better than that, however, were Aguilar's stat totals -- 13
points on 6/9 FG shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and, get this, 4 blocks!
Aguilar has always been at his best when the crowd gets him going (remember
FIBA Asia?), and, considering he's now on the perpetual home team of the PBA,
it's reasonable to expect more great things from him.
Game Recaps:
GLOBALPORT over ALASKA,
91-88
Before the
match, the PBA paid tribute to GlobalPort star Gary David for his role in the
Gilas Pilipinas silver medal campaign in the FIBA Asia Championship.
True to
form, he struggled with his shot the whole game, before hitting the
game-winning three-pointer with 9.3 seconds remaining to carry the Batang Pier
over the Alaska Aces, 91-88, on Friday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“Kahit
papaano, in one game, he showed that he has the heart,” said GlobalPort coach
Junel Baculi.
The victory
was GlobalPort’s second in three matches, spoiling the tournament debut of the
Aces.
Import
Markeith Cummings finished with 28 points and nine rebounds to lead GlobalPort,
which drew balanced offensive contributions down the bench. Willie Miller had
14 points while Jay Washington added 11 and nine rebounds for the Batang Pier.
David, who had a cameo in GlobalPort’s blowout defeat to Rain or Shine last
Saturday, finished with 10 points.
Alaska
reinforcement Wendell McKines acquainted himself well in his first PBA game,
bullying his way to 28 points on 12-of-19 (63 percent) shooting. He also
grabbed 13 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end, dominating the paint
along with Sonny Thoss, who finished with 16 points.
GlobalPort
did the job from the outside, nailing 44 percent of its three-pointers
(11-of-25) to keep in step with the bigger Aces. On the other hand, Alaska
struggled from long distance, shooting just 22 percent (4-of-18).
Baculi said
beyond the victory, his team showed fortitude keeping in step with a champion
team like Alaska. “That’s the character of a good team, if we stay together,
don’t blame each other,” said Baculi, who is hopeful the team can move forward
after finishing last in each of the first two tournaments this season.
“Hopefully,
we can advance in the playoffs.”
GLO 91 - Cummings 28, Miller 14,
Washington 11, David 10, Mercado 9, Hayes 5, Nabong 4, Lingganay 4, Yee 4,
Alonzo 2, Faundo 0
ALA 88 - McKines 28, Thoss 16, Baguio
13, Casio 11, Abueva 7, Espinas 6, Hontiveros 3, Ramos 2, Dela Cruz 2, Jazul 0
QS: 19-26, 44-45, 68-68, 91-88
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| Gary D gets his own plaque prior to the game. |
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| The Aces won the battle of the boards, but they lost the battle for the W. |
PETRON BLAZE over RAIN OR
SHINE, 99-84
The Petron
Blaze Boosters dominated from start to finish en route to a masterful 99-84
victory over Rain or Shine on Friday in PBA Governors’ Cup action at the
SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Elijah
Millsap scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his finest Philippine
outing to give the Boosters their second straight win after opening the
tournament with a defeat.
The defending
champion Elasto Painters came into the match riding the momentum of two
straight victories to begin the conference. But they quickly ran into trouble
against the Boosters, who opened the match with an 13-2 lead that they never
relinquished.
Petron led
by 20 points at the half, 56-36, and the spread never fell below 13 points the
rest of the way as Millsap and the rest of the Boosters seemed to have an
answer for any Rain or Shine comeback attempt.
While
Boosters coach Gee Abanilla commended his team’s excellent defense — Rain or
Shine shot below 35 percent from the field — he also noted that his team caught
the Elasto Painters on a bad night.
“We were
lucky to have this win tonight,” said Abanilla, adding that Rain or Shine
players Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood, and Beau Belga spent most of the past three
training with Gilas Pilipinas and still weren’t in rhythm with the rest of
their teammates.
Abanilla won
his first duel with his mentor Yeng Guiao, under whom he served as a lead
assistant coach at Red Bull.
“Medyo
matagal ko rin nakasama si Coach Yeng, madami akong natutunan sa kanya,” said
Abanilla, who was appointed coach of Petron before the tournament.
Alex
Cabagnot added 16 points and 11 rebounds while Arwind Santos and June Mar
Fajardo chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Boosters.
PET 99 – Millsap 33, Cabagnot 16,
Santos 13, Fajardo 12, Lanete 6, Lutz 5, Kramer 5, Tubid 5, Lassiter 4, Yeo 0.
ROS 84 – Reid 30, Lee 12, Quinahan 11,
Tang 8, Belga 6, Cruz 5, Chan 5, Matias 3, Norwood 2, Arana 2, Tiu 0, Ibanes 0.
QS: 27-16, 56-36, 81-68, 99-84
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| Alex Cabagnot is having an awesome start to the conference. |
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| June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, and Beau Belga all sport their plaques. |
GINEBRA over MERALCO, 98-85
After
falling short of a win in his team’s first game this conference, LA Tenorio
played a near perfect offensive game Saturday night and made sure he steered
the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings to a 98-85 triumph over the Meralco Bolts
in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Tenorio
finished with a career-high 34 points, making all of his five shots from
rainbow country. He also had seven rebounds and seven assists in leading the
Kings to the win column.
New Barangay
Ginebra coach Ato Agustin paid tribute to Tenorio’s aggressiveness in offense,
but was happier with the way his team corrected its previous mistakes.
“We
corrected the mistakes we made last time so we took care of the ball this
time,” said Agustin.
The Gin
Kings were aggressive defensively, forcing the Bolts to commit 18 turnovers
while scoring 17 points on their rivals’ errors.
It was the
second straight loss of the Bolts after winning their debut game this conference.
GIN 98 – Tenorio 34, Lowhorn 17,
Caguioa 15, Aguilar 13, Ellis 9, Helterbrand 6, Urbiztondo 4, Baracael 0,
Maierhofer 0, Wilson 0, Mamaril 0.
MER 85 – West 21, Wilson 17, Hodge 16,
Hugnatan 10, Ross 6, Timberlake 6, Salvacion 5, Mangahas 2, Reyes 2, Baclao 0,
Guevarra 0.
QS: 28-19, 43-44, 76-69, 98-85
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| Chris Ross goes up strong against the Kings. |
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| LA Tenorio flashes a huge smile after scoring a career-high 34 markers. |
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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