Cliff Hodge
and Emman Monfort stepped up big time for their respective ball clubs in last
night’s 2013 PBA Governors’ Cup action at the Big Dome in Quezon City. The
Energy are now sitting atop the standings, while the Bolts are right smack in
the middle of the pack.
 |
| Emman Monfort soars high for the fastbreak lay-up. |
In the first
game, Meralco defeated sister team Talk N Text, 92-86, behind the sublime play
of Cliff Hodge. The former NLEX Road Warrior dropped 18 points, 15 rebounds,
and connected on 3 triples for the Bolts. Yeah, looks like Calvin Abueva might
not be as much of a runaway ROY as we all think. It stinks that Hodge shot just
38% from the 2-point area, but he more than made up for it by outplaying Tony
Mitchell and RDO on the glass.
Speaking of
RDO, Ranidel De Ocampo was definitely not in top-form for this game. The Gilas
standout shot just 1/10 from the field, finishing with 2 points in 31 minutes.
Looks like it might take a couple more games before Ranidirk can get his groove
back.
Now think
about this -- how about Mario West as a candidate for naturalization? Yes, he's
29 years old already, but, man, did you see him score 47 points?! Oh, and he
added 8 rebounds and 5 assists to boot! He's just 6'5, but at the Asian level
he has the potential to be a really dominant force? What say you?
In the main
game, Barako Bull banked on a career night from Emman Monfort to upend Ginebra,
104-91. The way he’s been playing, Monfort is certainly making Rajko Toroman look like a
genius. The pint-sized PG from Ateneo netted a career-high 25 points on 5/10
3-point shooting along with 2 assists and 2 rebounds. He thoroughly outplayed
Gilas playmaker LA Tenorio, who ended up with just 4 points on 1/10 FG
shooting. Tenorio did have 7 rebounds and 8 assists, but he was struggling all
game long to catch up with the cat-quick Monfort.
Another
great thing for Barako was the superb production of import Mike Singletary.
Based on how he’s been performing, this much is clear, Singletary is here for
one purpose only -- to win basketball games. Though the Energy don’t boast of
the deepest roster, they are at the top of the standings with a 3-1 slate. They
are tied with the Petron Blaze Boosters, who are also riding high after a
forgettable Commish Cup campaign. The big question for both teams, of course,
is can they sustain that momentum all the way to the playoffs?
One alarming
note, however, was seeing Japeth Aguilar land awkwardly in one play, putting
too much pressure on his right knee. He is now in sickbay with a feared MCL
injury. That screams yikes for both the Gin Kings and for the Gilas Pilipinas
program, since Japeth is an integral part of both. If it is an MCL injury, then
expect the high-leaping stretch forward to be out for at least a few months.
Game Recaps:
MERALCO over TALK N TEXT, 92-86
Import Mario
West scored 47 points to rally the Meralco Bolts past the Talk ‘N Text Tropang
Texters, 92-86, in Friday Governors’ Cup action at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Known more
for his defensive prowess, West outdueled his prolific counterpart Tony
Mitchell, who finished with 32 points. The Meralco reinforcement scored 18
points in the fourth quarter to carry the Bolts back from a 10-point halftime
deficit.
Meralco
started the game on fire, taking a double-digit edge after the first quarter,
26-16. But the Bolts offense floundered as Talk ‘N Text found its form in the
second period, when the Tropang Texters unleashed a 31-11 run.
But the
Bolts clawed back in the second half behind West and Rey Guevarra, who scored
10 of his 12 points in the third period. The two men combined for 21 of
Meralco’s 25 third quarter points to cut the Talk ‘N Text lead to just five
points, 67-62.
West took
over in the final period, nearly equalling the Tropang Texters’ 19-point output
in the quarter.
“We were
able to finally break their zone defense especially in the second half,” said
Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio. “I thought that was the key.”
Gregorio
also credited coaching consultant Jong Uichico, who authored the team’s
defensive gameplan against Talk ‘N Text.
“He did a
tremendous job preparing our team,” said Gregorio.
Curiously,
Gregorio, Uichico, and Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black all served as assistant
coaches for Gilas Pilipinas.
Cliff Hodge
added 18 points for Meralco, whose win-loss record improved to 2-2.
Returning
Gilas players Jayson Castro and Larry Fonacier finished with 18 and 11 points,
respectively. But the third returnee Ranidel De Ocampo struggled with just two
points after making just one of 10 shots.
MER 92 – West 47, Hodge 18, Guevarra
12, Hugnatan 6, Vanlandingham 3, Wilson 2, Timberlake 2, Allado 2, Ross 0,
Reyes 0, Salvacion 0.
TNT 86 – Mitchell 32, Castro 18, Al-Hussaini
11, Fonacier 11, Anthony 6, Reyes R. 4, De Ocampo 2, Reyes J. 0, Aban 0, Carey
0.
QS: 26-16, 37-47, 62-67, 92-86
 |
| Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier, and Ranidel De Ocampo picke d up their FIBA Asia plaques from the PBA. |
 |
| Cliff Hodge showed fine shooting form against TNT. |
BARAKO BULL over GINEBRA,
104-91
Rookie guard
Emman Monfort scored 25 points to lead Barako Bull to a 104-91 trouncing of
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Friday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Monfort set
a new career-high for the second time in three games, all wins for the Energy
Colas. He dominated his matchup with fellow former Ateneo point guard LA
Tenorio, who struggled with just four points one game after setting his own
career-best against Meralco last Saturday.
“Emman
Monfort played maybe one of the best games a point guard can play,” said Barako
Bull consultant Rajko Toroman.
“He’s
starting to be a plyer who can really make an impact in the PBA.”
Import Mike
Singletary led Barako Bull with 38 points and 17 rebounds, winning his own
individual matchup with Ginebra counterpart Dior Lowhorn, who finished with 30
and nine.
Barako Bull
controlled most of the match, taking an 18-point lead at the end of the third quater,
85-67. Ginebra tried to rally back in the fourth quarter, going on a 13-2 run
to start the period to cut its deficit to seven points, 87-80,
But Monfort
scored five points in a 7-0 Barako Bull run to push their lead back up to 14,
94-80, and finally take the fight out of Ginebra.
“I think we
deserved to win,” said Toroman. “I think we controlled 40 minutes of the game,
Ginebra controlled maybe eight.”
With the
victory, Barako Bull tied Petron at the top of the team standings with similar
3-1 win-loss records.
Billy
Mamaril and Mark Caguioa scored 14 and 13 points, respectively for Ginebra,
which lost for the second time in three outings.
BAR 104 – Singletary 38, Monfort 25,
Buenafe 15, Seigle 10, Marcelo 5, Cruz 3, Pena 3, Intal 2, Pennisi 2, Macapagal
1, Jensen 0.
GIN 91 – Lowhorn 30, Mamaril 14,
Caguioa 13, Baracael 11, Wilson 7, Tenorio 4, Helterbrand 4, Urbiztondo 3,
Ellis 2, Labagala 2, Aguilar 1, Ababou 0, Maierhofer 0.
QS: 26-22, 50-42, 85-67, 104-91
 |
| Japeth Aguilar is helped to the locker room by teammate Mark Caguioa. Japeth injured his right knee against Barako Bull. |
 |
| Mike Singletary got the better end of his match-up with Dior Lowhorn. |
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)
0 Comment