It was a
memorable set of 2013 PBA Governors’ Cup action these past two days. Petron
remained solid on top of the heap, while Meralco and Ginebra nailed big wins to
stay in quarterfinal contention. The biggest item, however, was the basketbrawl
pitting members of San Mig Coffee and GlobalPort getting at each other. Ah,
Philippine basketball – among the best in the world, indeed.
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| Next on UFC: Marc Pingris vs Kelly Nabong. |
In Tuesday’s
curtain-raiser, Petron Blaze beat Barako Bull, 112-87, with Arwind Santos making
basketball look so easy. Spiderman hit two triples on his way to 20 points in
this one, which marks a conference-high for him. He did have his lowest rebound
output (just 3 boards) against the Energy, but he didn't have to do much cleaning
on the glass since Elijah Millsap and June Mar Fajardo were on-task.
Nevertheless, this was Santos's most efficient game so far, mainly because of
his shooting accuracy.
Elijah
Millsap has also been awesome for Petron Blaze, and he continued his brilliance
here, scoring 31 points, collaring 9 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists, and
getting 1 steal. He also hit 4 treys and shot 9/11 from the free throw line.
More importantly, however, he helped the Boosters stay solid and alone at the
top with a 5-1 slate.
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| Elijah Millsap takes Keith Jensen to school. |
Barako’s JC
Intal, on the other hand, is not having a good conference. He is norming about
20 minutes per game for the Energy, and he has actually supplanted Danny Seigle
as the regular starter. His production, though, hasn't really been commensurate
to his playing time and, more importantly, his potential. He scored 12 points,
grabbed 6 rebounds, and hit 3 triples in Barako's first game (against TNT), but
he has really struggled ever since. In this game, he registered 0 points, shot
0/2 from the field, and turned the ball over twice.
In the main
game, Meralco defeated Alaska, 84-74. After this game, I am now going to call
the Reynel Hugnatan-Cliff Hodge duo the "Mini H Bombs." Both forwards
have been doing really well of late, despite the fact Hodge is playing a little
out of position as a swingman. As a pair, the Mini H Bombs are averaging 22
points, 18.4 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per outing. Hodge is also shooting nearly
39% from beyond the arc. Definitely an underrated, but overachieving pair!
Meralco is
now on a 2-game winning streak, and they are tied for second in the league
standings. Mario West has been awesome, the Mini H Bombs have been effective,
and John Wilson has been contributing heavily, too. It would be folly for any
team to count these guys out.
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| Cyrus Baguio runs into Reynel Hugnatan. |
As for
Alaska, it seems Abueva reverted back to underachiever mode. Now that it's not
Ginebra he's playing against, Calvin Abueva has brought his game back down to
earth -- 9 points on 2/9 FG shooting on top of 5 turnovers. Is it just me, or
has he seemed a bit more tame this conference? Could it be he's pandering to
the sensibilities of the fans and media in order to get more votes when the MVP
race closes?
In
yesterday’s fight-marred opener, San Mig Coffee overcame GlobalPort, 102-88,
but before we get to THE FIGHT, and it is inevitable -- we will get there --
let's talk pure basketball, shall we? I want to talk about the great shoot-out
between James Yap and Gilas sniper Gary David. In this game, both guys erupted.
Yap made all three of his triples and all but one of his FTs on his way to 22
points, while David nailed 4 treys and shot 7/7 from the line on his way to 27
big ones. If you don't like that kind of shooting, then you don't like
basketball.
Again, at
least in terms of pure basketball, I am picking Mark Barroca's 3 points in 40
minutes as last night’s worst performance. Don't get me wrong. I like how he
ended up with 5 rebounds and had 6 assists. But 3 points while playing the most
minutes of anyone on the team? Just won't cut it.
THE FIGHT:
Wow. Just. Wow. It was PBA meets UFC meets WWE meets Pro Boxing meets Muay Thai
meets the kitchen sink. Arms were flailing. Bodies were falling. Punches were
thrown. Knees were… whatever one does with knees. Man, it was awfully
entertaining -- straight out of a Wackiest Sports Videos episode or something.
Actually, I am sure it will make it there someday. Doubts? How about watching
for yourself:
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| Phase 1: Joe Devance floors Marvin Hayes. |
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| Phase 2: Kelly Nabong floors Joe Devance. |
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| Phase 3: Marc Pingris introduces Nabong to his fist. |
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| Phase 4: Nabong lets everyone know he knows Muay Thai. |
In the
nightcap, Ginebra won over Air21, 106-93, as the Kings were led by LA Tenorio
and Willy Wilson. Tenorio ended up with 18 points, FOURTEEN ASSISTS, and 2
steals, while Wilson racked up 11 markers on top of 11 rebounds. It was a great
showing for both guys, but Wilson, in particular, was great. He played 40
minutes of in-your-face basketball, starting in place of the injured Japeth
Aguilar. After the insanity of the fight from the first game, seeing someone
like Wilson be physical and aggressive in a productive way was a breath of
fresh air.
I want to
reward the Kings for being really aggressive, but I also want to castigate the
Express for being too hack-happy. I mean, they gave up THIRTY TWO friggin' free
throws to Ginebra. The Kings were +19 in FT attempts, making 25. In comparison,
Air21 was only 9/13. It's not so much that Air21 played awfully; they just
fouled too much.
As a
sidenote, am I the only one who feels that, underneath all the other issues the
league is dealing with, Chris Ellis is on his way out of Ginebra? I mean, he
starts but plays just 16 minutes. Mac Baracael, Ellis’s reliever, plays 29
minutes. Ellis is a high-flyer, but Ginebra already has a Japeth Aguilar. I
just don't think there's any room left for someone like Ellis. I am giving him
till the end of the season, and then, well, I believe he'll be trade fodder
even before the next PBA Draft.
Game Scores:
PETRON BLAZE over BARAKO
BULL, 112-87
PET 112 – Millsap 31, Santos 20, Lutz
19, Kramer 9, Fajardo 6, Lassiter 6, Cabagnot 5, Lanete 4, Miranda 4, Deutchman
3, Yeo 3, Hubalde 2, Sison 0, Tubid 0, Ildefonso 0.
BAR 87 – Singletary 26, Seigle 18,
Buenafe 16, Monfort 12, Pennisi 8, Marcelo 4, Macapagal 3, Jensen 0, Bulawan 0,
Weinstein 0, Intal 0, Cruz 0, Pena 0.
QS: 24-15, 58-38, 93-69, 112-87
MERALCO over ALASKA, 84-74
MER 84 – West 32, Wilson 15, Hugnatan
12, Cardona 9, Guevarra 7, Hodge 6, Reyes 2, Ross 1, Timberlake 0, Artadi 0,
Salvacion 0.
ALA 74 – McKines 13, CAsio 12, Thoss
10, Baguio 10, Abueva 9, Hontiveros 9, Espinas 4, Dela Cruz 4, Jazul 3, Ramos
0, Eman 0, Belasco 0.
QS: 14-19, 32-30, 62-49, 84-74
SAN MIG COFFEE over
GLOBALPORT, 102-88
SMC 102 – Blakely 25, Yap 22, Maliksi
18, Devance 16, Pingris 10, Simon 4, Reavis 4, Barroca 3, Alvarez 0, Gaco 0, De
Ocampo 0.
GLO 88 – David 27, Cummings 20,
Washington 14, Mercado 13, Miller 5, Mandani 4, Belencion 3, Salvador 2, Hayes
0, Taha 0, Nabong 0, Yee 0, Alonzo 0.
QS:
28-14, 51-31, 79-66, 102-88
GINEBRA over AIR21, 106-93
GIN 106 – Lowhorn 35, Caguioa 20,
Tenorio 18, Wilson 11, Helterbrand 10, Baracael 6, Ellis 4, Mamaril 2, Ababou
0, Urbiztondo 0, Maierhofer 0.
A21 93 – Graham 38, Canaleta 17, Manuel
12, Sena 6, Sharma 6, Menor 4, Cortez 4, Custodio 2, Isip 2, Arboleda 2, Omolon
0.
QS: 29-33, 54-51, 84-69, 106-93
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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