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| JV Casio delivers the win for Alaska after nailing this lay-up past the D of Kelly Williams. |
Who is the
best point guard in the Philippines today?
Anybody can
make a good case about guys like Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio, and Alex
Cabagnot, but the guy on whom I’m putting my money (at least for now) is none
other than former Gilas starting playmaker and current ace of Alaska, JV Casio.
Right now,
he’s the top point guard in the PBA in terms of player efficiency (as calculated in PBA-Online.net). Look at these numbers:
Player
Efficiency & Statistical Points:
NAME
|
EFFICIENCY
|
STAT PTS.
|
AVERAGES
|
JV Casio
(ALA)
|
33.02
|
30.43
|
15.4ppg, 4.4apg, 3.3rpg,
1.1spg, 41%3pt
|
Jayson
Castro (TNT)
|
32.56
|
29.67
|
16.8ppg, 2.8rpg, 2.8apg,
48%3pt
|
Alex
Cabagnot (PET)
|
31.30
|
26.14
|
13.4ppg, 6.0apg, 2.7rpg,
1.4spg, 35%3pt
|
LA Tenorio
(GIN)
|
25.92
|
20.33
|
10.0ppg, 5.2apg, 4.7rpg,
1.0spg, 26%3pt
|
Jimmy
Alapag (TNT)
|
24.84
|
24.33
|
9.8ppg, 5.0apg, 2.3rpg, 42%3pt
|
Source: PBA-Online.net
Jayson
Castro is tops in scoring and three-point shooting.
Alex
Cabagnot is tops in assists and steals.
LA Tenorio
is tops in rebounds.
But JV Casio
is the best, most polished, all-around playmaker.
SO FAR.
And, yeah,
he was the biggest reason the Aces climbed out of a double-digit hole in the
fourth quarter against erstwhile unbeaten Talk N Text last night.
The big
questions, of course, is can the former Green Archer keep up his high level of
play?
Game Recaps:
AIR21 EXPRESS over PETRON
BLAZE BOOSTERS, 97-76
Air 21
resurrected its A-game on All Soul’s Day, spoiling what could have been a
post-birthday celebration for Petron coach Olsen Racela.
Using a
different starting unit, the Express grounded the Boosters for a surprisingly
easy 97-76 triumph on Friday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“It’s one of
those games where certain teams will have this kind of game, but it’s a long
season,” said Air 21 coach Franz Pumaren.
“Still, I
have to give credit to my players as we were able to defend well against
Petron.”
Air 21 had
only won one game coming into the match against the powerhouse Petron squad,
which was on a two-game winning streak.
But the
Express kept the Boosters at bay from start to finish, neutralizing Petron’s
running game which was on display in its previous outing against the GlobalPort
Batang Pier last Friday.
“I was
watching Petron and I found out they’re good whenever they have the ball and
they would continue pushing. But we paid extra attention on their running game,
which they used against GlobalPort.”
Mark Isip,
playing the starting power forward role for the Express, finished with 22
points and seven rebounds while Rob Reyes, playing for the first time against
the team that traded him in the offseason, came off the bench to score 17
points and grab six rebounds in what was easily his finest game of the season.
“We’ve
finally found the right starting unit. Our coaching staff made very good
preparation and scouted Petron pretty well. We were able to maximize some
mismatches. We’re also a different Air 21 today, playing more aggressive and
outworking our opponents. We had an advantage as we had five days off,” said
Pumaren.
The Express
were able to post leads of 25 points in the fourth quarter, as Petron simply
had no answer against the energized Air 21 side.
The Boosters
were led by Arwind Santos’ 15 points and 14 rebounds, but the team shot only
34.2% from the field (26-of-76), and were beaten by the Express on second
chance points, 15 to six.
A21 97 – Isip 22, Reyes 17, Custodio
12, Canaleta 12, Omolon 11, Baclao 9, Wilson 5, Taha 4, Arboleda 3, Ritualo 2,
Atkins 0
PET 76 – Santos 15, Lutz 13, Cabagnot
11, Washington 9, Mallari 6, Yeo 6, Lassiter 5, Lanete 4, Pena 4, Miranda 3,
Sison 0, Duncil 0
QS: 34-23, 48-42, 79-58, 97-76
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| Nino Canaleta tries an acrobatic one-handed fadeaway J over Magi Sison. |
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| Arwind Santos (R) tries to drive past former college teammate Mark Isip (L). |
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| Chris Lutz and the Boosters got more than they could handle against the Express. |
ALASKA ACES over TALK N TEXT
TROPANG TEXTERS, 94-92
JVee Casio
caught fire, and not even the vaunted Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters could stop
him.
The
sophomore guard played one of the finest games of his young career, scoring 12
points in the final three minutes including the go-ahead layup that propelled
the Aces to a hard-earned 94-92 triumph over erstwhile unbeaten Talk ‘N Text in
their Philippine Cup match Friday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Casio’s
heroics came at a perfect time. In a minute-long stretch late in the game, he
scored 10 straight points — three three-pointers, including one four-point play
— to bring the Aces back against the Tropang Texters.
Alaska
trailed by as much as 12 points, 83-71, in the fourth quarter, before Casio,
Cyrus Baguio, and Calvin Abueva scored the final 23 points for the Aces.
Casio’s last
basket, a driving scoop shot to elude the long arms of Kelly Williams put the
Aces ahead, 94-92 with two seconds left in the game.
“I have to
give it to JVee. The game was out of hand, but he simply refused to lose,” said
Alaska coach Luigi Trillo, whose team notched its fifth straight victory to
improve its win-loss record to 5-2.
“He made us
look good. Games like this one builds character.”
The Aces
still needed to make a stop in Talk ‘N Text’s final play. Jimmy Alapag,
normally the team’s go-to-guy at the clutch, was assigned to do the inbound
from the sidelines. Larry Fonacier came off a screen and got the pass. He was
perfectly squared for a short jumper but his shot went in and out as time expired.
The Tropang Texters’ perfect record was finally blemished by the resilient Aces
for the first time in seven games this conference.
It was the
first win by Alaska over Talk ‘N Text since the 2010 Fiesta Conference.
ALA 94 – Casio 25, Baguio 16, Abueva
14, Thoss 13, Jazul 8, Baracael 6, Hontiveros 6, Espinas 4, Reyes 2, Dela Cruz
0, Belasco 0
TNT 92 – Alapag 17, De Ocampo 15, Reyes
13, Williams 13, Peek 11, Castro 10, Fonacier 5, Gamalinda 3, Aban 3, Carey 2
QS: 29-20, 52-45, 68-73, 94-92
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| Alaska's fans, nicknamed "Gatas Republic," are ecstatic as their team grabs solo second place. |
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| Not even Jimmy Alapag could lead the Texters in closing out the Aces. |
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)
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