Quarterfinal positioning is getting nasty as the
Elims wind up in the 2013 PBA Commish Cup.
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| Allein Maliksi stepped up as the Energy Colas upended the Batang Pier. |
In Saturday’s curtain-raiser, Air21 beat Petron,
95-91, in overtime. In this game, Petron's Henry Sims scored much more points,
but Air21's Mike Dunigan's hustle made the bigger difference down the stretch.
In all, Dunigan tallied 18 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks in
spite of a nagging injury. #Respect
In contrast, Alex Cabagnot just cannot find any
rhythm this conference. The supposedly big time playmaker missed all but one of
his 14 field goal attempts and handed out just 2 assists in 33 minutes. Yikes.
Here’s one big question: why isn't Niño Cañaleta in
Gilas? Cañaleta has the perfect skill set to be effective in the international
game. He has enough size, speed, and handles to be an effective swingman at
both ends of the floor, and, man, his shooting has just gone up a notch or two
this season. With Kelly Williams out indefinitely, methinks coach Chot Reyes
should give this former Gilas guest player a shot at the real deal.
In the next game, San Mig Coffee defeated Meralco, 97-90.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and that's exactly what
happened to the Mixers here. James Yap and Marc Pingris were both out of
commission, and PJ Simon EVENTUALLY went out as well (thank you, front teeth),
but coach Tim Cone's other locals stepped up to the plate. Mark Barroca and Joe
Devance combined for 37 points, 9 rebounds, 16 assists, and 4 steals to help
the Mixers stay tied for third place with Petron and Ginebra.
Now, I love the fact Meralco’s Chris Ross handed out
12 dimes and hauled down 8 rebounds, but I hate the fact he took only 3 field
goal attempts. I mean, everyone already knows he's a pass-first PG, so he has
got to develop more consistent scoring and add another dimension to his
arsenal.
There were two great imports who really played well
here. Meralco's Eric Dawson registered 29 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 2
assists, and 1 block. SMC's Denzel Bowles had 27 points, 17 rebounds, 5 blocks,
and 4 assists. No wonder both guys are in the running for the Bobby Parks Best
Import Award.
In yesterday’s first game, Barako Bull overcame GlobalPort,
96-87, with Allein Maliksi stepped up big time, hitting 3 treys and all 6 of
his free throws, to go along with 12 rebounds. The former Growling Tiger has
always had the tools too be successful at this level. He has the size, speed,
and shooting reminiscent of someone like… KG Cañaleta, so it was nice to see
him break out here.
On the other end of the floor, veteran Willie Miller
really seems lost in GlobalPort. This, even without Sol Mercado playing
tonight. The former MVP shot just 2-of-9 from the floor to finish with 8
points. He is shooting only 38% from the field for this conference and 64% from
the line.
One other noticeable thing -- DJ Mbenga still sucks.
The former LA Laker had better numbers this time around, but it's safe to say
we won't be seeing him again in our shores. Mbenga, in two games, normed just
11.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. Those are definitely not enough for an import to
keep his job here in the PBA.
In the Sunday main feature, Talk N Text won over Bgy.
Ginebra, 100-86. The thing is, when the Texters shoot 42% from rainbow country,
they're pretty unstoppable. Ranidel De Ocampo, Ryan Reyes, and Jimmy Alapag
each made at least two triples to underscore the accurate sniping of TNT.
In contrast, the Gin Kings shot just 3-of-19 from
beyond the arc, with LA Tenorio, Jayjay Helterband, and Mac Baracael accounting
for 14 misses. Also, V-Mack was in slow-mo mode tonight, shooting just 3-of-12
from the field to finish with a conference-low 12 points. He visibly struggled
against the bigger Jerome Jordan. Jordan, the Jamaican 7-footer who last played
for the LA D-Fenders in the NBA D-League, was mighty impressive in his initial
outing. He scored 23 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots as TNT
got into a tie for fourth place with Petron.
Game Recaps:
AIR21 over
PETRON, 95-91
KG Canaleta scored 37 points, including the go-ahead
three-point play in overtime to carry Air 21 to a 95-91 victory Saturday over
Petron Blaze that clinched a quarterfinals spot for the Express.
The sweet-shooting forward made the SM Mall of Asia
Arena his personal playground, hitting nine three-pointers to key the Air 21
comeback from a big first half deficit.
“In the first half, if he hadn’t shot well, tambak na
kami,” said Air 21 coach Franz Pumaren, whose Express rallied from a 54-44
halftime deficit.
Air 21 was still down by five points, 84-79, late in
the game, before Canaleta’s three-pointer capped an 8-0 run that gave the
Express a three-point lead. Marcio Lassiter, who scored 23 points for Petron,
answered with his own three-pointer to tie the game, 87-all, with 25.7 seconds
left, before the Boosters made a stop in the final Air 21 play to force overtime.
The game was still tied at 89-all in the extra period
when Canaleta scored on a three-point play off Jay Washington that gave the
Express the lead for good.
Air 21 won despite missing court general Mike Cortez
and getting a quiet scoring game from import Michael Dunigan, who managed just
18 points while struggling with an injury.
“He’s being bothered by his knee,” Pumaren said about
Dunigan. “It’s a good thing the other import (Canaleta) was able to respond.”
The Express caught up by holding Petron import Henry
Sims to just eight points after halftime. Sims exploded 22 points in the first
two quarters.
“He probably got tired, but credit should go to Noy
Baclao and the rest of the team,” said Pumaren.
Air 21′s playoff ticket comes at the expense of Barako
Bull, which is eliminated from quarterfinals contention. The Petron loss also
gave Rain or Shine the No. 2 seed for the playoffs, giving the Elasto Painters
a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Petron’s record fell to 7-6 after losing for the
fourth time in their last five games.
AIR 95 – Canaleta 37, Dunigan 18, Custodio 14, Arboleda 10,
Baclao 6, Isip 4, Omolon 4, Atkins 2, Sena 0, Wilson 0, Menor 0, Ritualo 0.
PET 91 – Sims 30, Lassiter 23, Washington 15, Fajardo 5, Miranda
5, Lutz 4, Cabagnot 3, Lanete 2, Santos 2, Pena 2, Tubid 0.
QS: 16-29,
44-54, 72-74, 87-87, 95-91
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| If you ask me, Niño Cañaleta should be in the Gilas Pilipinas pool. But that's just me :) |
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| Jay Washington tries to drive strong against the Express. |
SAN MIG
COFFEE over MERALCO, 97-90
James Yap was still getting his form back after
battling the flu. Marc Pingris missed the game because of an ankle injury.
Peter June Simon had to leave the game after getting his front teeth knocked
out.
That hardly mattered for the San Mig Coffee Mixers,
which used a late run without their stars to dispatch the Meralco Bolts, 97-90,
for a crucial Commissioner’s Cup victory Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“We’re really proud of our guys,” said San Mig Coffee
coach Tim Cone. “Ping couldn’t play tonight. James, bless his heart, tried, hit
a couple of baskets. Poor PJ got his teeth knocked out.”
That left import Denzel Bowles, Mark Barroca, and Joe
Devance to carry the cudgels for San Mig Coffee, which used a 12-4 run led by
those men in the fourth quarter to break away from a tight 83-80 contest.
Bowles, who capped that run with a fastbreak slam
dunk, finished with 27 points, 17 rebounds, and five blocks to lead San Mig
Coffee to its third straight victory.
Barroca played his best game of the tournament,
finishing with 19 points, 10 assists, and three steals while dealing with
Meralco’s pressure defense for most of the second half. Devance added 18 points
and six assists for the Mixers, which finished the eliminations with an 8-6
record.
“The character of our team, I really appreciate what
they’re trying to do. That character has us on a little bit of a roll,” said
Cone, whose Mixers closed the elims with three straight victories.
“I hope this primes us into a good run for the
playoffs.”
The win assured the Mixers of a spot in the top six,
which means they would not have a twice-to-win disadvantage in the
quarterfinals.
Meralco, meanwhile, lost its second straight match
for a 6-7 record, leaving the Bolts in seventh place in danger of having to
play with the disadvantage.
SMC 97 – Bowles 27, Barroca 19, Devance 18, Simon 17, Yap 7,
Mallari 3, Najorda 2, Reavis 2, De Ocampo 2, Ponferada 0, Alvarez 0, Gaco 0,
Pacana 0, Gonzales 0.
MER 90 – Dawson 29, Cardona 20, Salvacion 10, Buenafe 9,
Borboran 6, Reyes 5, Hugnatan 5, Hodge 4, Ross 2, Timberlake 0.
QS: 22-15,
45-43, 80-71, 97-90
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| Chris Ross and the Bolts tumbled against the Mixers. |
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| Denzel Bowles shoots over Meralco's Eric Dawson. |
BARAKO
BULL over GLOBALPORT, 96-87
Barako Bull ended its disappointing Commissioner’s
Cup campaign on a bright note by overpowering GlobalPort, 96-87, on Sunday
night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Alein Maliksi had a career-high 25 points along with
12 rebounds, while four other Barako Bull players finished in double figures,
allowing the Energy Colas end their tournament campaign with a 5-9 win-loss
record.
Josh Urbiztondo contributed 17 points, import DJ
Mbenga added 14 and 15 rebounds, Mark Macapagal contributed 12 points, and
Danny Seigle chipped in 11 for the Energy Colas.
The Batang Pier absorbed their 11th straight defeat
and wound up with the league’s worst record of 2-12.
BAR 96 – Maliksi 25, Urbiztondo 17, Mbenga 14, Macapagal
12, Seigle 11, Monfort 7, Intal 5, Pennisi 5, Duncil 0, Kramer 0.
GLO 87 – David 28, Yee 11, Aguilar 8, Miller 8, Morgan 7,
Deutchman 7, Mandani 4, Aljamal 4, Salvador 4, Lingganay 2, Juntilla 2, Antonio
2, Belencion 0.
QS: 20-23,
39-35, 69-56, 96-87
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| Sel Guevarra is a mighty fine distraction at courtside. |
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| DJ Mbenga. Good ri... okay, fine... good bye. |
TALK N
TEXT over BGY. GINEBRA, 100-86
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel import Vernon Macklin had
been on a tear coming into his team’s game Sunday against Talk ‘N Text,
averaging more than 30 points in his last four games.
But the Tropang Texters shut down the prolific Gin
Kings import en route to a crucial 100-86 Commissioner’s Cup victory at the SM
Mall of Asia Arena.
Talk ‘N Text held Macklin to just 12 points. Facing
the taller Jerome Jordan, the new Tropang Texters import, Macklin struggled
shooting just 3-of-9 from the field and managed to grab just nine rebounds.
“Jerome Jordan was a big help for us in this game
defensively,” said Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black. “Jordan did a good job
offensively one-on-one.”
The former New York Knicks center wasn’t too shabby
on the offensive end either, scoring 23 points apart from grabbing 17 rebounds
in his debut PBA game.
Black also praised the Talk ‘N Text offense, which
shot better than 45 percent from the field including 8-of-19 from beyond the
arc.
“Offensively we’re moving a lot better now. We seem
to have more energy than we did at the beginning of the conference,” said
Black.
The victory gave the Tropang Texters a spot in the
top six, which means they would not have a twice-to-win disadvantage in the
quarterfinals.
Talk ‘N Text still has to play one final game against
Petron.
“We’ll still try to get the win on Wednesday to try
to get some momentum coming into the playoffs,” said Black.
It was the second straight defeat for Ginebra, which
could still fall to No. 7 depending on the results of Wednesday’s doubleheader.
The Gin Kings finished the eliminations with a 7-7 win-loss record.
TNT 100 – Jordan 23, De Ocampo 20, Castro 14, Reyes 11,
Alapag 11, Al-Hussaini 7, Dillinger 5, Carey 4, Peek 4, Fonacier 1, Raymundo 0,
Aban 0.
GIN 86 – Raymundo 22, Tenorio 15, Baracael 13, Macklin 12,
Helterbrand 12, Ellis 5, Hatfield 4, Maierhofer 3, Taha 0, Jensen 0, Labagala
0, Espiritu 0.
QS: 32-27,
47-37, 70-63, 100-96
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| Jayjay Helterbrand and the Kings ran smack into the hard D of the Texters. |
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| TNT gets ready to face tougher tests in the upcoming quarterfinals. |
Source:
Unless otherwise specified, game recaps were compressed and compiled from InterAKTV.
(Writing credit to Rey Joble)
Images: Images
are from InterAKTV and the PBA. (Photo credit to Mark Dimo Dimalanta and Pranz
Kaeno Billones)
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