Let the PCCL Games Begin...

• The FEU Tamaraws started out on a good note as they defeated the AU Chiefs, 79-69 in the first game of the 2009 edition of the PCCL. It was a game of runs as FEU couldn't take the Chiefs totally out of the game. The Tams led as much as 14 in the 1st half but the Chiefs came as close as 1 in the 3rd quarter. In the end, AU just did not have enough weapons against a very talented Tams team. The AU Chiefs just could not manufacture any points in the half court and were dependent on their transition play. I did not see any set plays at all. The Chiefs were relegated on giving the ball to Gio Ciriacruz and hoping that he could muster enough points to get a W. On the defensive end, the Chiefs settled for different variations of the zone defense. The zone defense was effective at times as it prevented the Tamaraws from attacking the basket but it wasn't able to stop the outside shooting of the Tams. Coach Glen Capacio's boys moved that ball with so much patience and it resulted to good quality shots. Paul Sanga and RR Garcia knocked down 2 3-pointers a piece in the second half when the Chiefs were employing the zone defense. Both JR Cawaling and Aldrech Ramos played in the game despite their commitment to Smart-Gilas. Ramos was his normal self getting rebounds and scoring on inside incursions. JR Cawaling still looked passive. He was passed good looks and it resulted to a couple of TOs. I know he's trying to be a leader by setting his teammates but FEU needs him take over the reigns of Mark Barroca and he needs to be a little bit more aggressive. RR Garcia surely is not suffering from the absence of Barroca as he scored 17 points and blocked 3 shots.
• In the second game dubbed as a catfight, the San Beda Red Lions proved to be too much for the SSC-R de Cavite Baycats as they blew the Baycats out of the gym 91-50. The Baycats were known to be a run-and-gun team but so are the Lions. The Lions definitely took the Baycats to school on how to run fastbreaks as they got multiple opportunities for wide open lay-ups in the open court. The Baycats were trying their luck from the outside all game long but only couple of their attempts connected. The Lions also imposed their authority inside as they used their height advantage to get easy and multiple looks inside the paint. Bam-Bam Gamalinda finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. He still missed a couple of open jumpers but I'm pretty sure this was how Coach Frankie Lim envisioned him to play back in the NCAA. He was just barely a factor in last couple of games in the eliminations up to the NCAA Finals. But hey, he still has a chance to prove his worth in the PCCL. The Lions also played minus Jay-R Taganas, Dave Marcelo, Chico Tirona and Borgie Hermida but they did not need them in this game.
• Both SBC and FEU will now advance to the Elite 8. SBC will face the winner in the UV-Mapua game while FEU will await the winner of the UE-UC game.
  
• The next games will be on Wednesday. DLSU Green Archers will face off with CSJL Knights in a very exciting match at 2PM while the ADMU Blue Eagles square off with the Lyceum Pirates. The DLSU-CSJL game will most likely be a treat to watch but I can't say the same for the ADMU-Lyceum game. What is up with the PCCL management scheduling the better games at 2PM? Really ADMU-Lyceum and SBC- SSC-R de Cavite at 4PM? And DLSU-CSJL at 2PM? WTH.
  

Cinderella is Actually Good in Using the Broom

It looked the SBC Red Lions were well on their way to force a Game 3 in the NCAA finals as they led the Golden Stags by 10 at halftime. The Lions were playing terrific defense forcing the Stags to take ill-advised shots. They were running and converting on fastbreak plays and the Stags fell into their trap and ran with them. Jimbo was held to 1 point without any field goals in the 1st half and Mythical 5 member Calvin Abueva was saddled with 3 fouls and had only 1 point and 0 rebounds on his stat line in the 1st half. Garvo Lanete scored a total of 11 points (identical to his production in the 1st half of Game 1) on a couple of transition plays and outside shots. Jay-R Taganas was back occupying space and his heft helped Beda neutralize Abueva. The Stags' plays looked predictable. Ato Agustin was mad with his players for playing one-on-one too much. It looked like a typical best of 3 finals series wherein the Game 1 loser(Lions) was able to adjust and put on a beat down on the Game 1 winner(Stags).

The Stags were expected to let the Lions eat them alive in the 2nd half but they weren't ready to give up just yet. Gilbert Bulawan was the lone bright spot in the 1st half for the Stags and he continued to carry the load early in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Pascual came in the game and hit a couple of jumpers that helped push Baste back in the game. Suddenly, SSC-R was executing better and the SBC was not able to run. The Lions were coughing up a lot of TOs and it allowed the Stags to grab the lead 54-50 but it was the Stags' TOs that gave the Bedans the lead back 56-54 at the end of the 3rd.

Jimbo Aquino then returned to his old form and an unleashed 5-0 run to start the 4th. Jimbo then knocked down a dagger 3-pointer to give the Stags a 66-58 lead right after a small altercation with Bambam Gamalinda. Calvin Abueva returned with 6+ minutes to go but he was no longer needed as the Stags were able to establish a double-digit lead already. Even injuries to Aquino and Bulawan were not able to give the Lions a chance to come back in the game. The Lions did not hit a single FG and were able to manage to score only 5 points in the 4th. It also did not help their cause that Hermida was taken out of the game in the 4th (He bled right above his eye when he was inadvertently hit by Pamboy Raymundo's shoulder). The Lions were not able to recover from the run unleashed by Jimbo and the rest of the Stags. They just looked lost and helpless as they saw the Stags celebrating their eventual win, 76-61.

None of the Lions stepped up to save the day for Frankie Lim. Garvo Lanete tried his best but it's clear that he still can't take over the shoes left by the likes of Pong Escobal, Yousif Aljamal and Ogie Menor. JR Tecscon had his moments as he scored 5 of his 10 points in the 3rd but couldn't do much more to help the team. Sudan only made his 1st FG with only less than minute left in the 3rd. His physical gifts should have allowed him to control the paint especially with Calvin Abueva sitting on the bench with foul trouble. In his defense, Frankie did go away from Sudan (just like how I suggested) in his offensive sets and concentrated more on his other guys but his other guys did not come to play a championship game. Graduating players Bambam Gamalinda, Jay-R Taganas, Chico Tirona combined for only 4 points. Their other rookie sensation, Rome Dela Rosa, scored only 2 points and still could not buy a basket from the outside. It was evident that SBC was going to lose if SSC-R was able to find a way to slow down the tempo. Most of Lions' players are very effective in the open court but can not find a way to score in half court sets.

I'm going to to join the Ronald Pascual bandwagon. The guy can just jump. He hit a couple of crucial jumpers in the 3rd that proved to be crucial in their comeback run. His leaping ability made it difficult for the Lions to contest his shots. The guy can also finish on a break and can rebound. The only knock on him is his age. I'm not sure if he should really be called a rookie. It was Finals MVP, Jimbo Aquino who carried this team in the 2nd half but credit should also be given to Bulawan. The guy carried this team when Jimbo and Calvin were nowhere to be found. What about Del Rio taking a page from Eric Salamat's book and giving the Beda crowd a couple of salutes? (Like he did something to contribute for their Game 2 win. Haha) Jimbo truly deserves this MVP award. Jimbo's 3 pointers in the 2nd half were not good shots but the important thing is he made them. Great players just show up in big games. He wasn't able to win this year's season MVP but I'm sure John Wilson is willing to trade trophies. Pamboy Raymundo was also a key ingredient of this championship run by the Stags. He's not going to score a lot of points but he has done such a good job in setting up his teammates for easy shots. A lot of credit should also go to the Atom Bomb, Coach Ato Agustin for not only for coaching the team but also for assembling it. He sure did found a couple gems in the Pinatubo twins (Pascual and Abeuva), Eric Gatchalian and Ian Sangalang.

And as they say Bravo Baste!

(I got the title from Butch Maniego. He compared the Stags to Cinderella for their Cinderella story this season and he pointed out the Cinderella was known to be good in using the broom. In this case for the Stags, they did a pretty good job sweeping the heavily-favored SBC Red Lions.)

No More Four-ward?

SCC-R wrote the latest chapter of their Cinderella story as they defeated the heavily-favored SBC Red Lions 72-68 (double overtime) in Game 1 of the NCAA finals. It was a very exhausting game and even the fans were getting tired of cheering. (Just ask commentator Alan Gregorio about the length of the game. I think he failed to go to the bathroom in halftime. Haha.) The Stags held a 8 point lead in the latter stages of the 4th and it looked like they were on there way to a Game 1 victory. But a strong surge by the Lions in the 4th allowed them to force the 1st overtime. The Lions' rally was anchored by rookie Rome Dela Rosa who knocked down two crucial FTs and hit a long 2 which tied the game. In the 1st overtime, it was Borgie Hermida who tied the game with a strong drive to the paint. In the second overtime, the Stags were able to establish a 5 point lead courtesy of a 3 point play by Abueva and 2 FTs by Jimbo. Beda wasn't ready to give up yet as they were able to diminish the lead once again behind 4 clutch FTs by Superman, Sudan Daniels. Both teams failed to score a FG after that point and it was Calvin Abueva's 2 FTs that ultimately sealed the deal for the Stags.

The Lions had a hard time scoring in the half court. It was only when they were able to run that they were establish some sort of offensive rhythm. Guys like Dela Rosa, Gamalinda, Tecson and Lanete were not able to knock down their outside shots and it paved the way for the Stags to clamp down in the middle. It was only in the 1st overtime that Bambam was able to hit from the outside as he knocked down 2 3-pointers. Rome missed a lot of open perimeter jump shots which allowed the Stags to gank up on Sudan. (Rome did make a big perimeter jump shot to force overtime.) Kudos to the Stags for not bowing down after letting San Beda come back numerous times in the game. Their body language did not look good at the end of regulation but they were still able to manage to win the game. One thing that worries me is that the Stags struggled to make any FGs in the last 12 minutes of the game (last 2 minutes of regulation, 10 minutes in the 2 overtimes). I can only recall 1 FG made by the Stags in that time span and that's the 3 point play by Abueva over Marcelo and Gamalinda in the 2nd overtime. Most of the points of the Stags late in the game come from FTs from Ian Sangalang and Jimbo. On the other hand, SBC was able to get FGs from Bambam Gamalinda and Borgie Hermida late in the game. Fouls were also a big concern for Coach Frankie Lim as Dela Rosa, Bambam and Jake Pascual all fouled in the game. The depth that has made SBC a title contender for years was non-existent in the 2nd overtime. Lim was forced to use guys like Tirona and Tecson late in the game as his main guys were fouled out already. Borgie's injury did not help as well. Borgie injured his ankle as he stepped on Maconocido's foot. (Judging from the replay, I think there was intent from him to injure Borgie but he wasn't called for a foul for his action.) Borgie did come back in the game and helped keep San Beda with his intensity. However, he was taken out of the game in favor of a cold-from-the-bench Chico Tirona when SBC was still very much in the game and with only less than a minute remaining. Playing Tirona in the dying seconds of the game did not make sense so Borgie might have been experiencing a great deal of pain at that point.

Jimbo scored 24 points in the game but he was unable to manufacture FGs for his team late in the game. He did most of his damage early in the regulation. He did fish a lot of fouls in the 2 sessions of overtime while he was setting up in the post. The main man for the Stags was Calvin Abueva who finished with 11 points, 23 rebounds and 5 blocks. This guy was able to create opportunities for his teammates when he was able to dive down open lanes. Other than Jimbo, he might be the Stags' best isolation player because his speed, strength and leaping ability. Pamboy Raymundo (who for some reason is called by the Arena Barker in a special manner) did a great job setting up his teammates but he was clearly fatigued as an injured Borgie Hermida was able to blow by him multiple times late in the game. Young Stags PG Gatchalian was like a lost kid when he entered the game. Fortunately for Coach Ato Agustin, he did not commit any crucial TOs.

Sudan Daniels had a hard time getting the ball down low and he still struggled to score when he did get the ball against Gilbert Bulawan and Ian Sangalang. I think coach Frankie has to go away a little from Sudan and set up his perimeter gunners. Sudan isn't a reliable low-post option yet. Making Sudan roam inside and let him wait crash the offensive boards and wait for drop passes might yield better results in the half court for the Lions. They just waste to much time setting up Sudan and it's not like Sudan gives Beda sure 2 points when he's posts up.

Don't count out the Bedans yet. They've beaten the Stags two in a row in the past and I think they can do it again. The Lions just to need to play defense. Their defense fuels their running game and their running game is key to their offense. With offense and defense clicking, the Lions will have a huge chance to win the series. Outside shooting will also be as important for them. Lanete and the other guys have to wake up. For the Stags, they just need to execute their plays, be patient and run back to play D.

Ball Points (10-17-2009)

• It was my first time to watch a PBA game live and I was treated to a boxing match. Wynne Arboleda was ejected for attacking a fan who was throwing P bombs at him. BK has already apologized to the fan in their official statement (Thank FQ and Fmango for this one) but I haven't read anything about any sanctions the PBA will hand to Wynne. This topic has been getting so much attention so I won't dwell on this too much anymore.
• Because of the Arboleda incident, not much attention was given to the Gilas' loss in their 1st official game in the PBA. I'll have to admit that I am very disappointed with Gilas. They already had a 13 point lead and they still lost. The Gilas program is still very young and has a long way to go. If you think about it, these players from Gilas are just a bunch of untested rookie role players in the PBA. JVee wouldn't score 28 points if he was drafted by a PBA team. Rico, Ogie and Marcy who were all supposed to be part of the Gilas team aren't the superstars of their teams (yet). They just come in, provide energy and play quality minutes. This is not an excuse for them to let the rough (and dirty) play eat them alive though. This kids have to grow up because we need men to play against the Haddadis and the El Khatibs.
• Hey! Let's not all forget the NCAA Final 4! As expected, SBC has advanced to the Finals for the 4 straight year as they defeated an undermanned Knights 82-76. It wasn't an easy win as expected though. The Knights' tough defense was enough to keep them in the game despite not having their uber athletic SF, Rey Guevarra. It would have been a treat if Rey was on the hard court. In the other F4 match-up, the Bombers were able to force a do-or-die a game on Monday with a 72-65 win over the Stags. This is the Stags' 3rd consecutive loss and their 4th loss in their last 5 games so momentum will definitely be on the Bomber's side but Coach Ato will be given a chance to adjust. Plus, he will have an intact lineup on Monday as Jimbo Aquino will be reinstated from suspension by then.
• Things aren't looking so good for the SMB Beerman as they dropped their second straight game to the Alaska Aces in the PBA's first out-of-town game this conference. The Aces pretty much controlled the game for the 1st 3 quarters but the Beermen were able to mount a rally in the 4th and last quarter. They came as close as 1 to the Aces courtesy of Arwind's energy and a couple of open inside looks for Dorian but the Aces' outside shooting was too much for the Beermen. It was their outside sniping that gave them a double digit lead in the 1st 3 quarters and it was also their outside sniping that gave them a comfortable cushion once again in the 4th. Willie Miller knocked down a tough 3 pointer and LA Tenorio followed it up with 2 more as the Aces finally pulled away in the last quarter. Arwind was a non-factor in the 1st half and the shooters of SMB were not connecting from the outside. They sorely missed Pingris' energy (traded to BK then to PF) and Jay Washington's (injured) ability to post mismatches in this game. SMB needs to execute their plays better, run more, play defense and play with a lot of energy and intensity if they want to contend for the championship.

Ball Points (10-12-2009)

• The Lions have secured the no. 1 seed in the NCAA as they won their playoff against the SSC- Golden Stags, 71 -65. Apparently, Jimbo Aquino was thrown out of the game for throwing a punch at Jake Pascual. I wasn't able to watch the full game so I'm not sure about this. Also, Borgie Hermida is getting a lot of love with his performance in this game. He will be certainly needed by the Lions in the F4 (and Finals most probably) for his experience as he is one of the only two remaining starters of last year's championship squad. These Red Lions have been stuck in 2nd place since they suffered a defeat at the hands of the Stags in the 1st round. They only tasted the share of 1st place last Monday when they defeated this Stags. Are the Red Lions peaking at the right time? Is SBC going FOURward? I certainly hope not. I'm getting sick of seeing Frankie Lim win championship after championship.
• Here's a post regarding Franz Pumaren and his master plan. Can you imagine Kiefer Ravena in a DLSU jersey? A staring lineup of Ravena-Agovida-Webb-Bringas-Van Opstal would surely be enough to give DLSU a Final 4 appearance and possibly multiple championships. A combination of Dindo Pumaren and a talented deep team like the 2007 UE team doesn't really sound that good to me though.
• Finally, the Japeth Aguilar drama ends. What's with Lito Alvarez giving BS answers? It's not like we all didn't know that he was eventually going to trade Japeth for picks(which he will use to draft young players then sell them once they've established their names in the PBA) and cash. Why is the PBA allowing teams like BK and RB stay in the league? I know Mark Heisley (Memphis Grizzlies owner) is cheap bastard but he's not selling OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay and he just traded for the $28M 2 year deal of Zach Randolph (which is a dumb move).
• Capt. Jack no more. Jackson has relinquished the role of being the Warriors' captain. He has not yet changed his stand on being traded and is actually open to a buyout. A buyout after just signing a $27M 3 year extension? Talk about having no sense of commitment. He's already got his guaranteed cash so WTH with the GS Warriors. Right Jack?

Ball Points (10-12-2009)

• On the last day of a very long elimination round in the NCAA, the SBC Red Lions have secured the 2nd twice-to-beat advantage in the F4 as they defeated the SSC-R Golden Stags 71-67. The win by SBC means they will now have a playoff with the Stags (Yup, another game with the same both teams) on Wednesday to decide who will be the no. 1 seed. The winner of the game in Wednesday will face the depleted Letran Knights while the loser will square off with a very talented JRU Heavy Bombers in the F4. Whoever the Stags will face in the F4, they will have a twice-to-beat advantage like the Lions. It was the Lion's defense that ultimately gave them the win. The Stags held the lead from late 1st quarter up to the 3 minute mark of the 4th. After the Lions were able to finally grab the lead, a seesaw battle ensured between the 2 heavyweights as a couple of lead changes and ties occurred in the latter parts of the game. With less than a minute remaining in the game, SBC sent a double team to Jimbo Aquino in midcourt that resulted to a turnover. The costly TO by Jimbo eventually resulted to a breakaway layup by Bam-Bam Gamalinda that gave SBC a 69-67 lead. In SSC-R's last chance to tie or win the game, Pamboy Raymundo attempted to hand the ball to Jimbo but Jimbo was well covered by the Lions. Pamboy was left w/o any other option and fell on the hardcourt and turned the ball over to SBC. Calvin Abueva stepped up big time as Gilbert Bulawan was suspended for this game. Abueva was all over the court driving hard to the basket, blocking shots by Caram and Dela Rosa and boxing out and defending RP's own version of Superman, Sudan Daniels. I can't figure out why SBC is having a hard time getting Daniels the ball while Rabeh Al-Hussaini had the time of his life jacking up countless shots over smaller guys in the UAAP. Is Ateneo spacing the floor better because they've got better shooters? Lanete and Tecson are pretty good outside shooters while Jake Pascual and Bam-Bam Gamalinda have reliable midrange shots. Or are teams from NCAA just doing a better job of denying the big man his touches?
• The PF Tender Juicy Giants beat the BK Whoppers in convincing fashion 93-80. BK looked like a collection of barely-got-into-the-league players and some all-stars from LP and PBL. What makes things worst is 2 out of their 3 most talented players in Ronjay Buenafe and Gary David play the same position and their highly touted rookie Japeth Aguilar is expected to be traded to TNT after a couple of games. Do you expect a starting 5 of Beau Belga, JR Quinahan, Mark Yee, Gary David and Wynne Arboleda to compete with SMB or TNT? This team actually looks like they're not that far in terms of talent from Red Bull. I don't know how this team is going to compete in the PBA this season.
  
• Norman Black has announced a couple of prospect players for the Ateneo Blue Eagles next year. Sweet shooting Blue Eaglet Ael Banal and a couple of big men from their Team B in Jason Escueta and JP Erram are being eyed by Norman to fill in the void left by his veterans Rabeh, Nonoy and Jai. Man, when will Ateneo's reign in the UAAP stop? I hope those big guys will need some time to develop to give way to some of the other UAAP schools like FEU, DLSU and Adamson. Also mentioned in the article is Rabeh Al-Hussaini keeping his options open. Negotiations have already stared between Gilas and Rabeh's camp but it seems like Rabeh in a Gilas unifrom is not yet a done deal based on Rabeh's comments in the Inquirer article. The smart thing to do to for Rabeh is to join Smart-Gilas. I'm sure he won't enjoy the same amount of success in the PBA as he's going to bang against bigger guys in the pros. I'm a little skeptical if Rabeh can be succesful in Toraman's system but maybe Toroman has something up his sleeve because he's been clamoring for the UAAP Finals MVP to join the squad for some time already. Like the 6'9 giant from Cebu Junmar Fajardo and UE guard Paul Lee, Rabeh has been included in the Gilas lineup in the PBA despite not having a contract with the national team yet.