Week 5 and 6 – PBA Astig Rankings: Red Bull Barakos Are Unbeatabulls

With my to-do list thicker than Yancee’s eyebrows, I can only give this is lazy version of Week 5 and 6 Astig Rankings covering November 14 - 25 PBA games.

Speaking of Yancee, now that Asi is sporting Coke unis, it’s Sunsilk time to shine moment for him. We have been waiting for him to shine for the 5 years. Even his bro caught up with him.

ANYWAY, let’s get this quickie rolling. Games last night, not included. New to this edition is the I SEE YOU or ICU section.

Check out the first and second versions of the rankings as well so you know where this thing is coming from.

Standings (excluding last night’s games)

Purefoods - 9-1
Red Bull - 6-3
Alaska - 5-4
Magnolia - 5-4
Talk N Text - 5-5
Air21 - 4-4
Sta. Lucia - 4-5
Brgy. Ginebra - 3-6
Welcoat - 3-6
Coca-Cola - 1-7

The FORMAT: (Last Ranking) - Current Ranking - Team – (Week Record) - Comments

(4th) - 1st - Redbull (3-0)

Talk N Text, Purefoods and San Miguel are teams to beat coming into this conference, and Red Bull did just that. Sweeping all three to finish the span with an immaculate 3-0 record. From 7th, to 4th and now to 1st. No doubt, Yeng Guiao must be doing something right. Kudos to his players too for playing beyond expectations. My expectations primarily.

ICU: In the RB-TnT game, after Don Allado gave one flagrant foul, Shawarma - the Red Bull enforcer, confronted Allado. They had an altercation then Don looked at Red Bull’s bench and said something to Shawarma’s and bench’s Red Bull direction. Then here we go again, Yeng Guioa getting involved in the thing and no one seemed to care. He has this to say to Don… F-U F-U F-U F-U in succession. At least, I know Frankie Lim cares. Read more

Settling for a Mountain instead of the Rock

I was listlessly reading Philippine Star moments ago when I saw something…

Asi Taulava was traded.

What?

Eight years ago, the Rock, The Molten Lava, Lava-Man was the biggest piece of property that Mobiline/TNT ever got. Forget the Vic Pablo, Eugene Quilban, Andy Seigle, Jeffrey Cariaso acquisitions…

Gherome Ejercito?

Don’t even start…

For eight years, he has been the trademark of the Phone Pals. Forget the Fil-Sham controversy. Dead-air followed the Erap overthrow and the PGMA administration has yet to get the controversy kick to sway them off these pretenders! Whenever Asi played, you expect him to haul all boards, make monstrous throwdowns and maul the competition.

Unfortunately he has been struggling as of late.

The rebounds are still there… in his last game, he walloped 19 boards, 15 of those were offensive – the best in his career. Gone were the days though where the Rock can score 20 points a night. He is averaging almost ten points in this conference – a career low. He blocks less and is frequently in foul trouble. Add the fact that the Pals raided the best supplementary big men in the league – Jay Washington, Don Allado, Yancy de Ocampo, Harvey Carey, and even Yousif Aljamal…

… Taulava is a year less for being a guy that averages a measly 15 minutes a night!

Read more

Asi Taulava Shipped to Coca Cola for Peek, top pick

Asi shipped to Tigers for Peek, top pick
By Abac Cordero - PHILSTAR
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Little did Asi Taulava know that the game against Red Bull last Sunday was his last for Talk n Text.

In a move that caught people by surprise, Talk n Text traded the 6-foot-9 Taulava to Coca-Cola in exchange for fellow giant Ali Peek and a first-round draft pick for next year.

The trade was consummated Monday evening between officials of the two teams, and Taulava was informed later on by Talk n Text team manager Frankie Lim.

“I called him and said, ‘Asi, we’ve decided to trade you. We think this is best for you and the franchise.’ And his answer was ‘It’s okay. Don’t worry boss. It’s okay,” said Lim. Read more

THE POWER TEN (November 26, 2007)

THE POWER TEN (November 26, 2007)

NOTED:

Aries Dimaunahan was acquired by Coke from Air21. The former Express that tallied 4.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists for the team normed four points, four boards, and five dimes in his first game as a Tiger.

Mark Caguioa was his usual self against Coke. The Spark claimed 35 points, more than twice of what he scored in his first two games since returning to the team from an injury. In other news, Mark Macapagal returned in his usual state scoring 1 point in two games for the Kings.

Lordy Tugade has yet to break in the Power Ten rankings but he has been the offensive force sans Danny Seigle, who is out of action. The Assassin from Alaminos, Pangasinan sniped 16.7 points in the nine games the Masters has played this conference.

Kenneth Duremdes scored 24 points in his last game, due to the injuries of the scoring force of the Tigers (which explains the Dimaunahan acquisition). Captain Marbel is averaging less than 2 points for Coke before the explosion.

The week also saw explosions from Joe Devance, Warren Ybanez, Chico Lanete, Peter June Simon, and Dennis Espino.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN:

RANK	PLAYER	STATS
25 (NR)	CARIASO, ALASKA	11.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.8 APG
24 (NR)	CARDONA, TNT	16.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.2 APG
23 (NR)	TAULAVA, TNT	9.6 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.5 APG
22 (18)	YEO, STA. LUCIA	15.7 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.7 APG
21 (NR)	ARBOLEDA, AIR21	11.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 5.6 APG
20 (20)	CORTEZ, ALASKA	12.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 5.3 APG
19 (14)	CANALETA, AIR21	15.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.0 APG
18 (NR)	VALENZUELA, R. BULL	16.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.2 APG
17 (NR)	ALAPAG, TNT	14.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 5.8 APG
16 (19)	VILLANUEVA, MAG	12.7 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.1 BPG
15 (13)	HONTIVEROS, MAG	13.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.7 APG
14 (17)	REYES, WELCOAT	14.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.8 BPG
13 (5)	BAGUIO, RED BULL	17.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 4.0 APG
12 (9)	J. YAP, PUREFOODS	21.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 0.8 SPG
11 (7)	D. SEIGLE, MAGNOLIA	18.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.3 APG

*(PARENTHESIS) = LAST WEEK’S RANK

*NR = NOT RATED

The extended version from the list was not even enough to save Rob Wainwright’s woeful showing. The former Cebu stalwart played hurt this week, missing one game and playing sparingly in their loss against the Alaska Aces (he had no points and a couple of rebounds).

Junthy Valenzuela’s return proved vital as the Barako surged up north in the Philippine Cup standings. The Hitman, alongside Cyrus Baguio proved too powerful for the Phone Pals. However, this also affected Baguio’s game which prompts his 8-rank slide down the rankings.

James Yap and Danny Seigle also moved out of the Power Ten. Yap played weak in their last outing while Seigle was absent in their last game. There were six new additions from last week’s entry with Jimmy Alapag ranking the highest.

Joseph Yeo, KG Canaleta, and Dondon Hontiveros moved south in the ranks while Enrico Villanueva and JR Reyes moved up.

Read more

PBA Recap: Air 21 versus TnT – Stalking Wynne Arboleda

Inside Araneta Center last night on my way to a 9PM meet at QC. I was given free tix so again, I met up with EDSA traffic to see live games. The middle pack teams (Air21, Talk n Text, Red Bull and Magnolia) were on yesterday.

Warm-up: (i) I saw Partick Fran. Hey, he is still playing in case you don’t know. (ii) Sotto can shoot (during practice that’s is and with no one guarding him). (iii) Aljamal is the reincarnation of Maoi Roca. (iv) Looking at Air21 roster, this team has the tools, if this team doesn’t perform in the Philippine Cup, you know who to blame. A decent point guard is all this team needs. I think Se and Kramer can do the paint job.

During warm-ups, Aljamal was hitting his shots. But then, Maoi Roca Gen 2 opened up the game with 3 misses. (BTW, Maoi Roca Gen 2 should be in the list of that Best 3-Spot Poll at the right side of Hoops, for crissakes, Harvey is in there.)

Nice quarterbacking from PBA best point guard (according to the hoops ‘busy’ poll) Jimmy Alapag gave TnT nice lead in the first quarter. My favorite PG, Wynne Arboleda sat out the first.

This thing you will see if you’ll watch closely: Yancee de Ocampo was pleased every time his brother makes a shot. BTW, Yancee plays for TnT. I hate to bring this, but Yancee is now a mismatch against his younger bro, Ranidel. And why not, Ranidel is cool as ice, hitting his shots from all-over the court enroute to a career high 33 (plus 14 rebounds). His three-shots were well-defended but he knocked ‘em anyways. Compared to his older brother, who is soooooooo slooooooow and continuously looking over his shoulder if he’ll be benched again. Read more

Ball Hog: Solar ABC5 Pact, GSW Youtube, Agent Zero Vids and More

Solar Sports Joins ABC5, RJTV

During the ongoing Ad Congress now being held a Subic, Solar chief Wilson Tieng will formally announce (have formally announced) its deal with ABC5 and RJTV. This is absolutely good news, more Solar Programming on freeTV. The last time I was moving in to a new flat, I was hoping, SKY Cable is the default building cable TV provider, but it is Global!. Now moving again to a new unit, this time I am crossing my two middle fingers, cable TV should be DESTINY. And so, the news of Solar on FREE TV is a treat. It’s an insurance in case I get another tough cable draw. As early as now, ABC5 is airing HOUSE OF HOOPS on Mondays and Thursdays at 7PM. Another good news, House of Hoops programming chiefs love the Lakers, they had two Lakers games in a week.

Golden State Warriors Youtube Page

For those who can’t get enough of GSW’s pretty boy Steph Jackson, this page is must bookmark.

Five Hottest Athletes

This is US (global) version. Maybe someday soon, I’ll make Philippines Hottest athletes. Trust me, if and when I make this list, Nancy Navalta won’t make the cut.

Dirt Ball Kids

Man, I am telling you, great things start from humble beginnings. Check the video, one-on-one full court action. Capping the video is an “in your face” action. Street ball, I like.

Agent Zero, Zero Minutes, Four Videos, One Surgery

Gilbert Arenas is out due to knee problems but he’ll still be around. Before going down, he made sure we will still be entertained by him. He has four videos here inline with mass release of 20 friggin shoes. (BTW, I got a bootleg PC NBALIVE08, the one that has him on the cover, I can’t seem to install the thing on VISTA.)

James White New Gigs

Remember this guy? Yeah, he’s the guy who can’t get playing time so he spent his days trying to reach 13ft rather than polishing his basketball skills. No wonder he was let go by the Spurs. But wait, he has new gigs. One, he will be jumping, err, playing in Turkey and two, he’s blogging at Hoopshype.

Ginebra Killers Exposed

When I was small (enter the song here…), I was in deep shit every Ginebra loss. I was not able to sleep man. In fact, I believe I shed a tear or two. Times have changed now, I still cheer for Ginebra but if they somehow can’t win over Welcoat, life goes on man.

I watch the PBA games on TV now because I am more of a 65 per cent fan of Gins, 34 per cent fan of the game of basketball and 1 per cent fan of Peaches “ANYWAY” Aberin.

ANYWAY, I remember few players who really broke my heart during the “DIE-HARD” years of my Ginebra adulation. They inflicted deep wounds really. I call them the “Ginebra Killers”.

The old days…

For a while, I hated Ramon Fernandez. He was the early Ginebra fans KJ (ok, in my view). This skinny forward center (but packs a mean, nasty elbow) had his way against the Gins in the late 80’s and very early 90s. If not for Chito Loyzaga single body coverage of DOn Ramon, he could have harmed me more (of course single body of Chito Loyzaga equals two bodies). The guy was impossible to cover, dribbled like a guard, shot his mid range like small forward and can post up as well. Only few people matched up well with him, in fact I can only give four who somehow contained El Presidente. One is, (1) Abet Guidaben, (2) Philip Cesar, (3) as I mentioned, Chito Loyzaga and last but not the least (4), his WIFE. Read more

POWER TEN (Philippine Cup Individual rankings as of Nov 19)

Power ten: (As of November 18, 2007)

Alaska takes a week off as we see the Welcoat Dragons finally claiming back-to-back victories while the Red Bull Barako boys destroyed a clean slate in a “Giant-killing” fashion.

Welcome to the Power 10.

First of all, this is not a weekly player of the week honors thing. This is for the whole Philippine Cup. The stats here were taken from the PBA official website.

How does this work? Pretty simple really, we rank the players by adding their POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS, STEALS, and BLOCKS.

Team standings will take effect after the conclusion of the first round. This means sum of stats minus games that they did not play.

In other words, this is a preview on who’s gunning to win the MVP award of the Philippine Cup.

That is until the media votes screw up the pacesetter. Kerby Raymundo might shout “AKO ANG MVP” again. Read more

Hoops Poll: Fast and the Furious still the Dynamic Duo

Stopping this poll at 222.

Getting the popular vote is the tandem of “The Fast and the Furious.” Despite the Mark Caguioa playing only a game thus far, they got the 31% of votes casted.

The performance tandem of Kerby Raymundo and James Yap got 20%. Relatively poor starts by Magnolia and TnT send Danny Seigle - Hontiveros and Asi - Alapag tandems to 3rd and 4th places.

Alaska’s Sonny Thoss and Wilie Miller ranked only 6th place. (Hoops.Blink.Ph is in fear now, Alaska owner might send us a letter of complaint and petition to recount.) Read more

PBA Philippine Cup 2007 – Astig Rankings 2 (Week 3 and 4) - Purefoods Still Hot

Here’s the Week 3 and 4 PBA Astig Rankings. Week 1/2 issue is here.

New to this PBA Astig Rankings issue is the Tim Cone quote of the week, AKA, CONE-QUOTE and the TRUE or FALSE bits.

Here goes…

Current Overall Team Standings:

Purefoods 6 - 0
Magnolia 4 - 2
Talk N Text 4 - 3
Alaska 4 - 3
Red Bull 3 - 3
Air21 Express 2 - 3
Welcoat Dragons 2 - 4
Sta. Lucia 2 - 4
Ginebra 2 - 4
Coca-Cola 1 - 4

The FORMAT: (Last Ranking) - Current Ranking - Team – Week Record - Comments

(1) – 1 - PUREFOODS (3-0)

In 3 Ws out 4 games, this has been Purefoods game: They’ve been challenged but they came out victorious each time. Local (thorough)bred James Yap and Kerby Raymundo powered Purefoods to its 4th victory over Welcoat, 87 - 77. Nothing new there. What’s new is the toughness that Rommel Adducul is giving Purefoods.

Wow, it’s Kerby Raymundo’s 4th double-double, ending up with 23 points and 11 rebounds while James Yap poured 28 points (9/22 FG). Next up was the Gins, and the game was over early after “Super Sub” Peter Jun Simon torched the Gins with 15 points in the first canto. The game was never close after that, final score was 103 - 76.

Another three-and-O week was capped by Purefoods after Big Games James sinked the game winner off a good defense offered by Chester Tolomia of Coke. Kerby Raymundo chipped in 20 points and 14 rebounds as well. I am beginning to appreciate and love Kerby Raymundo’s game now. Minus Kerby’s penchant for isos where he’s toying the ball, preparing to attack from the outside and he holds the ball for extra few seconds, I think he’s the best big man out there.

Including the pre-season tour, Purefoods is now undefeated in 2 months or so.

TRUE or FALSE: James Yap is forcing too many shots. (He shot 6-of-21 contra Coke. James missed 5 straight shots. After he got the ball, no return pass was made. Only, he made the one that matters versus Welcoat.) Read more

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