ANOTHER GAME 7 TO REMEMBER
August 20, 2008 by SYDMAN
Will a country weep or will a country leap after one team painstakingly diverted a sweep?
And yeah, I’m not talking about the Olympics.
Moments nearing the finish of the Ginebra-Air21 series, you have to wonder how the series will unfold.
First of all, Air21’s bench has been pretty weak compared to the Kings’ bench. The Express rely on their best eight players and the rookies have yet to make their marks prominently in the series. Even KG Canaleta has been struggling ever since he started coming in off the bench. We saw Marvin Cruz, JC Intal, and Doug Kramer scoring eight and more in their Game 2 encounter. Yes it was a route and they got their points off garbage minutes but these guys need to pile up their contributions.
One other thing for the Express is Ranidel de Ocampo. He has been contained the past two games and this proved as reason why the club is scoring 80 points and lower. Jong Uichico had it right to clog their offense but for a player averaging 11 points per game, fizzling when it matters is unacceptable.
Wynne Arboleda while struggling in offense, brings stability to the Express. Problem is though, he seems easily rattled. For a player poised to outclass Paul Artadi and Chris Pacana, he is committing to many careless mistakes that could down his team’s chances. Egay Billones is a second-rate playmaker who’d rather score than set so the Snatcher must weave out of his slump. This is where Marvin Cruz needs to capitalize. Despite error-prone, he has the ability to shock the Kings. Actually amongst the rookies, he has the best chance to shine in this series.
Gary David and Arwind Santos will lead the locals. David will likely score in double figures while Santos will use his skills to dish another complete performance. Homer Se? The guy is wily and while he has limited offensive skills, he is unafraid to hit the shots his teammates wouldn’t shoot.
In the battle of the imports, Chris Alexander remains superior to Steve Thomas but Thomas owns more scoring chances that the reigning Best Import. Alexander though, just got a thunderous performance. Bad news for the Kings because his 37-point game will never happen in Game 7.
Mark Caguioa, injuries and all, needs to exert his game for the Kings. No one can make the crowd giddy other than the Spark. For Uichico, I think he needs to depend more on Junthy Valenzuela. Valenzuela has been on a slump, but he is benching the Hitman in his quarter. We all know that Valenzuela thrives in crunch time. Favoring Ronald Tubid is a hit or miss possibility. The Rocket (formerly the Saint) is reckless more than fearless. I can see Tubid leading a fast break but he’ll probably mess up the half-court set.
Pacana was a revelation especially when doing the dirty work” but he has no sure-ball shot. Artadi, of all things, is a better scorer than him. Sure, putting the words Artadi and sure-ball in one sentence could still make people smirk, but Artadi is a better playmaker.
The biggest thing Air21 should be wary about is Ginebra’s crowd boost. Sure, they tried to “express” their disapproval that fan support will not be a problem, but the deafening howls of the Gin faithful could never be denied. Gary David has felt it. Ranidel and Wynne has felt it. Homer Se definitely hates it. I guess the only player that seems unfazed is Arwind Santos, but the MVP runner-up is having the toughest luck playing Mr. Do-It-All against an arena-packed of salivating hordes of Gin followers.
A superstar will give the Kings another crown while the Express needs to get support besides their Top 8.
All bets are off.
Title number one for the Express… or another gold for the legendary team.
Loading ...
woohoo!!!
the battle is fought.
the war is over.
now it’s time to celebrate.
CONGRATULATIONS BRGY. GINEBRA KINGS!!!!!
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tagumpay!
thanks too sa air21 for giving us one goos series. i hope more of these electric finals in the coming season.
also, channel 5 says sayonara to pba coverage. thanks abc5 for the 4 years. dont worry ch5 ill watch ogags and MVP still.
to solar, lets see what you got.
hey sydman, is mark caguioa really not more valuable than tubid in the finals? why he was bypassed again? isnt finals mvp the whole series? what are the numbers of tubid vs caguioa? just curious here. not spoiling the fan, err, fun.
yeah. i think mark is deprived of the award again. =(
and he wasn’t even interviewed after the game. =(
jong uichico really played his mind compare to bobo perasol he dont have that IQ to compete against jong, im so impress how he handles the players situation the injuries on 3rd quarter to the hitman and alexander me myself was a bit nervous for that period how coach jong will react this is a impressive series seriously for jong..and major pain was remarkable all throughout muscling each defender its a comeback for major pain and ronald tubid play perfect offense & defense they deserve to be co-MVP to all ka-Barangay CONGRATS!!!CONGRATS Ginebra..blissful
^ Yep. (I agree with everything you said, with exception of course to the name calling part to Coach Bo)
In that game, you’ll see the difference between a Championship tested coach and a finals newbie. You see the composure of Coach Jong? That’s what makes him one of the better coaches in the league right now.
yah yah coach jong responds brilliant i personally admit that i like their former coach siot than him because siot also have the never say die attitude(coming from behind run) but now coach jong showcase some style that makes me astound hopefully their lineups for this season will not change totally because the chemistry is there already..pacana should be re-sign his a good defender too..alex crisano hmmmm whatever..
that’s y the PBA production team (anchors) also sucks. they didn’t even bother to interview Ginebra’s heart&Soul- mark caguioa.
It all started when Mark made his promise to the legion of Fans. That Ginebra will be in the championship, and now this is it.
You know what, im more interested on Mark, jong, ronald & Junthy to say after the series. but no interview at all.
Again, Mark definitely deserves the MVP award more than Menk&Tubid.
Scoring wise & pure heart - MC has the advantage; not to include MC believers…
Those press people that awarded the trophy doesn’t even understand the true meaning of basketball - Again, he was judge not by the impact he made in court its purely crab mentality.
I Salute Mark Caguioa!
Man, your the reason why the last nights game broke the PBA records in terms of ticket sales & gate attendance!
although it was really caguioa who should have won the finals mvp. i must admit, i should apologize for ronald tubid for the written statement. in the first half he was the player that exposed the express’ problem and that is their inexperience!
congrats kings!
yeah. mark must’ve been the FINALS MVP. but if they really like to award two people, then menk is a very good choice.