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Polls: 2009 PBA All-Filipino - Who Will Go All The Way?

It’s but fitting the we end this poll today. On the last game of the conference, Alaska got 44% of the votes. Tonight, TnT would like to point out to those 44 people who picked Alaska that they are wrong. Game 7 tonight, at the Araneta Coliseum.

So we’re now down to one final game

What a series. This series is probably one of the best championships that I’ve watched in the history of the PBA. And I’m not even a fan of either team. Well, if you appreciate the game and all you want to do is sit back relax and watch an exciting game between two teams with contrasting styles, well this one’s for you.

Moving on, Tim Cone is raging mad on Mac Cardona’s antics. Have you guys seen his statement after Game 6? He was mad, real mad. I’ve never seen a coach so angry on an opposing team’s player before. Here it is..

The next time he taunts our players, he is going to hit his head on the floor,” Cone said. “He’s done it four times in this series and he has only been warned once. That starts fights.
“My players are not going to back down,” said Cone, referring to Sunday night when Cardona hit a short stab, was fouled by Tenorio, and jumped up and down while screaming at Tenorio.”

Taken from Off the bench

Well, if you’re an Alaska fan.. man, those statements could bring shivers down to your spine mainly because..

It’s clear that Macmac Cardona is getting into Tim Cone’s head which means..

… The Alaska defenders are going to be more physical on Cardona…

…. which means more freethrows, possible technical fouls and momentum shifting flagrants if that’s so.

In my opinion, Tim needs to settle down and cool off. So far, Alaska has done a great job on containing Macmac and he needs to keep it that way. It’s given, Mark Cardona would burn you with atleast 15 a game on a bad night. This series? Mac has been averaging 19.5 Points per game on 19 shots a ball game. He’s also committing 4.3 TOs compared to 2 assists per game. But the key this series is how they were able to keep Macmac off the line. Mac has only been into the line for 14 times this series, and for a guy who’s averaging 19 shots per ball game you’d expect more. That’s why I’m saying Alaska shouldn’t overreact to Macmacs’ taunting because that will only result to them trying to pressure Cardona more, will result into more foul shots.. thus more points for Captain Hook.

On another note, Alaska is supposed to be the bigger team here. Then why on earth are they getting dominated on the boards by a 6′3 (With high heels on) Harvey Carey and a 6′4 Ali Peek? One MAJOR KEY for Alaska tomorrow will be boxing out on Carey and Peek.

Last note, does anyone other than me notice the play that Tim has been setting in during clutch time? IMO, he’s pulling a Mike Brown here and it’s not good. The play is called “Give the ball to Willie Miller and get the fuck out of the way”. That’s not a good way to pull a championship off, especially with how Talk and Text has been defending the Best Player of the Conference this season. They’re better off with the ball in the hands of LA, the ball is rotating more, the movement of the players are good and LA can definitely make things happen with his dribble penetration.

That being said, tomorrow marks the day where superstars will be made. I expect an epic performance from Mark Cardona and Jimmy Alapag tomorrow for Talk and Text and Willie Miller for Alaska. Notice the difference? Willie actually needs someone to help him carry the offensive load. Who will it be? Well it’s for us to find out. See you guys.

Last note, I’m trying to put up a live blog here at Hoops (Ala Ball Don’t Lie) tomorrow and if anyone is interested, check this site up later, I’ll try it make it work.

Photo from eestrada.

Ball Hog: Japeth’s Quality Minutes & T-MAC vs PiCone

Japeth Aguilar’s Quality Minutes

Check this report by my man, Ronnie Nathanielzzzzz… <link here>

Headline reads… “Japeth plays quality minutes in team’s victory”

I read the news and wow… Holy tinapa, Japeth scored 2 points, HAULED 3 rebounds blocked a shot in his “brief” playing minutes. If that stat line qualifies for quality minutes, I’m pretty sure, Yeng Guiao would require Japeth to play SUPER-UBER-DUPER quality minutes for him to make the cut for the Philippine team.

T-Mac, Taunting Mac vs PiCone

Wow, Tim Cone is again showcasing his pikon antics. Remember the no-shake to Boyet Fernandez? That’s why I refer to him as Tim Pi-Cone. After TnT tied the series, Tim Cone did not hide his love for Mac, aka, T-Mac or the “Taunting Mac.”

Tim doesn’t appreciate Mac Cardona’s yells, clenched fists, wide grin, taunting especially after great plays.

He said…

“If Cardona taunts any of our players again, I’m going to order that he be put out on the floor. He’s going to hit the floor with his head next time. He keeps taunting our players. He keeps making baskets and taunting our players. I’m not going to allow that anymore. We’re going to send a strong message to him once he taunts a player of ours.  I think he’s done it three times or four times in this series and he’s been only warned once. I tell you that starts fights, and I’m not going to have my players back down. If someone’s trash-talking ‘em, they’re not going to back down. So either the referees have to be more attentive or it’s going to get ugly out there.”

Wow, is it Tim Cone speaking or Michael Corleone? The taunting amongst basketball players is pretty (or ugly) normal. That’s part of a competitive game. For God’s sake, they are in the finals!

Cardona is right, even good guy Tenorio is known to taunt opponents. Only when a guy like Tenorio does it, it easier to look at. But when its the emotional and full-of-air Cardona’s turn to taunt, it’s magnified. The sample Tim gave of “3 to 4 times” in 6 games is too thin for him to make such statements.

And, the one particular incident where/when T-Mac taunted Tenorio after a 3-point play and he yelled and was a little bit in the face of LA Tenorio, that’s still within borders of trash and taunts. That’s just basketball emotion.

Again, to me, the mild taunting that Cardona does is still acceptable. What’s not acceptable is Tim’s threat of payback hits and guys hitting the floor. The statements he made will merit automatic fine in the NBA.

Cardona said… “I’m just being myself and I will continue to be that way. I’m an emotional player. I do those things with nothing personal against anybody. I’ve been that way since my college days at La Salle.”

So there, if Tim walks-his-talk, bring on the ambulance!

Disclaimer: I am not a Cardona fan BUT I appreciate his game, his emotion and his desire to win.

Which is better? Kobe’s 61 or LeBron’s Triple Double?

New York Knicks, playing inside the legendary and famed MSG, have been the staging of big games of two great players, Kobe & LeBron.

And, it doesn’t get better for the NYK, Boston Celtics coming off a loss against the Lakers, will surely vent little anger onto the Knicks.

(Side Note: Again, it’s the Los Angeles Lakers stopping another Boston Celtics’ winning streak. First they hold off the 19-game winning streak of BC on Christmas day.

And today, the 12 game winning streak of Boston Celtics is dead, after L.A. beat B-C! Looks like, we (Lakers hehe) have Celtic’s number this season and hopefully post season too.)

A lot of chitchats going on inside forums and message boards as to which game was better, Kobe’s 61 or LeBron’s Triple Double. Being a true blue (and purple, and gold) Lakers/Kobe fan, it’s hard to admit, but the LeBron’s statline is better.

LeBron, despite him saying he’s all for the win and doesn’t look on stats and record, was clearly looking to break Kobe’s freshly set record of 61. He got his triple double, yes, but it must be noted that at the latter part of the game (game still hanging in the balance), he was already shooting for that triple double when he knew that 62, his target output, was no longer reachable. In fact, LeBron was so focused on getting the triple double that he stumbled in the baseline just to register his 10th rebound. But why some would still pick Kobe’s 61 outburst over LeBron triple double? (Even half of New York fans inside MSG were cheering for Kobe.) I got 3 reasons… First, people miss Michael Jordan. Kobe’s game is so much more like Michael’s and so Kobe’s gets the residue of people still wanting to see Jordanesque games. Second (related to Kobe playing like Mike), Kobe plays with grace. And so, he’s 61 points looks like a basketball artform.

His glides, his fade aways, sweet layups, jumpers, etc. look like how the basketball God’s intended it to played. Whereas, Lebron’s game, a combo of power and speed isn’t appreciated as much. Third, Kobe has been around 13 years now and a proven player, basically his fan base is larger so he’s getting more love.

You, which one you think is Better? Kobe’s 61 or LeBron’s Triple Double?

Here’s Kobe’s point by point video…

Here’s LeBron explosive triple double…

UFC 94: GSP destroys Penn, retains Welterweight title.

GSP destroys Penn, retains Welterweight title

by Chrisangelo

It was billed as the most epic fight in UFC history ever, an epic fight of champions as the pay per view header would say.. but it turned out to be as one of the most, if not the most lopsided championship matches in MMA history.

Georges St. Pierre (18-2) used a perfectly designed gameplan and literally destroyed BJ Penn (13-5-1) in the much anticipated rematch between the two. The first fight occured almost 3 years ago, where in Georges won via a controversial split decision, this time however, no questions will be asked.

St.Pierre mixed it up, using effective wrestling and kickboxing in the first two rounds, before unleashing a brutal ground and pound never seen and done before to a guy like BJ Penn

“My strategy was that he has small shoulders, which is good for hand speed, so I went to make him carry my weight and cause his shoulders to tire,” said St. Pierre “I wanted to start out and make it a wrestling match.”

And he did exactly that. In round 1, GSP started pushing BJ in the fence, attempted several single legs which BJ handled pretty well, landed some knees on the clinch and connecting with several jabs and kicks. In round 2,  St.Pierre finally got BJ in the ground and carnage started from there.

BJ was noticebly bleeding from his nose and from a cut below the eye. In rounds 3 and 4, it was all St.Pierre.

Right after the end of round 4, BJ’s brother Jaydee and the doctors decided to call the fight to a halt after BJ’s fail to response to his cornermen’s questions. Ironic as it was, it was BJ Penn who kept calling St.Pierre “A quitter and a frontrunner” during the Primers.

“I’ve been training for this fight since September so I had a lot of pressure. Last time I fought him I won in a decision, this time I really wanted to take him out and I’m glad that I did it,” said St.Pierre in the post fight interview.

———————

In the co-main event of the evening, Lyoto Machida (14-0) proved that he’s for real and ready for the title shot as he defeated fellow Brazilian and former undefeated fighter Thiago Silva (13-1) in a buzzer beating knock out.

Lyoto was just too quick for the ATT fighter as he landed with solid kicks, quick jabs and takedowns. He knocked down Thiago twice in the match before finishing him off with two solid strikes just as the round ended.

Referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight after Thiago didn’t make it back to his corner after the bell.

“I’m very happy to be here, Thiago is a tough, but today I was better than him” said Machida who should be due for the title shot later this year.

———————

21 year old light heavyweight Jon Jones (8-0) turned heads after a convincing showing against TUF 1 veteran Stephan Bonnar (11-5) using his unorthodox striking and impressive greco-roman wrestling to get a unanimous decision victory with the scores 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.

———————

Karo Parisyan (19-5) shook off back injuries and panic attacks as he outpointed fellow Judoka Dong Hyun Kim (11-1-1) in a straight out grappling match, the fight was scored 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 in favor of the Armenian.

———————

In the first bout of the evening, Clay Guida (25-9) squeked out a razor thin victory out of TUF 5 champion Nathan Diaz (10-2)

Clay used his effective wrestling and relentless energy to tire off and avoid Nate’s patented ground game. The fight was scored 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 in favor of Guida

———————

Main Card

• Georges St-Pierre wins by TKO stoppage (Referee) over BJ Penn at 5:00 in the 4th round. St-Pierre retains the UFC welterweight title.
• Lyoto Machida wins by knock out over Thiago Silva at 4:49 in the 1st round.
• Jon Jones wins by unanimous decision over Stephan Bonnar.
• Karo Parisyan wins by split decision over Dong Hyun Kim.
• Clay Guida wins by split decision over Nate Diaz.

Preliminary card

• Jon Fitch wins by unanimous decision over Akihiro Gono.
• Thiago Tavares wins by unanimous decision over Manny Gamburyan.
• John Howard wins by split decision over Chris Wilson.
• Jake O’Brien wins by split decision over Christian Wellisch.
• Dan Cramer wins by split decision over Matt Arroyo.