In the end, the judges figured out that Clottey’s defense is the only thing that he has against the Pacman.

Read on.

Wow. I saw a lot of election ads. Happiness! Manny Villar’s new garbage kids TVC is not as catchy as the first TVC but it really makes him the most hard-working presidentiable in terms of advertising budget… and dirty kids.

I didn’t catch the undercard bouts. I was watching “A Very Special Love”, which is a Filipino love story starring John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo.

What…

Is it a crime to get mushy?

Powerhug kita diyan e.

Anyway, I laughed at the Mike Velarde party list TVC. He misspelled sangol (this means baby in Filipino but the true spelling for this is sanggol)? Whoever thought Brother Mike is a great voiceover person must be awesome.

Eteman ang belog na huges etlog…

The Ghanaian National Anthem was English. I thought there would be some sort of African culture infused but I guess Western culture got the best of them. Arnel Pineda sung the Philippine National Anthem and it was good until the last two notes. Why the fuck did he “Journey-ed” Lupang Hinirang??? Dammit, the last note was very, very way off. The US National Anthem was sung extremely well by three almost-naked women known as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders that reminded me of the pop/country group Atomic Kitten.

That’s America for you.

Joshua “The Grandmaster” Clottey danced his way to the ring. Manny Pacquiao came to the ring via Eye of the Tiger. We saw Jinkee Pacquiao and her twin sister at ringside. So, where the hell is Chavit? Bobby Pacquiao is in attendance too so I’m wondering whose groin will he low blow. Rafael Ramos is the third man in the ring and he looks like Andal Ampatuan.

Michael Buffer never seizes to amaze me but he did have trouble pronouncing all the world titles The Pacman acquired.

Round One – How can we see the footwork when the ads are blocking it? We can REALLY hear Buboy Fernandez dishing out instructions. Give him a headpiece already! Clottey is a counter-puncher with awesome defense but Manny tagged him mid-round. Manny was ramming his gloves on the Grandmaster’s ribs but this is leading to Clottey’s connecting jabs. Still, Pacquiao won the “feeling-out” round.

Round Two – Wow. Clottey is stepping on Manny’s feet and his defense is so annoying that it is frustrating Manny. This is destroying Manny’s game and he’s always getting tagged by Clottey’s jabs. Buboy was begging Manny to keep his distance since his punches are landing on Clottey’s gloves. The round belonged for Clottey. His dance after a Pacman shot means he remains unfazed on the power that is Pacquiao’s.

Round Three – Solid rights by Clottey. I like how Manny respects his opponents but Clottey’s turtle shell defense is seriously ANNOYING! However, Brian Viloria was right in saying that defense doesn’t score points as Pacquiao is the worker of the round. Clottey though seldom hits but is proving to be accurate. I’m going to give Pacquiao this round because Pacman carried the round even if Clottey looked good here.

Drats! I channel surfed and landed on the DZMM Teleradyo cable channel! ABS-CBN is seriously notorious for spoiling the outcome of the fights televised by GMA!

GUESS WHAT?

I JUST GOT SPOILED!

Round Four – For every ten punches Manny executes, Clottey will block nine. However, that “gloves to face” defense is getting weaker as the bombs of Manny are connecting and now getting impact. That defense might the only thing Clottey can have right now. The round belongs to Manny because Clottey looks like he’s merely surviving the fight. A funny spot in the round was when Manny punched Clottey with a left and the right AT THE SAME TIME! Yes, Manny getting a mouthful from the ref is funny. Oh Manny’s two-timing with his fists!

Round Five – Poor arms! Clottey’s arms have got to hurt! Clottey’s head trainer Lenny de Jesus wants Clottey to punch and be active. Manny got tagged by a right which infuriated the Pacman. Buboy was shouting for Manny to hit Clottey in the shoulders to make that defense go down. Still while Clottey punched a bit, Manny was still active. And now it seems like Manny is telling Clottey to slug it out. Clottey is in a no-win situation if he tries to abandon his game plan. Manny wins this round.

Round Six – See Round Five. Clottey is fighting but it is still Pacquiao who’s dictating the pace.

Round Seven – Pacquiao got rocked! But still, he is still dictating the pace. The welt in Pacquiao’s left eye will sting. Clottey’s corner asked the boxer to think out of the box. Clottey needs to gear his bombs now and not wait for Pacman to get tired. Just like what Quinito Henson mentioned, I too saw that unusual foot action Clottey executes when he’s about to punch. I’m going to give this round to Clottey for the amazing shot midway the round. Just kidding! One lucky punch won’t damage Pacquiao’s offensive onslaught!

Wait… did I just see a Manny Pacquiao campaign ad? The concept looks good but it was kind of shocking… and disturbing.

Round Eight – Pacquiao is so used to Clottey’s turtle-shelled defense that Clottey’s offense is always getting Manny off-guard. Clottey just dished out an accidental low blow. Pacquiao just gave Clottey an accidental head butt. All of a sudden, Clottey reverts back to his strictly defense ways. Clottey then handed out a punch after round ended. It was no biggie but Pacquiao wins Round 8.

Round Nine – Lenny de Jesus just exclaimed that they are losing every round. Clottey had two successive combinations with Manny egging him to do it. But then Pacquiao erupted with a smothering display of Clottey hurting! Quinito Henson is saying that Clottey is just looking for a lucky punch while Chino Trinidad is telling us that Manny shouldn’t be complacent. Brian Viloria reminded the two that Pacquiao is still controlling the fight. What Pacquiao will do in the last three rounds will spell the match’s aftermath.

Round Ten – Did Buboy say speed? ROUND TEN? SPEED!?! Shouldn’t he be tired by now??? Pacman is owning this fight! Clottey is like a moving and fighting punching bag! Wow! You can see the hint of desperation on Clottey but he is still hiding in his shell. There was a left uppercut that scored for Clottey but Manny continues to control the fight. Before the fight ended, Clottey drove an elbow to the back of Pacquiao. As far as Pacquiao is concerned, it continues to NOT hurt him.

Round Eleven – Clottey is now going for broke. Freddie Roach is telling his ward to look for a knockout shot. Clottey caused three uppercuts and a string of effective counters but Manny continues to dance and bomb his fists to Clottey’s face and body. By going kamikaze, this takes out the vaulted defense Clottey has been executing. Unfortunately for the Grandmaster/Hitter, Pacquiao found his face open and for the first time as Chino Trinidad pointed, was the first time we saw Clottey staggered. In an interview up and coming star Jorge Arce said that in no way was Manny Pacquiao going to win this fight by knockout. It looks as if he’s right.

Round Twelve – The two embraced and mere seconds after that “manly” encounter Clottey gave two hooks and a looper that eventually became an accidental head butt. It seems as if there was no desperation for Clottey to knock Pacquiao out. All he did was continue to do his normal game play that could have worked with the no-namers he defeated but for a quick fighter like Pacquiao, the judges won’t score the stance but the flurry of punches. From start to finish, except for the second round (which could have blinded me because I was amazed initially at Clottey’s defense), Pacquiao carried Clottey.

The Aftermath – The judges scored 120-108, 119-109 and 119-109… a unanimous decision victory for Manny Pacquiao. Whatever Freddie Roach said about this fight as exciting as hell are all lies! Clottey had his face glued to his gloves. I’m really guessing he just wanted to survive Pacman which is bogus considering this is a title bout. But this is still an important sight for fight fans everywhere to see Pacquiao fight a bigger and much heavier fighter and still win. If Floyd Mayweather’s name again floats to a possible megafight, Pacquiao needs to improve his power. During Clottey’s post-match interview, he said the Pacman lacked the power but his speed was blinding. Mayweather is also fast so that screams more training for an up and coming “dream match”.

This should be the points he should ponder.

Congrats Pacman! Again, you gave your all and made your countrymen proud.

Now if you can just make your province-mates pick you as their congressman… then that would be awesome.

Adidas gathered the 48 grand finalists of the TS Supernatural Shootout at the SM Megamall last March 6, Saturday to determine which basketball aficionado will watch the Orlando Magic face off against the Chicago Bulls live in the US.

Before the Grand Basketball Shootout, adidas patrons, who availed of the new TS Supernatural basketball shoes, battled it out in participating adidas stores and sports shops. Patrons joined the promo by shooting at least five mini-balls in one minute. Highest scorers throughout the promo period, from February 1 to 29, from each participating store were then invited for the Grand Basketball Shootout. Participants were able to track daily standings of the TS Supernatural Shootout in the adidas Philippines fan page in www.facebook.com (Search “adidas Philippines” in Facebook).

Harnessing the proven engineering of the human foot, the new adidas TS Supernatural basketball shoe makes you lighter, more stable, and faster!  Rounded edges, a fit form collar, and EVA tongue allow for a better fit and feel. An ultra low profile and a Torsion plate provide superior stability, while the use of adiprene propulsion foam under the forefoot gives you maximum lift on your way to the rim. And, at a feather-light weight of 366 grams, the new TS Supernatural basketball shoes give you maximum jump height.

After a three-hour shoot out finals, Gerardo Papa, who scored 31 points in one minute, emerged as the winner of the adidas TS Supernatural Grand Basketball Shootout! adidas awarded the hoops master with two roundtrip tickets to the US to watch NBA superstars live! As part of his prize, he also received hotel accommodations and pocket money worth $1,000. Billion Enriquez (28 points) and Karl Chan (23 points) won first and second place respectively.

For more information on the TS Supernatural Shootout, join the adidas Philippines fan page on www.facebook.com.

What the f**k is wrong with Air21?

Syet.

After I applauded the Air21 Express for bagging Renren Ritualo and Yancy de Ocampo, I now look at them thinking that their basketball honchos are insane.

Syet!

I seriously can’t see the reason why Air21 keeps on sending their top talents to the big franchises. I thought for sure they grew a backbone when they reverted back to their former name and took back the talents that made them work but as it is…

Their old name brought back their old habits.

First of all, I am not against Rich Alvarez, Doug Kramer, and Mike Cortez going to Air21. I think this is great. Kramer, if he’ll be used as a mere benchwarmer, shouldn’t have gone out of the Lina franchise in the first place. Rich Alvarez might be a “bust” as a top draft pick, but is still very valuable in terms of import stoppage and hustle. Mike Cortez proved he can still get solid numbers despite limited minutes and constant position shifts (he sometimes plays SF on Siot’s small ball). Lito Alvarez wants to see the stars of Ateneo and DLSU circa early 2000’s in one roof.

But what’s the point of trading away their two needs???

Needs are more essential than wants, as far as first grade science textbooks are concerned. Last conference, the then-Burger King franchise groped to form without top pick and current Smart-Gilas frontman Japeth Aguilar in the middle. JR Quinahan, Beau Belga, Carlo Sharma, and Richard Yee rotated at the power forward and center spots but these guys found foul trouble in the process. Clearly, even if these guys have bulk, what they lack was height. I am but certain this was one of the reasons why Yancy de Ocampo was brought to the club. Even if this means sacrificing their most consistent big man in Quinahan, the new-look Express are desperate for a scoring big man and Yancy fits the bill. With Yancy heading to Ginebra in place of Alvarez and Kramer, it again made Air21 vulnerable in the shaded area. While Kramer seems like a player that can play PF/C, Alvarez is more of a forward. The Fiesta Cup will be played by imports standing 6’6 and under which means that most of the imports suiting up are either athletic small forwards and undersized power forwards. I guess it’s safe to say Air21 will be praying to get the “latter” of the said choices from Leroy Hickerson.

Which reminds me of another thing: Air21 just gave Ginebra what they want. If Air21 found themselves “dooping” the Kings then they are wrong. Yancy is something Uichico has hoped for. He is a big guy that has scoring which he couldn’t see when Rafi Reavis was around. Also, if you’re Air21, how can you stop Ginebra now that they have the backcourt awesomeness of Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand, Ronald Tubid, Sunday Salvacion, Cyrus Baguio, JC Intal, and Junthy Valenzuela when their frontcourt is awesome as well? What can they do if Uichico decides to go tall and place a healthy Eric Menk, Enrico Villanueva, De Ocampo, Willy Wilson, Billy Mamaril, and Rudy Hatfield to join the fray? Sure, Alvarez and Kramer could probably get great stats from them but like I said, they’ll have a size problem. And don’t give me that crap about “size doesn’t matter but performance does” shit because they can’t rely on Ritualo, Ronjay Buenafe, Alex Cabagnot…

Oh wait.

Here’s another “need” I wanted to talk about.

You see, I admit, the Cool Cat is good. However, the untapped potential of Alex Cabagnot has been rising up in such a rapid pace. Remember during the trade that sent him and Wesley Gonzales to the Whoppers for Gary David and Chico Lanete, Cabagnot and Buenafe were the only viable scoring options for BK. Sure, now Air21 has Ritualo and Cortez but San Miguel is a vast talent wasteland that they could have gotten cannon fodders like Mike Holper, Chris Calaguio, Bonbon Custodio or the rights of James Sena (just joking, I know he’s in the PBL pissed as hell of applying in the draft too early, but I just want to bring this up). Were their draft picks involved because that would surely help? It is not like Air21 is the one that wants to take out Cabagnot. SMB wants him. Cabagnot averaged 12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, one steal and 38 minutes in two years which makes him capable to lead a team if he gets the proper players to work on. Sure, San Miguel seems like a great team to get his moves to dazzle but I’m wondering how he’ll do with a huge minutes slash in his playing time. Mike Cortez, as much as he is a good player, is more of a number 2 or number 3 option at best. Cabagnot can lead a team… which is why I think SMB had the better of this trade and would probably hurt Cabagnot’s chances to further cement his claim at a hall of fame career.

Air21 needs to evaluate their roster. Junel Baculi needs to perform his scouting magic and try to get a new “Mark Yee” to quench their lack of ceiling. Sena is a free agent that should interest them because he is a 6’6 slotman. How about Edwin Asoro? I thought Jerwin Gaco is a good choice but I doubt he would sign up for them since he is affiliated with Mikee Romero whose Harbour Centre has aligned itself with Barako Bull. Maybe they can knock at Purefoods’ door since they have guys like Don Allado, Romel Adducul and Jondan Salvador playing well but is getting superbly limited playing time.

Nonetheless, if the honchos want the Ube Republic to win a championship in this league, then they must not let people get their players. Deal wisely for the sake of your team and not submit to bullying.

Game over.

I am obviously eating my words. Who would ever think that Ryan Gregorio could outplay Tim Cone?

James Yap had a field day against his defenders… scoring-wise. Yes, King James was still struggling at times because of the defense thrown to him but compare his game against Willie Miller, it was miles apart.

For some reason I can’t understand why every time Miller scores big Alaska loses. Sure, one can say that Joe Devance was nonexistent in Game 4 but Miller has been in these moments. If you look at it closer, you’ll find that either the triangle is slowing the “run and gun” guard or Miller is wasting the effectiveness of the vaulted offense. I thought Jeff Cariaso would be an asset in this series. Even if he is old, Cariaso is dependable and could bring stability for the Aces. Tim Cone overused his starters. Sure, even if Gregorio used Rafi Reavis, James Yap, Roger Yap, Marc Pingris, and Kerby Raymundo for 30 minutes and more, at least Purefoods have a ton of players to relieve their starters.

Alaska dominated until the finals because their players are familiar with one another. Unfortunately, they fell to over-reliance. Guys like Mark Borboran, Larry Fonacier, and Cariaso were left seated to watch Purefoods climb double-digit leads to eventually snatch a win. John Ferriols, who was relegated to limited action in the conference, played an extended role with Sonny Thoss succumbing to foul trouble. Reynel Hugnatan and Joe Devance had a hard time posting up Purefoods defenders… without the Boss to scare the Giants. Actually, with the way he dominated the Ginebra series, Thoss had it bad against the Giants. The poor guy was roadkill for Purefoods’ towering bigs that wanted Thoss to sit in the bench every single time! Sam Eman could have been a good player for the Aces during these moments but I can’t believe Alaska didn’t use Ervin Sotto and Mike Burtscher. Yes, I know they aren’t in the same level as Thoss or Ferriols for that matter but if they need a wide body, why can’t Tim Cone just activate them?

Roger Yap first got the taste of success in 2004 and at 32, it seems like this scoring-rebounding-passing genius could blossom this season. Rafi Reavis, a transferee from Ginebra, was energized and it seems like he was playing like he was as a San Juan Knight during his MBA days. Yap had almost a triple double while Reavis almost had a 20-point, 20-rebound game. Rico Maierhofer was instrumental especially in Game 3. KG Canaleta and PJ Simon delivered when the starters needed to check their angst. Paul Artadi, Jondan Salvador, Romel Adducul, and Don Allado were good subs for Roger Yap, Kerby Raymundo and Rafi Reavis. Hell, even Chris Timberlake and Jonathan Fernandez proved their worth cheering for the team in their moment of triumph.

Ryan Gregorio, despite all the haters needs to be commended for bringing the Giants to the big dance. He got back his old core and combined it with a new core. Perhaps the biggest shock Gregorio gave was placing LA Tenorio and Willie Miller his rebounding demon, Marc Pingris. This would have puzzled critics but Gregorio trusted the abilities of his players and it conceived great things. The biggest booboo this move heralded for the Aces is even if Pingris was playing outside the shaded area, he was still getting rebound after rebound. This goes to show how important Pingris is to Gregorio’s starting core.

I hate to be proven wrong but the right team won the series.

Congrats Purefoods TJ Giants!

Game over!

Finally my prayers have been answered!

The Postman and the Rain Man are out of Bench Land!

Perhaps the second best move to start the Fiesta Cup on a high note (the first is Sam Eman’s dissing of the SMC to play for Alaska), the Air21 Express reclaimed their former draft picks Yancy de Ocampo and Renren Ritualo for JR Quinahan, Aaron Aban, and Mark Yee.

The two went to the 2002 PBA Draft in high spirits after stirring PBL’s Welcoat to multiple championships. Yancy was picked first while UAAP standout Renren slid to the eighth spot with De Ocampo, Rafi Reavis, Omanzie Rodriguez, Chris Calaguio, Homer Se, Migs Noble, and Eric Canlas drafted ahead of Renren. Gilbert Lao, Aries Dimaunahan, and Jason Misolas are the only players still in the league that were drafted below Ritualo (Rodriguez, Noble, Canlas, and Se have yet to play this season). Despite not being Air21’s (then called FedEx) top rookie and despite being Vergel Meneses’ backup, Ritualo claimed Top Rookie honors. He became a superstar when Meneses was traded to Red Bull for Se and he became the team’s chief gunner. He was hailed as the league’s next Allan Caidic because of his accurate three-point scoring. He was even hailed as the designated scorer in the FIBA Tokushima Games… which turned out to be his nightmare.

When Chot Reyes resigned as SMB coach to mentor the RP Squad and subsequently, Talk N Text, Ritualo was sent to the (then-dubbed) Phone Pals alongside Patrick Fran for Leo Avenido and two first round selections (which turned out to be Yousif Aljamal in 2007 (this pick was later returned to TNT) and Rob Reyes in 2008). Here, Renren’s defensive inabilities were exposed. However, playing limited minutes in the doomed team was not his sole problem. Back in the Philippines, a certain Macmac Cardona has been elevating his game to a higher level. When they played together and began to fight for minutes, Cardona emerged victorious because he was an inside-outside player armed with pesky defense. The additions of Jared Dillinger and Jason Castro also made his minutes scarce. We also saw his shooting go down which was a result of his lack of confidence.

Yancy de Ocampo has seen worse, actually. I remember when a rumor gone out that a USBL team was interested to acquire his services (I think it was the Valley Dawgs that also acquired the services of Bong Alvarez, Mark Magsumbol and Vince Hizon (?) to play for their squad). He played for the Lina franchise during his rookie year (2002-04) but was dealt to the Phone Pals (2004-05) and then returned to FedEx (2005-06) but found himself again as a Texter (06-10). Here’s the thing: Yancy posts good numbers as a Express and then those numbers deteriorate because TNT coaches bench him endlessly. If you look at his numbers, you’ll actually see that he has consistent stats with the minutes given to him. Yancy has had bad breaks every time he dons a TNT jersey and he’ll might as well retire altogether if he returns to the MVP franchise.

With the May 10 Elections approaching, perhaps we will see less Yeng Guiao and more Junel Baculi, who’ll probably take over the coaching reins. Baculi, the current Air21 assistant coach, was a former champion coach with Hapee and Welcoat in the PBL. Coincidentally, during Welcoat’s dominating PBL stint, amongst the players in his roster were Eugene Tan, Celino Cruz, Don Allado, Eric Canlas, RENREN RITUALO, and YANCY DE OCAMPO.

See those all caps players?

HELLO!!!

Do not let their current stats fool you. All of a sudden, Air21 gained big in this trade. Yancy is the center that the Express lack. He will now gain the plays designed for a certain Japeth Aguilar. Once his confidence picks up, expect him to body up alongside Beau Belga, Carlo Sharma, and Richard Yee. Yancy is such a great potential that at 30, he needs to do his best if wants to have a glorious end to his career. Same goes for Renren. Ronjay Buenafe, Wesley Gonzales and Ronnie Matias will likely share the SG and SF spots with Ritualo. As of this moment, the Express has only Buenafe and Alex Cabagnot as true and blue scoring threats for the squad. With Renren around, they can go small ball with Cabagnot orchestrating, Ronjay as the other wingman, and the import in the deep with either Yancy or Belga manning the post. In an instant, Air21 has a solid starting five on paper. Hopefully Ritualo and De Ocampo would make this stint worthwhile because except for Barako Bull, Air21 is the next best thing if they want themselves to get significant stats.

Just because the only players TNT got were bangers doesn’t mean they are bad choices. What TNT got is a burly center which is like a wall to his opponents (Quinahan), the first San Sebastian-Cavite player in the PBA that plays a lot like a young Junthy Valenzuela (Yee), and a seldom-used player that can explode when asked (Aban). These guys are great for a team that lacked role players. TNT is abundant in scorers but they have little to zero shock troopers. Having Quinahan in the fold would give Reyes another big body to double with Ranidel de Ocampo, Nic Belasco, Ali Peek and Harvey Carey. Quinahan is also a swat artist that had consistent stats ever since he started playing more than 20 minutes a game. Mark Yee can provide a pit bull-like stance on defense but expect him to shoot the lights out when he gets on scoring mode. Aban will get his time but I doubt if he could break in the positions Cardona, Castro, Jimmy Alapag, and now, Yee hold. I can even see Pong Escobal getting normal minutes in this setup.

So this is great for both camps! This trade was third party-free though, since the PBA has okayed that TNT and Air21 are free to deal with each other. These two teams are no strangers to one another since they’ve been players every year… and somewhat all the time.

But wait… does this mean that TNT will again use Air21 as their farm system squad…

Again?

Game over.

This time, it was Gregorio that pulled the rug on Cone.

Anyway, here are the players I thought were the best in this season’s Philippine Cup.

I took in consideration the following stats:

POINT 1: THE POINTS EQUATION – MINUTES PER GAME (POINTS PER GAME (X1) + REBOUNDS PER GAME (X1.5) + ASSISTS PER GAME (X2.0) + STEALS PER GAME (X2.5) + BLOCK PER GAME (X2.5) – TURNOVERS PER GAME) / (POINTS PER GAME (X1) + REBOUNDS PER GAME (X1.5) + ASSISTS PER GAME (X2.0) + STEALS PER GAME (X2.5) + BLOCK PER GAME (X2.5) – TURNOVERS PER GAME)
(Note: I just repeated the 6 stats and multiplied it with the minutes so that their total grades won’t look like 0.98766666666666666666666666666666).

POINT 2: ABSENTEE DEDUCTION – GAMES TEAM PLAYED – GAME PLAYER DID NOT PLAYED.

POINT 3: PERFORMANCE DEDUCTION – Wildcard losers have a -10 (Sta. Lucia, Coke, Burger King) on their total stats while quarterfinal losers get a -5 (TNT, Rain or Shine). Semi-finalists are exempted from the deductions while Barako Bull could have had a -15 deduction for missing the playoffs but since there team sucks, there is no need for them to get demerits.

By the way, after 3 PBFANTASY stints I realized that I lost in this conference (two second-place finishes and now a third-place citation). For some insane reason, I made a slew of wrong decisions that bombed my chances.

NUMBER 1: I should have never bet my chances Chris Tiu, CJ Giles, and the rest of the Smart-Gilas squad. These names didn’t play much at the start of the tourney and I waited four playdates in the process.

NUMBER 2: I predicted the events wrong. PBFantasy is partly gambling on which team will survive until the end. I was seriously looking forward to an Alaska-San Miguel series. This is why I wasted two playdates because I thought Arwind Santos and Dondon Hontiveros will score big and force a Game 7 in their semis matchup.

NUMBER 3: I didn’t believe the hype. The overpopulation of slashers at the Ginebra camp forced me to not acquire the services of JC Intal. The fact that he was often injured made me realize what a mistake it was for me to pick Solomon Mercado. And my biggest blunder would have pretty much been my snubbing of Rafi Reavis, Marc Pingris and Roger Yap for my San Miguel troika of Santos, Hontiveros and Jonas Villanueva. Even Santos failed to deliver his awesome stats while the three are getting the breaks from averaging big time minutes.

I am trying to device a new strategy poised to engineering a sterling effort en route to the top of the rankings. While waiting for my dream to get real, here are the Top 50.

BOX SCORES:
TEAM PARTICIPATION – 50: Alaska 8, Purefoods 7, San Miguel 7, Ginebra 6, Talk N Text 6, Rain or Shine 5, Burger King 5, Sta. Lucia 3, Coca-Cola 3, Barako Bull 0.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN:

(Except for Alaska and Purefoods, all stats are final. Matches against Smart Gilas are excluded.)

50 BEAU BELGA – BURGER KING (9.1PPG, 5.7RPG, 1.6APG)
49 LARRY FONACIER – ALASKA (5.6PPG, 1.7RPG, 1.7APG)
48 DENNIS ESPINO – COCA-COLA (11.0PPG, 6.8RPG, 1.5APG)
47 RICHARD YEE – BURGER KING (9.8PPG, 6.8RPG, 2.2APG)
46 MICK PENNISI – SAN MIGUEL (5.8PPG, 4.7RPG, 1.0APG)
45 MARK BORBORAN – ALASKA (5.6PPG, 3.3RPG)
44 LARRY RODRIGUEZ – COCA-COLA (10.0PPG, 7.1RPG, 1.7APG)
43 RONJAY BUENAFE – BURGER KING (13.9PPG, 3.3RPG, 2.4APG, 1.4SPG)
42 RYAN ARANA – RAIN OR SHINE (10.5PPG, 4.0RPG, 1.9APG)
41 JEFFREI CHAN – RAIN OR SHINE (10.4PPG, 3.6RPG, 1.9APG)
40 DENOK MIRANDA – SAN MIGUEL (7.9PPG, 2.4RPG, 2.5APG)
39 JAYR REYES – RAIN OR SHINE (7.5PPG, 7.2RPG)
38 RICO MAIERHOFER – PUREFOODS (7.3PPG, 5.0RPG, 1.0APG, 0.9BPG)
37 JOSEPH YEO – STA. LUCIA (13.5PPG, 3.8RPG, 3.7APG)
36 WILLY WILSON – GINEBRA (7.1PPG, 5.4RPG, 1.0APG)
35 ERIC MENK – GINEBRA (10.4PPG, 6.4RPG, 1.6APG)
34 JR QUINAHAN – BURGER KING (7.5PPG, 7.3RPG, 2.2APG, 1.3BPG)
33 PAUL ARTADI – PUREFOODS (6.5PPG, 2.5RPG, 2.6APG, 1.3SPG)
32 RANIDEL DE OCAMPO – TALK N TEXT (9.0PPG, 6.2RPG, 1.5APG)
31 DORIAN PENA – SAN MIGUEL (6.4PPG, 7.8RPG)
30 ALI PEEK – TALK N TEXT (8.7PPG, 6.6RPG, 1.3BPG)
29 CYRUS BAGUIO – GINEBRA (9.8PPG, 2.3RPG, 2.1APG, 0.9SPG)
28 ENRICO VILLANUEVA – GINEBRA (7.9PPG, 6.0RPG, 1.5APG)
27 ASI TAULAVA – COCA-COLA (14.1PPG, 12.5RPG, 4.5APG)
26 JIMMY ALAPAG – TALK N TEXT (14.9PPG, 2.8RPG, 4.7APG)
25 RAFI REAVIS – PUREFOODS (7.0PPG, 9.0RPG, 0.9SPG, 0.9BPG)
24 RYAN REYES – STA. LUCIA (11.2PPG, 5.5RPG, 4.6APG, 2.1SPG)
23 JASON CASTRO – TALK N TEXT (11.3PPG, 3.8RPG, 3.9APG, 1.3SPG)
22 SOL MERCADO – RAIN OR SHINE (16.4PPG, 3.4RPG, 4.6APG, 1.1SPG)
21 MIKE CORTEZ – SAN MIGUEL (10.0PPG, 3.2RPG, 3.2APG, 1.0SPG)
20 ALEX CABAGNOT – COCA-COLA/BURGER KING (13.1PPG, 4.4RPG, 5.8APG, 1.1SPG)
19 HARVEY CAREY – TALK N TEXT (10.7PPG, 9.0RPG, 1.5APG)
18 REYNEL HUGNATAN – ALASKA (11.0PPG, 6.4RPG, 1.8APG)
17 SONNY THOSS – ALASKA (10.5PPG, 7.0RPG, 1.2APG, 1.0BPG)
16 JONAS VILLANUEVA – SAN MIGUEL (7.9PPG, 4.0RPG, 5.0APG, 1.0SPG)
15 MARC PINGRIS – PUREFOODS (8.3PPG, 8.5RPG, 1.4APG)
14 JC INTAL – GINEBRA (11.9PPG, 5.0RPG, 1.5APG, 0.9SPG)
13 DONDON HONTIVEROS – SAN MIGUEL (13.4PPG, 4.6RPG, 2.0APG)
12 KERBY RAYMUNDO – PUREFOODS (14.3PPG, 6.0RPG, 2.9APG)
11 TONY DELA CRUZ – ALASKA (9.4PPG, 6.7RPG, 1.8APG, 0.9SPG)

THE TOP TEN:

10 MACMAC CARDONA – TALK N TEXT (19.0PPG, 4.5RPG, 3.0APG, 1.1SPG): Averaging under 20 points, the scoring leader of the Philippine Cup found himself having multiple 30+ scoring nights. However, the inconsistency of TNT’s winning streak relegated him to this point (also, imagine TNT NOT WALKING OUT).

9 ROGER YAP – PUREFOODS (12.0PPG, 5.2RPG, 3.8APG, 0.8SPG): Confession: I moved him two spots down. I must admit though that his numbers started an upward surge during the Rain or Shine series. The Rabbit is actually embarking on a Jonas Villanueva-like stat surge with his rebounds and assists doing most of the damage than his scoring. Unlike Jonas though, he has more shot selections since most of the Giants are role players for James and Kerby.

8 JAMES YAP – PUREFOODS (17.5PPG, 3.7RPG, 2.0APG, 0.8SPG): I must admit, his numbers gone up during the playoffs. He is a Best Player contender even if he’s at the tail end of the top ten. With Purefoods a game away from winning the Philippine Cup, I’ll give King James a glimmer of a shot to book a Best Player plum.

7 RONALD TUBID – GINEBRA (15.3PPG, 5.7RPG, 1.6APG): With Mark Caguioa and then Jayjay Helterbrand, the Gins campaign appears to be in peril. The Saint/Rocket/Fearless pounded sense to the critics by leading the Kings to fourth place. While he was displaced by the rejuvenated JC Intal and the comebacking Caguioa during the playoffs, he was still a valuable asset to the team.

6 LA TENORIO – ALASKA (14.4PPG, 4.3RPG, 4.5APG, 1.3SPG): Johnny Abarrientos saw extended minutes this conference but “Flying LA” saw him being compared to the former MVP in his prime at the Alaska camp. Whenever he gets a good game, great things happen for the Aces. The two had a mini-faceoff during the semis series which Tenorio won (Jong Uichico could have used Flying A more).

5 GABE NORWOOD – RAIN OR SHINE (14.9PPG, 7.0RPG, 3.6APG, 1.4SPG, 0.8BPG): During the elimination round I place Norwood at the 20 to 25 spot in my Top 50 because while his stats are great, his team’s winning percentage wasn’t. For some insane reason, they can’t buy a win. Come playoff time from ninth place, they surged to the quarterfinals. While some could thank Sol Mercado for their drive to the top, Norwood was the only player consistently playing for the team since day one.

4 JOE DEVANCE – ALASKA (13.8PPG, 8.0RPG, 1.9APG, 0.8BPG): Finally we are seeing the power of Joe Devance! His shots outside the shaded area are consistently going in and his defensive presence in it has improved. While he is still a PF/C, Tim Cone can easily rely on him if he decides to go on his big but quick lineup (although their big but quick lineup proved no match to the Giants’ big but quick lineup).

3 WILLIE MILLER – ALASKA (15.8PPG, 6.0RPG, 4.3APG): As I observe, Miller Time is a double edged sword for the Aces. During the Ginebra series, Miller struggled in the field but the Aces managed to sweep the Kings but now that he poised in leading the scoring for the squad, alas Alaska is dwelling on a shitty situation. Miller has been so inconsistent this conference that I would rather have Yap or Santos claim the plum than the Thriller. Sad but true, usually when Miller scores big, especially in the second round and in the playoffs, the Aces find themselves in the losing end.

2 KELLY WILLIAMS – STA. LUCIA (17.9PPG, 14.6RPG, 3.4APG, 1.7SPG, 0.7BPG): If somebody played like an import this conference, Kelly Williams takes the cake. Barely recovering for the blood disorder he suffered midway in last season’s Fiesta Cup, Machine Gun Kelly displayed the skills to move the Realtors to a winning record. Add the woes that included the Dennis Espino trade, Marlou Aquino’s inability to lift the Realtors’ center spot and the injury that slowed down Gabby Espinas, Williams has been the group’s most consistent stat producer. Had SLR reached the semis, he would have been a tremendously easy choice for Best Player.

1 ARWIND SANTOS – SAN MIGUEL (17.6PPG, 10.1RPG, 1.4APG, 1.1SPG, 1.3BPG): I am picking Arwind Santos to win with the following reasons. 1) The stats he is producing are his stats when he was in Burger King. It is easy for him to get that stats since that team regard him as their top dog but carrying those stats as a Beerman makes him a player unlike any other. 2) Except for SMB’s disastrous semifinal campaign, no one can’t say that Arwind and the rest of the San Miguel team didn’t dominate the Philippine Cup. During this time The Spiderman played all but one of their games (his DNP happens to be the third place game). And 3) While I rated Miller at number 3 and while the Yaps, Devance, and Tenorio are still playing; the way Santos and Williams played in this conference belittles their output.

The race could be Willie Miller versus James Yap but I am still hoping Arwind Santos would win the Best Player plum.

In terms of the finals output, the series will still have six games… but I missed the mark by saying that Aces will win this. That 3-0 mark is too huge of a hole to dig out and I sense Purefoods would successfully win the conference after their third try.

Am I right or am I right?

GAME OVER!

For example, not attacking the basket and FALL IN LOVE WITH THE THREE POINT SHOT!!!

San Miguel joins Ginebra and Talk N Text as those that fell in love shooting beyond the arc and NEVER made the finals of the 2009-10 PBA Philippine Cup.

At the start of the season, Purefoods pushed a lot of trades that sent two of their “prodigal sons” back in the fold. Paul Artadi fled to Ginebra after getting “hell” treatment from Ryan Gregorio for his inability to knock outside shots. Marc Pingris was sent away so that Enrico Villanueva can fill the need of the Giants to have a wide body in the inside after Romel Adducul was sidelined because of cancer. The team got two rookies – the best in the batch Rico Maierhofer (because Japeth Aguilar joined the Smart-Gilas roster) and Chris Timberlake. Gregorio had to also unload Richard Yee, Celino Cruz and Villanueva (the last two were instrumental for the Giants to claim Rafi Reavis). The better version of Artadi and the more seasoned version of Pingris were amongst the notables in Purefoods’ rise.

Say what you want about Ryan Gregorio, but the defense he put in to destroy San Miguel is genius! Making San Miguel lose three straight is a feat itself. The scary thing about SMB is that you don’t know who’ll erupt. Their bench can play like their starters. When Arwind Santos and Jay Washington needs to rest, Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso enter. Unlike Ginebra in the Alaska series though, Purefoods wanted to get the Beermen to fear them. Again, I give props to the awesome defense Purefoods gave SMB. Reavis, Pingris, Maierhofer, and Roger Yap flourished in this system while their main guns Kerby Raymundo and James Yap were gracious enough to not hog the field goals for themselves. While Don Allado, PJ Simon, KG Canaleta and Artadi hardly played and hardly became a factor in the SMB series, I expect these three to have a say on things for the Aces.

Speaking of which, Alaska has had a very lazy preseason. The major difference of this lineup was seldom used newb Mike Burtscher. While they have acquired Samigue Eman, he is barred to play for the team until the Fiesta Cup. However, their non-transformation heralded a long winning streak. While they after they suffered their first loss, things started to go downhill, they bounced back to claim the last outright semis spot. Willie Miller was superb in their opening games but his points are currently lackluster and inconsistent. However, Miller this season is happily playing his role as decoy, and letting his teammates share the limelight. Sonny Thoss was the bar none MVP of the Ginebra series because he was unstoppable in the shaded area. Mucho accolades also goes to Tony dela Cruz, Reynel Hugnatan and Joe Devance for anchoring the team’s scoring with Miller’s scoring absence. However, LA Tenorio is the team’s stabilizer. Unlike his other Ateneo teammates, Flying LA has certainly found a home in Tim Cone’s turf. He is scoring, orchestrating, and defending the ball as if he is a ten-year pro. The bench mob of the Aces might be inferior, but you need to be wary of Hugnatan, John Ferriols, Mark Borboran, Larry Fonacier, and Jeff Cariaso because all I can say is that the bench of Alaska is underrated.

So matchup-wise, I’ll say Alaska is more organized than Purefoods. Tim Cone has a unit very familiar to each other and you know they are organized because not anyone can adapt to his system. Alaska also has a great defense despite the fact that they aren’t that big. In terms of starting fives, the Aces have five players that normally play around 30 minutes per game. However, the Giants have intensity. While Alaska solved Ginebra’s run and gun game, Artadi, Pingris, Simon, Canaleta, and Maierhofer are all thrillseekers at Ryan Gregorio’s disposal. The fact that Purefoods’ bench is deeper than the Aces is another plus point for the “blue” boys. Their zone defense is suffocating and after Thoss, there is no other big to properly contain Kerby and Reavis. How Gregorio would use Maierhofer is also something to ponder upon.

I want to say more but I just got constraints…

I just got lazy.

Boohoo.

I won’t say which outduels what but I sense that Alaska will prevail in this matchup at 6 games.

Until then, GAME OVER!