B-MEG Llamados barge into the winning column with a 96-88 win over the Gin Kings

I was suppose to post this Monday but was a bit busy at home, but the game last Sunday was exciting, as this was a rematch to last conference semis match between the B-MEG Llamados and the Brgy. Ginebra Kings.

This time around the Kings have most of their players healthy while B-MEG doesn't have Pingris and De Vance due to injury. But still B-Meg won over Ginebra 96-88.

Although Ginebra started the game on fire, it didn't take long for B-MEG to adjust and even took the lead on the first quarter, and the rest was history, Ginebra after a strong start never got its bearing again as B-MEG just took control of the game until the end.

B-MEG was again led by scoring apostle PJ Simon with 21 points followed by James Yap 18 points and the sudden uprising of Yancy De Ocampo with 16 points.

Ginebra was led by their import Bozeman with 30 points and former B-MEG star Kerby Raymundo with 20 points.

What baffled me was Ginebra's player rotation or the players used by Ginebra, I'm no Kings fan but I considered Ginebra, Petron and TNT, the teams with powerhouse lineup. But last Sunday, Dylan Ababou, Helterbrand, Menk and even Maierhofer did not play, I'm not sure of the status of Menk and Helterbrand, but I know Dylan and Maierhofer are ready to play, but the coach did not even used them. I know quite a few Ginebra fans don't like the way the coach decided on what players to used on that game, well its still early in the tournament, and maybe Coach Siot is still trying to find the right combination for his powerhouse lineup.

Meralco Bolts wins Game 1 over B-MEG Llamados 103-81

The Meralco Bolts came out on fire in Game 1 of their best of three match against B-MEG Llamados. The Bolts outplayed the Llamados from the opening tip off, starting with their point guard Chris Ross who pressured the Llamados point guard, which disrupted B-MEG's triangle offense, on top of that Bolts import Earl Barron clearly outplayed his counterpart Bowles in the opening quarter which saw Meralco Bolts leading 32-19 and then finishing the first half with a 54-38 lead.

"This is a first playoff win for us in five conferences. It's an enormous breakthrough for this franchise," said Gregorio.

"But we know that a best of three isn't win by one game. After taking a shower, we'll focus again for Wednesday," Gregorio added.

The Llamados actually waged a chase in the second half even cutting the lead to 3 80-77, but that was the closest the Llamados can get, as Cardona spearheaded a spirited 18-0 run to scutle B-MEG's bid.

Meralco Bolts import Earl Barron lead all scorers with 34 points while Cardona added 22 points to help the Bolts which can go for the clincher in game two this Wednesday at 5:15 pm.

The Llamados was lead by James Yap with 21 points, Bowles added 18 but was clearly outplayed by Barron.

Trade Involving Maierhofer, Maliksi, De Ocampo, Aquino and Future Pick Approved By PBA Commissioner

A trade involving B-MEG's Rico Maierhofer, Ginebra's Yancy De Ocampo and Jimbo Aquino, Barako Bull Allein Maliksi was approved by Philippines Basketball Association Commissioner Chito Salud.

In the approved transaction Ginebra will receive Rico Maierhofer and Allein Maliksi, Barako Bull will receive Jimbo Aquino and a 2013 first round and 2012 second round picks from Ginebra, while B-MEG will receive Yancy de Ocampo and a 2012 second round pick from Barako Bull.

With this trade Ginebra Gin Kings has finally found the needed upgrade in their frontline, with Maliksi and Maierhofer.

B-MEG on the other hand has added a center in De Ocampo (Although De Ocampo prefers to play outside the shaded lane) but with a 6'9" height and a nice touch outside would be a good fit in their triangle offense.

Barako Bull on the other hand added a guard to their lineup in Jimbo Aquino a former top gun of the San Sebastian Stags.

B-MEG defeated Alaska 92-89 in a double Overtime

It was their second meeting this conference, and Alaska was aching to get back at B-MEG for their loss in their first meeting. For Alaska its about revenge and also wanting to get out of the 9th spot since the last two teams on the end of the elimination gets booted out. For B-MEG it would extending their winning streak to 3.

B-MEG won for the second time over Alaska 92-89 in a thriller double overtime game.

B-MEG's superstar James Yap struggled early in the game but was a major factor during overtime and with B-MEG's supersub PJ Simon injured, rookie Mark Barroca stepped up his game to score 22 points his best performance so far this conference.

LA Tenorio who had a sub par game in their first meeting came out on fire in this game as he scored 28 points to lead Alaska, but was a non factor in overtime as he suffered cramps.

JR Reyes could have won the game for Alaska in regulation but missed his under goal attempt.

On the first overtime though, Alaska was in full control leading 80-75 with 2:25 left, but Yap and Barroca hit huge shots to tie it 80 all. Both teams had a chance to take the lead but both failed to make a shot leading to a 2nd overtime.

Then James Yap took over, hitting all of his attempts to give the Llamdos a 92-87 lead with just 43 seconds remaining.

"Very, very important for us to go over .500," said Cone. "Two or three weeks ago, we're in 9th place, now I think we're tied for 5th. We're now making our move and that's very important for us."

B-MEG's next opponent will be sister team Barangay Ginebra Kings, while Alaska will face Powerade Tigers.

B-MEG defeated Meralco Bolts 95-79 for their first Back to Back win this Conference

This was the first time this conference that B-MEG has won back to back victories. With a new head coach in Tim Cone the Llamados are still adjusting to the new system their coach is implementing on them.

B-MEG were able to hold of a feisty Meralco Bolts and was able to hold on to a 95-79 win in the 2011 Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

James Yap led the way for B-MEG with 25 points on 10-18 shooting, giving the Llamados a 4-4 standing.

Although B-MEG were able to notch its first back to back wins, it was in the expense of PJ Simon.

Simon got injured when he had a bad fall on a drive to the basket. B-MEG fans are hopeful its nothing serious because PJ Simon has been a spark for B-MEG in this couple of games.

Gabby Espinas led Meralco Bolts with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The bolts are now 5-4 in the team standings.

Cone now challenges his players to make a run to catch up the leaders in the team standings.

"This is the time we have to make our surge. We can't lag too far back and expect to catch up anybody," said Cone.

B-MEG's next opponent is Cone's former team Alaska this Sunday.

Barako Bull defeated B-Meg 87-84 for its 4th straight win

People from Panabo City got one hell of a treat. A tightly fought game, that went into overtime.

The Barako Bull got its 4th straight win defeating B-Meg in overtime 87-84 in an out of town game in Panabo, Davao del Norte. With this win, Barako now shares the lead with Rain or Shine and defending champs Talk and Text.

The game had several momentum shift with B-Meg starting the game with a 17-0 run, and Barako making a run on the 2nd quarter, from there on the two teams traded runs until the final half.

B-Meg forced extension on the dying second with James Yap knocking a three pointer with 1.8 seconds left in the game. Barako Bulls Miller tried to win it but missed the target.

It was still a closely fought game in overtime, but with B-Meg's Raymundo committing several mistakes, the last was a bad pass to James Yap that resulted with a steal by Jondan Salvador.

James Yap fouled Salvador immediately to sent him to the line, the former Llamados hit his first free throw and miss the second, giving B-Meg another chance for a second overtime. But James Yap missed badly on a three point attempt in the left corner sealing the win for the Barako Bull.

Willie Miller led Barako Bull with 18 points while James Yap top scored for B-Meg with 20 points whose team is now struggling with a 2-4 card while Barako Bull rose to the top of the standing with a 4-1 slate.

Time Cone Is Now The New B-MEG Llamados Head Coach

It's been a while since I updated this blog, and my last post was about Tim Cone retiring. Although there were rumors circulating in the net that Cone will end up coaching a SMC team preferably B-MEG the rumors fizzled out when Del Rosario was named acting head coach. Days passed and a new rumor came out again. This time Tim Cone will be back but not as a coach but as a consultant for B-MEG then after 1 conference he will assume the Head coach position from Del Rosario.

Then came the big surprise, I think B-MEG can't wait to have Tim Cone handle the Llamados as Tim Cone is now officially the new Head coach of the Llamados. Along with Tim Cone is his former players Johnny Abbarientos and Jeff Cariaso. Now its clear that the Llamados would use the triangle offense with Tim and his former players around not to mention Devance is also in the Llamados lineup.

Things look brighter now in the B-MEG's camp, with the Llamados almost having all of their injured players back, except for Jonas Villanueva and maybe Barroca if he will still be in the Gilas lineup.

Smart Gilas Perfect No More

Well you can't win them all. Smart Gilas suffered its first defeat, losing to the BMEG Llamados 98-90 in overtime. Smart Gilas is now tied with TNT with identical record 5-1. There's one thing that is bothering me with the Gilas loss, they were defeated because Douthit was injured. So is the Gilas only good with Douthit around? what will happened if such thing will happened during the Olympic qualifier, can they win if Douhtit got injured or has a bad game? The second thing is that with Douhtit injured, I thought Gilas remaining players can still dominated a BMEG team plagued with injuries, but to my dismay they were still defeated.

I do praise Gilas coach for giving playing time to Slaughter, although he was slaughtered by Kerby and Spears inside. He still manages to collect 7 blocks and that monster two hand dunk.

B-Megs Derby Ace Kerby Raymundo will suit up against Alaska

A good news for B-Megs fans out there B-Megs captain is back!! Kerby Raymundo who has been sidelined by hip injury will be playing for B-Meg Derby Ace when they face up against Alaska.

"The doctors have given me the green light to play. I will definitely play on Sunday against Alaska," said Kerby Raymundo .

With injuries to Rico Maierhofer, Raffi Reavis and Don Allado. Kerby would really be a big help for the injury plague Llamados.

TNT defeats B-Meg in Game 1 of their series

TNT Tropang Texters takes game 1 of their best of seven with a 98-91 win over the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados. Jimmy Alapag led the way for TNT with 20 points spoiling B-Meg's superstar James Yap 36 points. The game was close in the first quarter with B-Meg leading by just one. But things started to heat up for TNT in the 2nd quarter mainly because of Ranidel de Ocampo's 16 2nd quarter points most of it coming from the 3 point area. Though TNT look to take the game wide open in the 2nd half B-Meg just won't quit and just began chipping on the lead of the TNT behind James Yap, even cutting TNT's lead to two 87-89 with just 4 minutes left in the game. But TNT floor general Jimmy Alapag took the game over, especially his dagger 4 point play that practically destroyed any B-Meg hopes to win the game.

I expected this to happen, after all, TNT is up against a depleted B-Meg team. B-Meg is already without its main low post threat in Kerby Raymundo, and their starting center Rafi Reavis add to that Roger Yap who wasn't able to play due to a foot injury. But I gotta give it to B-Meg for really giving it all against a mighty team like TNT who has such a star studded line up and a very deep bench. Game 2 will be on January 5, 2011.