Rain or Shine Continues to Dominate B-MEG Winning Game 1 of Governors Cup Finals

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters continue its dominance over the B-MEG Llamados, winning game 1 91-80. 

As expected of team under coach Yeng Guiao, Rain or Shine came out aggressive and physical, which clearly disrupted the Llamados game. But hey, this is the finals right, and things are bound to get physical. But I got to admit sometimes Rain or Shine do sometime go overboard with their fouls, but that is their style of play and it up to the Llamados to adjust to that brand of play.

But we do have to give credit to Rain or Shine, they do have B-MEG's number in this conference, coming in Game 1 of the finals, B-MEG has not beaten Rain or Shine in two games already. 

The game was close in the first half, with B-MEG leading by four. But in the second half where B-MEG import Marqus Blakely got in to foul trouble, the Llamados defense went soft, and Rain or Shine began to take over the lead. Rain or Shine led by by 7 (66-59) at the end of the third quarter.

When Blakely returned early in the 4th, he was never the same, his presence was hardly felt, especially on the defensive end.

James Yap led the scoring for B-MEG with 19 points but lack local support. Blakely finished with 12 points only.

Rain or Shine was led by Jamelle Cornley with 25 points (who I think would be hand down the Best Import for this conference). Prolific rookie Paul Lee contributed 14 points.

Game 2 is on Wednesday (July 25, 2012).

B-MEG Llamados defeated Meralco Bolts 88-83 for its 3rd straight win

It was a sloppy game for B-MEG last night, as it committed 21 turnovers but its defense pulled through to get its 3rd straight win, winning 88-83 over Meralco Bolts. B-MEG is now tied at second place with sister team Petron at 3-1.

B-MEG won with its defense, and what better to show its defense with a 12 blocks in the game, and surprisingly one of the players leading the block party, James Yap who had a total of 3 blocks together with Rafi Reavies with 3 also, Yancy and Import Marqus Blakely had 2 blocks a piece, Pingris and Barroca had 1 blocks for the total of 12 for the team.

But even though with B-MEG's defense clicking their turnover really hurt them which enable the Bolts to hang on, especially with Meralco Bolts main man Mark Cardona exploding with 27 points and point guard Chris Ross contributing with 18 points, but had little support from import.Oguchi only managed to score 12 points in the game.

B-MEG's import Marqus Blakely had another all around performance with 31 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. James Yap contributed with 19 points and the Pinoy Sakuragi Marc Pingris had10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Meralco Bolts are now tied with its sister team Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters  at the bottom together with Alaska at 1-3. Meralco's next opponent will be the Alaska Aces, while B-MEG Llamados will play Air 21 Express in an out of town game at Digos City.

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.

Petron Blaze Boosters Defeated Powerade Tigers 97-83

The defending champions Petron Blaze Boosters opens its title defense with an impressive win over the Powerade Tigers 97-83 on the 2012 Governors Cup. Petron Blaze Booster's import Eddie Basden led the way with 28 points on a 12 of 22 shooting from the field plus 10 rebounds. Although Basden is noted to be a defensive specialist, he made crucial baskets in the fourth to lift the Boosters against the Powerade Tigers. 

Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos contributed 17 and 16 points respectively for Petron cause. New recruit Marcio Lassiter was in the side lines as he is still nursing a fractured hand.

I was hoping to see what Lassiter and Al-Hussaini can contribute to their new teams since this two were the major reasons in the big trade this team has gone through, but sad to say Marcio is still injured, while Rabeh was able to play, but was a non factor as he was ejected early in the game after incurring a flagrant foul penalty two on Dorian Pena.

Powerade Tigers was led by their import Rashad McCants with 27 points while Powerade Tigers prolific scorer Gary David had 26 points. 

Powerade Tigers next opponent is Barako Bull Energy on May 25, 2012, while Petron Blaze Boosters takes on Meralco Bolts on May 26, 2012.

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.

Rain or Shine Won Over Powerade to Tie Semifinal Series 2-2

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters entered the game with more intensity in game 4 and shot better from the field goal for a 110-95 win over the Powerade Tigers to even the 2011-2012 PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals at 2-2.

Powerade's Gary David may have scored 30 points his 6th 30 point performance in this conference but still suffered a loss to Rain or Shine.

Jeff Chan led the Elasto Painters with 19 points, with rookie Paul Lee contributing 15 points.

"We just shot better and worked harder. Mas masipag kami ngayon," said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.

"Its nice to celebrate the win but we just evened the series. We'll be going back to the gym and prepare for the best of three."

TY Tang helped contribute to the Elasto Painters third quarter break away with excellent passes to his teammates that increase their halftime lead of 54-43 to a 79-61 cushion entering the 4th quarter.

They led by as much as 20 points in the 4th quarter (86-66) and was never threatened by the tigers since then.

Game 5 will be on Friday. The PBA will return to its usual 2 games a day format with Rain or Shine versus Powerade playing first at 5:15 pm.

Petron Blaze Wins Game 3 Thriller Over Talk N Text Tropang Texters

It was a thriller indeed last night at the Cuneta Astrodome as Petron Blaze came back from a 20 point margin and stunned defending champion Talk N Text, 95-93, on Alex Cabagnot's heroics to take a 2-1 lead in their best of seven semifinal series in the 2011-2012 Philippine Cup.

Talk N Text was full of energy from the start of the game while the Boosters plays sluggishly in the first half, but come 2nd half the Boosters were a different team, behind Denok Miranda and Arwind Santos, the Boosters came roaring back to steal game 3.

Arwind Santos led the Boosters with 25 points while Denok Miranda added 20 points.

But it was Cabagnot's dagger 3 point shot that turned the game in the Boosters favor.

"We designed teh last play for Alex, tapos second option si Arwind kung walang mangyari," said Petron head coach Ato Agustin.

It was a heart breaking loss for the Tropang Texters who led most of the way, and even lead by 20 (46-26) with 4:37 in the second quarter. But the Booster finish strong in the first half to trim the Texters lead to 48-38.

Larry Fonacier had a chance to put the Texters on top but eh missed a three pointer, which led to a split free throw from rookie Chris Lutz that gave Petron a 95-93 lead with 2.6 seconds left in the final quarter.

The Texters had another chance to win the game but Ranidel de Ocampo's three pointer at the buzzer miss.

Ranidel de Ocampo is the high point man for the Texters with 20 points.

Game 4 will be on January 11, 2012 Wednesday.

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.

Rain or Shine defeated Barako Bull 93-81 to remain on Top of the Pact

Rain or Shine is the hottest team in the Philippine Basketball Association right now. Rain or Shine is on a 5 game winning streak right now, and is on top of the standing with a 7-1 records followed closely by defending champion Talk n Text with a 6-1 record.

Rookie sensation Paul Lee lead the way for Rain or Shine with 17 points while veteran Willie Miller top scored for the Barako bull which slid down to 5-3.

Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said "We came into this game prepared because we respect Barako Bull. We knew it would be a difficult game."

"Our game plan was to play team defense. Buti nalang na-sustain naman," he added

I consider Rain or Shine from the start of the conference as the dark horse to win the title, but I never expected this team to lead this way early.

Rain or Shine will battle Petron Blaze this Sunday.

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.

Talk n Text Center Ali Peek Faces Hard Decision May Not Play Again

Talk n Text center Ali Peek faces a hard decision concerning his condition.

Doctors have given him and his family two options, one to leave the bullet lodged in his nape to sit where it is and guaranteed him that his life will be fairly normal. But he is unlikely to play again.

The second option is to operate on him, remove the bullet and wait just a few month and he will be good as new. But the operation is fraught with danger.

Even the best doctors could not guarantee that an operation of this kind is trouble free since the bullet is too close to the spinal cord, one or two millimeters away.

A missed cut or incision may cause instant paralysis.

On the other hand, the first option guarantees full recovery but he may have to retire from the game. If he opts to play, a hard foul or a fall may push the bullet towards the spinal cord and the result would also be paralysis.

This is a very hard decision for Ali, but for me if he decides to choose option 1, choosing life over his career, why not. Ali has proven many things in the hard court and has won multiple championships already. But then again the decision lies with Ali Peek and his family. Whatever their decision is Talk n Text and basketball fans would respect it. Good Luck Ali and God Bless.

Talk and Text Center Ali Peek was Shot, But now in Stable Condition

A sad news for Talk and Text fans and also for the pba fans.

Talk n Text player Ali Peek was shot by a still unidentified gunman in Mandaluyong City.

Reports said Peek came from a workout at RFM Gymnasium around 7 pm when he was attacked.

Talk n Text head coach Chot Reyes said in his Twitter account (@coachot) " Ali Peek was shot by an unidentified assailant in d parking lot of RFM gym at around 7 pm today. He's conscious & in stable condition now"

"The Talk n Text family asks d public to respect their privacy at this time. Further details will be released as they become available," Reyes further tweeted.

Citing initial reports, Chief Supt. Francisco Manalo, Eastern Police District director, said Peek was shot once at the nape using an unknown caliber of firearm at the RFM Gym in Barangay Buayang Bato at around 7:30 pm.

The suspect immediately fled after the shooting while Peek was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Reyes said that while Peek is conscious, a bullet remains lodged at the player's neck, which would require a procedure to remove.

Were praying for you big guy, hope for your fast recovery.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas Won Over Jordan 72-64 in the 2nd Round of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship

The Philippines started the 2nd round on a good note, as it beat Jordan 72-64. It was nice to see Lassiter and Lutz finally having to play, there were still some controversy it was said that on Coach Chot Reyes Twitter

coachot Chot Reyes

RT @NoliEala Great news! Fiba has cleared Lassiter and Lutz to play. Letter already being transmitted to Fiba Asia and SBP. God bless Gilas.

The message was dated Sept 18. Then came a tweet just before the game that

coachot Chot Reyes

UNBELIEVABLE! This is why I'm so disillusioned about FIBA basketball. Ayaw na naman palaruin yung 2!

So I thought Lutz and Lassiter wont be playing the game, but to my surprise they did. As the first half of the game we saw the Jordan team leading the Philippines. It was a different story on the second half as Lassiter provided the spark with his timely three point bomb and Douthit flexing his muscle inside. Although there was moment on the game where Douthit went down it, I was concerned since Douthit is our only big presence down the middle.But came back a few minutes to help the team.

Philippines was led by Marcus Douthit with 19 points and Marcio Lassiter with 14 points. Jordan was led by Osama Daghles with 18 points and Rasheim Wright with 16 points.

Philippines Smart Gilas will face Team Japan tomorrow August 20, 2011.

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.

Time Cone Retires: Joel Banal is Aces New Head Coach

Whoaaa, when I first saw PBA, Jawo was still playing, Ginebra was for me the Bad Boys of the PBA, I think purefoods at that time look like the glamour boys of basketball - as for Alaska, I always say to my self the team with the American coach, who always wear sleeves and ties.

There were many coaching change during those year's and Tim Cone remained as an Alaska coach for so long, and now HE'S RETIRING OR PLANNING TO RETIRE?

I first saw this in a newspaper. Tim Cone will no longer be the head coach of the Alaska Aces as he will retire soon. His retirement will be announced by Mr. Fred Uytengsu, the President of the Alaska Milk Corporation. The possible replacement of Cone will be coach Joel Banal who steered the Ateneo Blue Eagles to a championship in 2002.

Some of the Alaska fans doesn't want coach Tim to leave. They are saying that Alaska could no longer give the salary that Cone wants that's why he's leaving the team. But apparently, they are all wrong because Mr. Uytengsu said that it's about coaching fatigue. Here's what he said:

"Coaching fatigue. He wanted to do something different. Tim's assistant, Joel Banal, will replace him"

FATIGUE? All I know is if you loved your job, you wont even feel fatigue. But hey, that's just me.

JV Casio is Number 1 Pick in this Years PBA Rookie Draft 2011

In it's bid to be competitive, Powerade Tigers picked JV Casio as this years number 1 pick. There's no question Casio will be picked at number 1, seeing the way he play with Smart Gilas. Is Casio the answer to Powerade's rise to PBA, remains to be seen. Although Casio will provide the scoring and stability in their backcourt. Their froncourt personnel remains a big question mark. Powerade also picked Casio's Gilas teammate Marcio Lassiter at number 4.

The top ten picks are:

1. JV Casio(Powerade)

2. Paul Lee (RoS)

3. Chris Lutz (Petron)

4. Marcio Lassiter (Powerade)

5. Mark Barroca (Shopinas)

6. Marnel Baracael (Alaska)

7. Jason Ballesteros (Meralco)

8. Allein Maliksi (Barako)

9. Reil Cervantes (Ginebra)

10. Dylan Ababou (Barako)

I didn't bother watching the 2nd round though, sorry guys.

TNT's Jimmy Alapag is the 2011 PBA MVP

There was no doubt Jimmy will be the winner in this years MVP, his team TNT has already won two titles and needed only to win this conference to gain the rare grandslam feat. I always considered Alapag as the heart-and-soul of the Tropang Texters, Alapag played a key role in getting the telecommunication franchise to where it is at the moment – a title removed from completing a historic Grand Slam.

Jimmy Alapag is only the fifth point guard to win the MVP trophy, Alapag said he never once thought of bagging the award ever since he learned the rudiments of the sport.

“Ever since I’ve been playing basketball, I’ve never gone before the start of the season working hard to win an MVP," said the player known as the `Mighty Mouse’. “It’s always about winning championships. If I ever was blessed, it was a huge honor.

Alapag compiled 1,888 points to bag the league’s highest individual title, winning over Santos, the Best Player of the Governors Cup (1,687) and Caguioa (1,317)

Congratulations to Jimmy and I hope they will get the Grand Slam feat.

Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose was paid $400,000 each by Manny Pangilinan

The 3 superstars who played two games here in the Philippines have been reportedly paid $400,000 each for the exhibition games held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The amount that have been given to the NBA superstars was first reported by Sports Illustrated writer Sam Amick.

Wow, $400,000 is equivalent to almost 17 million pesos, and that's for two games only. Well I think that's within their talent fee, considering those three, are superstars in the NBA, and those amount are nothing to Manny Pangilinan. But the real winner in that event are the fans, man if it was held here near our place, I would surely watch it.

The Smart Ultimate All Star Weekend was brought about by the major sponsors of the Philippines National Basketball Team, the Smart Communication. Chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Manny Pangilinan was the main man behind the invitation of NBA Players to play in the Philippines.

A Comeback for Kenneth Duremdes in the PBA

Captain Marbel is returning? for me I think he should re think it first. The level of play in the PBA is way above during his time, and at 37 years old, I don't think he can keep in par with the much younger and athletic players of the PBA today.

There are rumors circulating in sites and forums that Kenneth Duremdes is thinking of coming out of retirement to join the Powerade Tigers next season. Duremdes planned comeback started circulating in social network site shortly after Powerade finished it campaign in the PBA's 36th season with a 86-81 win over Meralco.

Duremdes is currently one of the assistants of coach Bo Perasol and an executive pf the team under Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines. Perasol neither confirmed nor denied it when asked on Duremdes planned comeback by next year. "It can happen but I think it's a way of honoring him."

It maybe a rumor, if its true or not I don't care that much. But if the Tigers want to make a noise next year they should focus on what the team needs, rather than getting a retired player that is past his prime already.