Barako Bull-ies win again; What did I tell you about Dillinger?

In a battle of sister teams outside the San Miguel and MVP umbrellas, the Barako Bulls literally bullied their way to a 96-78 domination of sister team Shopinas.Com but not before some fireworks flew between some of their players (and coaches).

Se: starting melees since 2002

Shopinas' Homer Se tried to go after BB head coach Junel Baculi in the second quarter in front of the latter's own bench which thankfully didn't trigger a full-out melee. BB veteran point guard Wyne Arboleda was the one who helped pacify his old Air21 running mate which shows you just how brave/ strong #19 really is.

Are we supposed to be surprised with BB's performance and current 3-1 record? Not really. Given the names that they have on the roster, it was just a matter of time before the pieces fell in place (i.e. Willie Miller sharing the ball more and trusting his teammates young or old) and they showed why people picked them as the early darkhorses.

The game featured a more balance attack with Sunday Salvacion, Miller, Arboleda, Don Allado and Leo Najorda each scoring in double figures. It should be noted though that Dylan Ababou, who had back-to-back 20 points games, was able to muster only a measly 3 points but I guess he'd rather score less and win than drop buckets and lose games.

JD: Let me entertain you!

Do I take back what I said about Junel Baculi as a coach? No.

Will the Bulls' onslaught continue to the next round? I doubt it. I smell a mid-conference or season changing trade as expected of any Lina franchise.

And on a side note, Ababou's a complete all around player while Allein Maliksi is a legit scorer in the Kenneth Duremdes mold.

As for Shopinas.com, I pray that the rumors aren't true and that Coach Franz Pumaren stays on board. There will be a lot of growing pains for sure, but they're probably a slasher and a post presence away from being a true contender (now that Ren Ren Ritualo has reestablished himself as one of the game's best shooters).

In the second game between the Talk n Text Tropang Texters and B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados, TNT was able to pull off a close win after the Llamados blew several chances to in the dying minutes. That, plus Jarred Dillinger-- who I just wrote about as being one of the league's more underrated players, exploded for a new career high of 31 points after being stuck in TNT head coach Chot Reyes' dog house for so long.

Really now, while there are a lot of times when I feel that Dillinger should be reeled back into the game plan, there's no denying his talent on the offensive end of the floor. So again, FREE THE DAREDEVIL!