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| They were hit. They were bloodied. But still the Texters rose to the occasion. |
Great series all in all, with the Barako Bull Energy squeezing out all they could from their tired, old legs. They played physical, played hard and were even fortunate enough to have grizzled champion veterans in the fold taking turns in leading them game in and game out.
Hats off to the Energy's Ronald Tubid, Danny Seigle and import Gabe Freeman. They did all they could and put up the fight in the five game series. Tubid showed the game that has won the hearts of many, staying true to his "Fearless" moniker. Seigle played close to his 2001 form. Freeman, when not in foul trouble, was arguably the best import among the ones playing in the semifinals.
Sadly, their efforts went all for naught no thanks to, well, age.
Age that was exposed moreso by a flawed rotation that put emphasis on a coach "trusting his guy and vets" rather than "trying to win at all costs."
Coach Junel Baculi did it. He proved that he could coach a playoff-worthy team given the right tools. But once he was there, he either kept riding a beatdown old horse or simply ran out of creativity.
The Texters ran, and for the Energy to win they knew that they had to stop them. Hard. So that's what they did. Problem was, they did it with their starters, their veterans instead of inserting a key young buck in there for fouls and defensive purposes. Jimbo Aquino wasn't hurt, neither was Jondan Salvador or Leo Najorda. That could've easily pushed their rotation to a solid 9 or 10 guys (Miller, Arboleda, Tubid, Seigle, Freeman, Pena, Penissi being the solid 7) and we're not talking about role players here.
Aquino is an awesome collegiate scorer who just needs to see the light of day. Salvador is vastly under-rated as a low post scorer and a great enforcer. Najorda is another under-rated power forward in the league who is two levels better even than Air21's Mark Isip.
The last two games, the Texters scored over 100 points by doing just one thing and one thing alone: running. They ran, they went to the hoop and were unmindful of the fouls. The Energy in turn tried to run with, but failed to realize that they were falling right into the trap set by TNT coach Chot Reyes. They ran, Jarred Dillinger and Jayson Castro ran-- and it forced Tubid and Freeman to over extend themselves.
The Texters rotated their superstar roster, the Energy couldn't do the same. Couldn't, didn't, wouldn't. That pretty much cost them. Game over.
In the end, Miller was trying to force shots, Seigle looked tired, Freeman couldn't get the ball and Tubid was clearly winded from having to guard quicker guards and deliver on offense. Great effort, but you can't really expect to barge into the Finals with a line-up of 32+ year olds.
For the Texters, this series was theirs to win/ lose right from the get go. Everyone's healthy, there's not much off-court drama (save for reigning MVP Jimmy Alapag's dad and brother going through some health issues) and guys were coming to play.
The thing that's really scare here is that, last season it was mostly the Alapag-Castro-Reyes show with some cameos by The Doctor.
This year, in the two conferences they've made it to the Finals so far? Their Three Mouse-keteers are still at it, The Doctor still makes his usual inconsistent visits to the clinic but there's also the minutes being earned by The Daredevil Jarred Dillinger (FREE THE D!) and Larry Fonacier (MONEY!). Just scary.
If you're Tim Cone and the Llamados, you'll have to wonder-- who does your defensive anchor, Marc Pingris, shutdown?
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