The Replacements

Reunited and it feels so gooooood (sa Gilas ha)

SMART Gilas II head coach Chot Reyes has finally surrendered to the silent war being played by both Manny V. Pangilinan and San Miguel Corporation parties. There's no point in waiting for players from the San Miguel camp to submit their Letters of Intent to play for flag and country. We don't need divas be it player's decision or orders from the management.

This writer is on the side of Reyes because he was chosen to spearhead the National team. Not just another Pangilinan squad, but a team that will be sent out to actually represent us in international tournaments. Had the roles been reversed, I'd do and say the same things. That the best players should play for the National team. That their respective employers allow them to do so-- I refuse to believe that James Yap, Marc Pingris, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos have no interest whatsoever in playing for Gilas II.

The Great Encore

Coach Chot needs to go out with a bang

Zero and two.

It''s been a while since we've seen the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters anywhere near the bottom of the standings-- let alone actually be the last placed team. We've put an even bigger emphasis on this fact since all teams will only be playing nine games in the current PBA Governor's Cup eliminations format. That means, Coach Chot Reyes only has seven games left to salvage a Semis appearance which is being challenged at the moment by a slew of injuries to his key personnel.

Boosters ready to defend

The Pinoy LeBron
doppleganger is back!

So much for the Meralco Bolts' mini-celebration after they were able to secure their very first franchise victory over sister team, the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters. The Manny V. Pangilinan-owned team was quickly brought back down to earth by rivals Petron Blaze Boosters of the proud San Miguel Corporation family.

Led by all-around import Eddie Basden, the Boosters stamped their collective class over the hapless Bolts despite having star guards Dondon Hontiveros and Marcio Lassiter in street clothes. Basden was joined by perennial All Star Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and even Denok Miranda and keeping the Bolts at bay early before stepping on the gas in the second half for the win.

What are you trying to prove?

This guy is too good not
to sign up for SMART Gilas II

Though the right words are being said, it's pretty obvious that the local basketball scene continues to be divided-- more today than before. San Miguel Corporation continues to hold back some of their employees (two of which are among the Philippine Basketball Association's best) from signing up with SMART Gilas 2, and now we're hearing talks of a B-Meg coach Tim Cone-former SMART Gilas I coach Rajko Toroman PBA All Stars gearing up to take on Yao Ming's Shanghai Sharks in the next few weeks.

First, this shouldn't even be an issue right now. Coach Tim and Coach Rajko are arguably two of the best and brightest bench tacticians in the country today. There's no argument to be made against them coaching the PBA All Stars, hell, even Talk 'n' Text/ SMART Gilas II head coach Chot Reyes would probably slide over for either of the two guys.

Rain or Shine scores back-to-back wins

Ready? Sing!
My toes, my knees, my shoulders, my pwet.

Just a couple of days separated from their victory over the still adjusting Alaska Aces, the Rain or Shine Elastopainters were able to score another win this time over newly minted PBA Commissioner's Cup champions BMeg Llamados 100-94.

And while Quinito Henson shamelessly froths at the mouth over the athleticism of the Elastopainters' Gabe Norwood (who was just a couple of adjectives away from going so far as calling Norwood the league's LeBron James), the game was won by the team as a whole.

The Future is Here for Ginebra

The future looks bright
for Barangay Ginebra

The story of last Sunday's game was Mark Caguioa, his goggles, and the way the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings easily and handily whooped the upstart Air21 Express-- who were coming off a respectable Commissioner's Cup performance.

Caguioa was joined by tried and tested veterans Rudy Hatfield, Mike Cortez and Kerby Raymundo in dismantling the hapless Express, 103-85 with the help of the solid debut of import Cedric Bozeman.

This tells us that the Kings are primed to make another deep Playoff push this Governor's Cup behind their All Star core for as long as Caguioa is able to make shots and no longer complains of headaches and what not.

Meralco finally beats Kuya

Ross' rising PG play is key

Meaning, the Meralco Bolts can now wake up in the morning, wash their faces, look in the mirror and say that yes, they finally have a victory over their big brothers in the PBA, the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters.

An asterisk could be put on this opening day conquest though, with most of the Texters' starting unit inactive (Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Ryan Reyes, Harvey Carey and Kelly Williams) and the remaining guns like Ranidel de Ocampo, Jarred Dillinger and Ali Peek not at 100%. Whatever, this is basketball-- if you can suit up, then you can play as the greats would always say.

The (interim) Luigi Trillo era begins

Trillo: 1st 2 moves for the Aces:
open up the offense, play Baracael

So the (interim) Luigi Trillo era opens for the Alaska Aces not with a bang but a whimper, a lopsided ass-whooping that, to their credit, they tried to fight in the 3rd quarter for but just couldn't pull off defensive stops with any consistency.

Why did they drop Joel Banal again?

Oh, right, to return to the Triangle Offense that was stripped off them by now B-Meg and recently minted Commissioner's Cup champion coach Tim Cone. During the off-season, they had two choices: to go with Jojo Lastimosa-- who actually played within the system, or the young Trillo who was having a coaching renaissance of sorts in the PBA Developmental League.

Boosters on full tank; run over Tigers

The game was decided in favor of the Petron Blaze Boosters the minute the Powerade Tigers' Rabeh Al Hussaini blew his top (as always) and got himself ejected on yet another immature play.

Al Hussaini's best years were under Coach Norman.
You know, when he was focused.

Yes, the Boosters were already up in the score cards after the 1st half thanks to a more aggressive (and well rested) looking Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and import Eddie Basden. But the game was close early up until Al Hussaini lost his cool to the man who replaced him in the Boosters' fold-- Dorian Pena.

Pena was doing nothing out of the ordinary (for the bruising enforcer anyway), so the brunt of the blame falls squarely on Al Hussaini who managed only 4 points and 0 rebounds while playing in spurts in the first two quarters. The Tigers fought back and even took the lead when Al Hussaini was on the bench behind veterans Rommel Adducul and Jondan Salvador who were all too happy to dish out the same Pena, WWE-style physicality in the paint.

Scarborough Friendlies All Set

Forget Yao. Tseng Wen-Ting is coming to Manila!

With reports confirming that the Chinese Basketball Association's Shanghai Sharks-- owned by retired NBA star Yao Ming, are all set to play a series of friendlies versus an All Star PBA Selection, basketball is starting to resurface as the country's premier sports that could, at the very least, calm all the hostilities.

Of course, the agreement between the CBA and the Philippine Sports Commission was set about a year ago and not because of the Scarborough Shoal brouhaha-- but either party could've easily pulled the plug on the friendlies due to current events.

Second look

Kung ganitong kadikit
na depensa nga di pinipituhan e

Before anything else, let it be known that this writer is at peace with the BMeg Llamados winning the PBA Commissioner's Cup title over the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters. Tim Cone was coaching and reaching deep into his bag of tricks, James Yap was playing like the University of the East version and not the Purefoods-Mr. Kris Aquino one, and Marc Pingris was putting on a defensive clinic on Ranidel de Ocampo.

BUT... since the game is being replayed this very minute over on AKTV, we couldn't help but look back and question the foul called on Kelly Williams with 1.2 seconds to play that led to the Llamados' import Denzel Bowles to take (and make) two free throws to force overtime (where they had a major advantage in terms of personnel).

Meralco scores big pick-up

Reyes and Espinas: Palit jersey

After days of speculation, the Alaska Aces (under interim coach Luigi Trillo) have decided to send offensive-minded big man JayR Reyes to the Meralco Bolts for energy power forward Gabby Espinas in a trade that addresses both teams immediate needs.

The Bolts are looking for a big man to possibly supplant the aging and sure-fire future Hall of Famer Asi Taulava at the center position while the Aces want to move to a more uptempo approach with a rebounding athlete. At first glance, it's quite easy to deduce that the Bolts are the clear winners of this trade given the fact that Reyes is not only three years younger than Espinas, but is also only scratching the surface of his true basketball potential.

Coz you gotta have faith

Love you bro. Aiiiiiight?

During turbulent times, episodes of trials and great challenges, it is always convenient to take the easy way out. No one will call you out for it, no one will crucify you for your actions—you simply went with what was the most logical thing to do.

But sometimes, you stick to what you know inside despite all odds and circumstance. Sometimes, you abandon reason and thought and trust your gut. Sometimes, if not most of it, we live life by the minute—all by faith.

When the B-Meg Llamados found themselves unable to quickly dispatch the defending champion Talk ‘n’ Text Tropang Texters, head coach Tim Cone could’ve made the right adjustments on the floor. By “right” we mean, the ones that we all believe would work for him outright. Like putting in Yancy de Ocampo over ineffective Joe DeVance. Or sending Josh Urbiztondo, Mark Barroca or both to the bench in favor of Jonas Villanueva. Simple solutions that could or would’ve worked either way—but don’t tell that to Coach Tim.

Tactical error

Can't win 'em all

Now that the smoke has cleared and the dust has settled somewhat, the losing part of last night’s epic PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Game 7—the  Talk ‘n’ Text Tropang Texters should keep their heads unbowed for putting up an awesome display of heart and fight.

They were ahead by nine points midway in the fourth quarter in a grind-it-out game they had no business in winning since it wasn’t their style. The overtime forcing free throws off a foul by Kelly Williams on B-Meg super import Denzel Bowles shouldn’t be taken against the former PBA Most Valuable Player.

Tim Cone, Denzel Bowles reward BMeg planet

Monster Bowles took over in OT

What a game!

It came down to a battle of attrition, with the BMeg Llamados fighting back to force overtime after the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters started falling down one after the other in the 4th quarter.

Import Donnel Harvey fouled out. James Yap-stopper Ryan Reyes hurt his knee on a drive. Ali Peek fouled out. Ranidel de Ocampo went down. Jimmy Alapag, who was playing like the reigning PBA MVP and was making up for lost time with an efficient and explosive scoring display, was suffering from cramps. Jayson Castro, injured ankles, knees, hamstrings and all, came back to play but it just wasn't enough in the end.

Play to win

Regardless of the conclusion of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals later on today, we've been treated to two conference's worth of prime time, premium basketball action. The players are literally leaving everything out on the floor and the fans, in turn, are responding to it by filling the venues, watching online and missing out on their favorite tele-novelas.

Both the BMeg Llamados and Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters have been fighting tooth and nail thus far, and the Finals MVP will surely be given to the individual who deserves it most (unlike some instances regarding the Season MVP wherein guys win via media votes and not by what they have done the whole season). That being said, here are the frontrunners (and maybe darkhorses) when it comes to the Finals MVP award.

And yes, KKS only recognizes locals and not the imports no matter how Godly they are on the floor. They don't need the added publicity or write-ups anyway right?

The nominees:

Act a fool

Coach Bo Perasol is losing his guys one by one

After going on public to dismiss any other and all trade rumors concerning the Powerade Tigers in the PBA after sending Marcio Lassiter to Petron, team executive Ronnie Ascuncion (the guy who replaced the respected JB Baylon) went back on his word and did what should be Phase 2 to the "master plan."

Big man Doug Kramer, who enjoyed a prolific Philippine Cup before struggling to find minutes in the big import-flavored PBA CC, was sent to the Barako Bull for undersized veteran power forward Jondan Salvador. Now, by all accounts, there was a time that Salvador could be argued as the better and more polished post player of the two. But as far as their PBA careers go, Kramer is on his way up the ranks of solid bigs in the mold of Dorian Pena and Sonny Ali Peek, while Salvador is being shipped from one team to another as an end-of-the-bench rotation player ala  now new Tigers teammate Alex Crisano.

PBA CCF Game 7: Looking for answers

Tensai idea: Pingris on Castro. 

So after an exciting playoffs that was marred/ made beautiful by physicality, great scoring bursts, emotional plays and near fisticuffs, we've come down to a winner-take-all Game 7 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup. In one corner stands the league's standard bearers for the last two years and a half-- the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters bannered by the SMART Gilas 2 Men's National Basketball team, and the rising BMeg Llamados on the other.

Going into Game 7, we've seen coaches calling out players, end-of-the-bench guys making headlines with dirty plays, certain comparisons with an early 90s anime that didn't really reward fans with a fitting ending (other than the All Star pick-up game which was nice but blah) and so on. But there are other compelling storylines that haven't grabbed national focus just yet, and we'd like to think that we've got some listed below (because hey, we have no lives other than the games):

The Jayson Castro Show

Thy name is JAYSON Castro

Last season, he was sharing Finals MVP honors while winning two of three titles and ultimately losing the MVP award to his mentor. In the Philippine Cup, an under-rated yet highly-coveted teammate edged him out in Finals MVP voting.

In Game 6, down 2-3 in the Finals, there was no one on the floor who wanted it more than Jayson Castro. Hell, there was no one on the court even near his level-- and he's doing so much damage for the Talk 'b Text Tropang Texters' cause despite playing with two bad ankles and a host of leg injuries.

Yap Awakening

Size, speed and shooting: James Yap

Any time you are able to pair a solid, nay, good big man with an ever-improving All Star guard, chances are your team is bound to contend no matter the odds. Throw in a bunch of great role players led by this side of Asia's most tenacious forward and you may have just enough firepower to overcome and overthrow a dynasty.

In the pivotal Game 5, the B-Meg Llamados went to their 1-2 punch of 7"0 6"10, Best Import of the Conference, big man Denzel Bowles and the suddenly rejuvenated and reloaded guns of 2x PBA MVP James Carlos Yap. Scoring 28 and 30, respectively, Bowles and Yap were pretty much "superstar-ing" their way all over the hapless Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters who still cannot squeeze anything off trusted National vets Ranidel de Ocampo and reigning MVP Jimmy Alapag.

Back in the fold; Lina at it again

It's plays like this that makes
Pena invaluable for any team

After playing like the rebounding monster/ enforcer of old in the Barako Bull Energy's failed Commissioner's Cup bid, Dorian Pena finds himself back in the Petron Blaze Boosters' fold in exchange for young big Carlo Sharma and veteran PG Celino Cruz.

In the overly-physical Semifinals match-up against the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters, Pena was the big reason why the series went as long as it did. Yes, Danny Seigle (who we believe and would bet money is on his way back to a title contender sooner than later) did have a lot to do with their huge run, but it was Pena's presence in the paint that made it difficult for opponents to bury the rag-tag Energy squad.

Texters load up; Series tied 2-2

You may hate the shirt, but you have
to love the multiple championships

Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters' head coach Chot Reyes does it again.

After throwing stars Ranidel de Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag under the bus in the post-game interview of their Game 3 loss, Coach Chot was able to make himself look like half a genius with RDO's solid bounce-back performance.

While Alapag continues to struggle with his cover of BMeg Llamados' Josh Urbiztondo and PJ Simon, RDO was able to play free tonight-- attacking the rim and not settling for jumpers. It also helped the Texters' cause that Jarred Dillinger decided to take over the game, as KKS predicted, and played lights out on offense and defense.