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.

Still, for the Tigers to win, they need a guy in the paint to spread the floor. On a night that it took a while for stars Gary David and JVee Casio to get going, Al Hussaini could've done a lot of damage inside or at his preferred high post.  The Tigers import, legit NBA starter Rashad McCants, also looked sluggish on the floor. The game seemed to come easy to the guy, but it was quite clear that he wasn't in the same game shape as his counterpart Basden.

Coach Ato has the KKS Wizard on point

If Al Hussaini can keep his head in the game (which he still hasn't been able to do since his Ateneo days), then there's hope for the Tigers. Hopefully, Coach Bo Perasol puts his veteran bigs Salvador and Adducul on their young center's case, pushes him hard in practice, and makes a man out of him. There's just too much talent (as shown in how easy Al Hussaini was able to adjust on the fly and score a nice mid range J and a teardrop) in there to not be out on the floor for 48 minutes.

The Tigers lost a major facet in their attack when they traded Marcio Lassiter to the Boosters-- a slasher who could shoot when need be. Tonight, guys were just jacking up shots and not getting to the rim. Slashing is not David's specialty. And Casio has never been a cat-quick on his feet to merit a "PBA speedbugs" discussion. So, without Lassiter and the ejected Al Hussaini, they were pretty much a one-dimensional basketball team going up against a powerhouse.

For the Boosters, well, as long as Cabagnot and Santos are running on 100% then they're good. Today's two best players in the PBA looked tired in the Commissioner's Cup. Thanks to the early elimination, it looks like they're all set and ready to defend their title. Chris Lutz is also back, but wasn't hitting his usual shots or even getting to the line D-Wade style. Jay Washington looks to be healthy as well, but this writer doesn't really give the LeBron James doppleganger/wannabe too much credit outside of his God-given athleticism.

Even if the Tigers made a mini-run in the third, Cabagnot was always there to keep them at bay and put the Boosters in great position to win. Joseph Yeo, Denok Miranda and even Rob Reyes all came in to play heads up basketball while their super-starters took care of the rest.

It's going to be pretty interesting though how Coach Ato Agustin will be able to rotate his guys now that they're coming back healthy. J-Wash is going to eat at Santos' minutes yet again. So will Marcio Lassiter (sat out with an injury) who's going to step in as the 2nd guy at SG behind Lutz which will force Yeo to the end of the bench, and maybe slide Miranda back to PG (which is a good thing).

Oh, and there was even a MEANINGFUL Nonoy Baclao sighting!

Baclao, to everyone's disgust, was so out of basketball shape and Boosters' Coach Ato's playing standards that Marc Agustin of all people played in his steed back in the Philippine and Commissioner's Cup tournaments. Marc Agustin. WTF.