Rain or Shine survives The Kraken

Basta si Jeff Chan ang sumipat, ilista mo na

With all due respect to the so-called powerhouse teams (on paper) in the PBA, the Rain or Shine Elastopainters look like they're the most complete team in the league today. First to go down are the heavily-favored Petron Blaze Boosters who not only have a bunch of guys who could easily fill out a Team Pilipinas/All Star roster, but also the league's number one overall draft pick and a guy expected to dominate for years, 6"9 June Mar "The Kraken" Fajardo.

The game started out real close, but come the second half the Elastopainters buckled down to work and started flexing their muscles-- literally. There were hard screens and fouls that appeared to have knocked the wind out of the Boosters-- unable to keep in step with the Elastopainters who were either driving to the rim or just passing the ball all over the court to find the open man.


Chief gunner Jeffrei Chan finished with 20, Gabe Norwood had one of those games wherein he looks like the St. Vincent-St. Mary era skinny LeBron James, and all the guys were just doing their part and looking to do damage whenever they were called to play. Unfortunately, Elastopainters' rookie Chris Tiu (who was being burned in the 2nd quarter by Xavier "kuya" Joseph Yeo) re-injured his hamstring and didn't return for the 2nd half. To his credit, he did knock down a jumper and looked pretty solid. Can't call him out for his flat-footed defense because of the bad leg so we'll give him a pass.

The game was won simply because the Elastopainters, as they have always done in the Yeng Guiao era, were coming and hitting from all angles. You could argue that the Boosters "settled" for jumpers and what not in the 2nd half, but this writer saw otherwise. They were being hit and instead of coming back for more, opted to take the easy way out and tried to win the game from outside. The Boosters started to get winded and because of the new system that their "coach" Olsen Racela is still trying to implement just didn't know what to do or where to go.

It should also be noted that the Boosters opted to run a SMART Gilas I system with double high picks for their guards-- a nice and creative ploy, but probably not something you'd want them running with Fajardo. The guy's no Marcus Douthit and isn't a proven jumpshooter so it takes away that valuable pick-and-pop/roll option for the guard. Also, Jay Washington is out of sync. And Arwind Santos needs to go back to his roots and play the 4. Someone hit him in the head and tell him to stop launching threes.

Boosters rookie Alex Mallari is electric and a sure fire gamer, but he'll need more PBA games under his belt to truly earn that "sixth man" role that's pretty much tailor-fit for his game.

Ok, let's go back to Fajardo. The Kraken. The Monster. The present and future of Filipino big men.

Tonight was a great test to see where Fajardo is not only as a PBA player but also physically and mentally. The Elastopainters' brought out their vaunted Extra Rice, Inc. pioneers Beau Belga and JayR Quinahan, followed by bruisers Jervy Cruz, Larry Rodriguez and Ronnie Matias. To say that Fajardo was getting hazed would be an understatement, but the big Cebuano fought and held his own to the end.

The nice thing about Fajardo is that he knows where he's most effective (Hi Japeth! Haaaay Japeth). He doesn't loiter outside the paint except to set screens, and he is usually stationed about below 8 feet from the rim and never outside of it. He has great hands for a big man, has exceptional foot work in terms of working the pivot and is not afraid to get hit and, more importantly, hit.

Defensively, he's a B+ and his age showed with a lot of silly plays none more than the useless Uyloan foul with the game all but over. On offense, he's a B- because he doesn't have that back-to-the-basket move down pat yet. He shoots free throws with his elbows way out (he makes them though so it's okay as long as it works) so that could be a concern. Dribbling is also a little iffy. Fortunately for him, he has a guy named Danny Ildefonso to learn from and that this is only his first game on a level wherein only one other guy is at his eye-level (Mick Pennisi). And nothing against Mick, but that dude's old.

Over all it was a great effort by both teams. The Elastopainters are still riding that championship train and sticking to their system which has now ripened to the point wherein they don't even need Norwood or Chan in long stretches to remain competitive. The Boosters on the other hand, will eventually realize that their line-up is meant to run and not wait for Fajardo to dominate down low (at least not yet).