No rebounds, no rings

One for UST!

The San Mig Coffee Mixers had an absurd height advantage highlighted by 6"8 slotman Yancy de Ocampo and 6"7 point-forward Joe DeVance among other members of the vaunted "Sampayan Brigade." So how did the Rain or Shine Elastopainters-- known for having the league's most bruising, able WIDE bodies, out-rebound them in Game 1 to win 91-83?

All heart.

We knew who would score for both teams, though James Yap had an off night (might be playing hurt) and PJ Simon was being his usual inconsistent self (same can be said for DeVance) for the Mixers while there's Paul Lee (too big, too strong), Jeffrei Chan (started off hot) and the pick-your-poison frontline for the Elastopainters.

It all came down to who wanted to win Game 1 of the Best-of-Seven series more. Jervy Cruz, arguably the smallest power forward playing for both teams, hauled down a monstrous 15 rebounds and scored 7 putback points for the Elastopainters. It's not that the Mixers' bigs weren't battling down low, it was Cruz just jumping once, twice-- thrice even, to secure the leather or at least tap the ball to a peer. It wasn't just Cruz, the whole Elastopainters five kept working the glass and once it was clear that Yap and Simon were having off nights-- they started to sag down low to help secure defensive rebounds by boxing out for one another.

If you're Coach Tim Cone, you'd probably want to rethink your rotations from here on out. Tonight, Coach Tim went with Yap, Simon, de Ocampo, DeVance, Marc Pingris, Mark Barroca, Rafi Reavis and a cameo in the 4th by JC Intal. That's too thin a rotation to call on against a physical, running team like the Elastopainters. True enough come the 4th quarter, the "spread offense" of the Elastopainters broke down the tired Mixers' defense. Rebounds and hustle plays all went to Coach Yeng Guiao's boys who looked fresh and dainty like they could play an extra quarter or so.

The Pingris on Lee call was brilliant (we called it here first! Check out our previous post here) come the 4th quarter, and Pingris looked like he had enough in the tank to go toe-to-toe with the reigning Rookie of the Year. It stalled the Elastopainters' offense for a good two to three minutes-- but then Coach Yeng simply called for someone else (Jeffrei Chan) to handle "first scoring option" duties while Lee was tucked away in the corner with Pingris (who was lost to the Mixers in the battle of the boards because of the same ploy).

Pingris should stay on Lee, but then they should have someone bigger to slide to 4. Maybe a Simon, Yap, DeVance, Pingris, de Ocampo would be better? When Pingris slides down to guard Lee, Simon should be ok guarding Chan while Yap goes over to Gabe Norwood (who's not really a threat to score) while DeVance and de Ocampo protect the paint.

This is where a Jonas Villanueva would prove to be invaluable. So far, no updates yet courtesy of the AKTV people. Is he injured? Or is he just stuck in Coach Tim's dog house?

If there's any truth to the injury to Yap, then this is the time for Coach Tim to show his worth as a coach. His defensive schemes in this one were concentrated more on keeping Lee at bay (which worked early, but once his boys ran out of gas, Lee was killing them in the 4th if not for the foul trouble). We're not sure why he doesn't run screen/pick and rolls for Barroca and either DeVance or de Ocampo. Too many Michael Jordan plays for Simon tonight (role usually reserved for Yap).

The Mixers have a solid bench, Intal's too athletic a player to be stuck there for so long. They also have Jerwin Gaco to at least spell Pingris and Reavis from time to time.