Un-beastly

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

When was the last time you saw Calvin Abueva play like Calvin Abueva?

We've seen flashes here and there, but where's the reigning PBA Rookie of the Year? Where is the energy guy the first year in San Sebastian? Or the triple-double monster the last year? Who's this 6"1 guy who looks like Abueva, plays a bit like Abueva, but doesn't have the same effect on the game like Abueva?

In 51 games last season, Abueva averaged somewhere around 26 minutes a game, with 12 points and 9 rebounds plus a bunch of intangibles-- from setting low post screens, playing the pay-war game and just making plays for his team en route to the ROY plum. This year, in 27 games, his minutes are down by about 6 a game with his numbers somewhere around 8 points and 7 rebounds.

But no one is afraid of the man they call "The Beast" anymore.

KKS' Picks: The PBA All Star Reserves

What might've been for Gilas Pilipinas.
(Photo credit: Sports5)

This year's PBA All Star game hopes to serve as one of many tune-up matches for the Gilas Pilipinas men's basketball team. On paper, the game promises to be a blockbuster, heavyweight match-up between those who were chosen to represent the country versus those who were not as fortunate for one reason or another.

Already named to the PBA All Star Starting Five are: Mark Barroca, James Yap, Chris Ellis, Mac Baracael and Greg Slaughter.

Of the five starters, only Barroca merits to really be called an All Star starter given his performance in the PBA Philippine Cup en route to a Finals MVP trophy. Yap only returned to form somewhere in the semifinals and finals, while the troika of Ellis, Baracael and Slaughter largely benefited from what one may call as the equivalent of the NBA's Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady's "China" votes (only in this case, "China" is "Barangay Ginebra.")

Based on stats alone, we could name three guys who could easily supplant the above-mentioned and we're more than happy to give them their due as we name our PBA All Star Reserves to round out the Magic 12. To be clear, we're not trying to make any predictions here, since the selection of the reserves will fall onto the PBA coaches' shoulders led by PBA All Star team head coach Tim Cone, but we're going with the guys who made a name for themselves in the recently concluded PBA Philippine Cup and at the very least, deserve a look.

1) Arwind Santos (SF/PF San Miguel Beermen) 17.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg
For all the social media negativity cast on the REIGNING PBA Most Valuable Player about him being a "stat-padder," you can't call out a player for hauling down over ten rebounds a night. The points, yes, probably. But rebounding is a different art form altogether that, when approached timidly or lackadaisically, you could easily get your mouth popped by someone more tenacious (think of it as going for a 50/50 rebound versus a Marc Pingris-- yeah, you need to be alert on that one 24/7). Santos made a good account of himself last conference, proving that while he lacks the superstar one-on-one iso game people expect from a league MVP, he is still pretty solid nonetheless.

Pushing through plateaus

Casio needs to take the big leap
while Abueva struggles
(photo courtesy of Sports5)

Don't blame Calvin Abueva for the Alaska Aces' mildly surprising 4 wins, 9 losses slate in the on-going PBA Philippine Cup.

There's plenty of that to go around. Despite the impressive numbers shared by starters Sonny Thoss (16 points, 9 rebounds), JVee Casio (14, 3 and 3 assists), Cyrus Baguio (13, 3, 3), Gabby Espinas (11, 9) and Abueva (10, 8), the Aces are struggling more because they've become rather bland. Yes, the names on the roster are almost the same to when they punked their way into a PBA Commissioner's Cup title last season, but the fire and energy just isn't.

And while Abueva continues to find that balance between a flopper and token energy guy, the Aces need to come up with surprises to battle the strengthened/ overhauled PBA teams. Though we have nothing but love for the blue-chip recruits in ASEAN Basketball League Most Valuable Player Leo Avenido, Ryan Buenafe and Ping Exciminiano, it appears as though the three have yet to really learn the Aces' offensive sets as proven by the little amount of minutes they get on the floor (aging small forward Tony de la Cruz logs close to 19 minutes a game). 

The Beast: Chasing History

Can The Beast mirror The Tower of Power?
(Photo courtesy of PBA InterAKTV)

Ever found yourself in a race against time? Trying desperately to catch up to someone or something you love or hold dear, finding yourself now at only an arm's length-- may be less. The dream is almost at hand, literally.

The Alaska Aces' mercurial rookie power forward Calvin "The Beast" Abueva, in just two PBA conferences (41 played games to date), has already proven himself worthy of his collegiate moniker. He has already hushed even the harshest of critics. All his haters are now busy just ignoring his antics, or simply waiting for the next epic "flop" that they can blow up over social media.

They no longer question his game. His mental toughness. His desire to be the best. They question the flops, but they no longer question Abueva.

2014 FIBA World On Our Minds

Should Gilas Pilipinas send all 12 to Spain?
(Photo courtesy of PBA InterAKTV)

We know, we know.

It's too early to be posting about Gilas Pilipinas, its 2014 FIBA World campaign, and wether we should change the line-up or not. We also understand that the 12 players who gutted it out through this year's FIBA Asia en route to a silver medal finish are more than deserving to be sent to Spain. That any or all talks about any player from Asia's finest Jayson Castro to little-used big man Junmar Fajardo are to be on the positive slant given their now "revered" status.

But don't bet on foreigners to egg Gary David through another one of his now infamous shooting slumps. Or that Gilas can afford and withstand another mid-game scoring drought against NBA to EuroBasket-level competition.

Gilas Pilipinas needs tweaking. But not as much as some would think. They don't need an overhaul of talent, they just need some upgrades here and there when it comes to personnel. Here's a shortlist of players we feel can help the Gilas cause at the Worlds and who we're "okay" with taking out of the current line-up:

Gilas Pilipinas: The Best Damn Pinoy Big Man Today

Photo courtesy of pba-online.net

Junemar Fajardo will have his day. Sonny Thoss is getting it. Asi Taulava is a reminder of what could've been had he chosen to polish his post game and demanded for the ball like he should've. Danny Ildefonso is happy mentoring the young ones. Beau Belga is a creation of everything good about the old school enforcers and today's hybrid forward/centers.

But there is only one who can lay claim to the title of being "The Best Pinoy Big Man Today." That man is no other than 6"5 Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters and Gilas Pilipinas starting forward Ranidel de Ocampo.

KKS final, final, FINAL Gilas Pilipinas’ 12

Break glass in case of emergency.

We're halfway done with June which could only mean that August a.k.a. "FIBA in Manila" season is just around the corner. With that, we present to you our final, final, pinaaaaaaaaaaaka-FINAL (last na to pramis) Gilas Pilipinas 12-man roster:

First Five: PG LA Tenorio/ SG Jeffrei Chan/ SF Gabe Norwood/ PF Sonny Thoss/ C Marcus Douthit

There are a lot of cases in basketball, be it local or foreign, wherein talent is enough to win games. We’ve seen it time and again, when a n actual team with a balanced roster is defeated by a rag-tag selection led by a prodigy (we don’t even have to look that far, with names such as the NBA’s Cleveland days LeBron James, pre-Big Three/ post-Shaq Dwyane Wade and pre-muscle memory injury Derrick Rose and in the Pinoy hoops scene- Meralco/GlobalPort’s Sol Mercado who was going all HAM before a trade, injury and a questionable coach derailed his Most Improved Player 2012 campaign).

Who is the Best Pinoy Big Man today?

Where would you rank RDO and The Boss?

One of our friends over at Facebook.com/KiliKiliShot (shoutout to boss Dexter Cumigad and his family, thank you for reading our stuff) asked who we feel are the best big men in the Philippine Basketball Association today. The easiest way out of course is to simply go with the numbers, but contrary to popular belief-- numbers lie.

A guy could average only 6 points and 7 rebounds for his team but still have the most dominating presence on the hard court (think Belga, who makes use of his height, heft and six fouls to the hilt every time). So here's a list of who we feel are the league's best big men- taking one per team of course and ranking them altogether. And just to spice things up, we're not simply going to go with the guy who starts the game at center or is marked as one. We're going to rank the Top 10 bigs who play the position for their teams when the games are tight and shots or stops need to be made.

10. Jay-R Reyes (Meralco Bolts)
How long before we finally give up on the former U.P. Maroon and Gilas Pilipinas campaigner? No matter the extended minutes, international training and exposure, it seems that Reyes just isn't meant to dominate the sport after glimpses of near-Kerby Raymundo potential. He has the post-up moves and range, but as with some players, it comes down to putting it all together and being consistent. The silver lining for Reyes of course is, being a young player in the pros, he has time to find a niche. With all the scorers that the Bolts have on the roster (starting with star guard Mark Cardona), perhaps Reyes can concentrate more on playing defense and grabbing more rebounds (then maybe the offense can come later).

9. Doug Kramer (Barako Bull Energy Cola)
We are big Kramer fans. We fill that he is the most under-rated and under-utilized quality role-playing big man in the PBA today. No, he is not gifted with back-to-the-basket abilities like teammate Enrico Villanueva, but he has found a role in the pros and has stuck to it the last three to four years. Kramer does his best work setting hard screens, boxing out, rebounding and knocking down kick-out/ dump mid-range jumpshots. He's not a guy who'll average 15 and 10 a night, but he'll contribute right away given the minutes.

Belga knows basketball

Enforcer ba kamo? Watch the "sipit."

Minsan lang tayo mag-Filipino sa blog na ito na alay natin sa ating mga kababayan. Hindi dahil sa galing tayong elitistang iskwelahan na hindi marunong bumigkas ng "R," kundi para maipabot natin sa ibang lahi ung galing at husay ng Pilipinas basketball.

Hindi namin lubos na maisalaysay yung kagalakan namin nung napabalitang isasama sa Gilas Pilipinas tune-up si Rain or Shine 6"6 big man Beau Belga. Matagal na namin itong kinakampanya. Marami nagsasabing barubal at marumi maglaro si Belga, madalas ung mga fangirls/gays na ang mga iniidolo kasi ang tinatamaan ng mala-Brazo de Mercedez BENZ ni Belga.

Pero lingid sa kanilang kaalaman, si Belga ay marunong maglaro ng basketball. Sabi nila, ito daw ang pinakamalaking line-up ng Gilas. Siguro nga. Pero kung sina Japeth Aguilar at Greg Slaughter lang din, aanhin mo ang height kung kulang pa sa diskarte (lalo na kung ung isa e allergic sa poste)?

PBA Commish Cup Finals: Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska

Young Blood Reachin'

It was time.

The Alaska Aces are the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup champions thanks to a dominant 3-0 sweep of the injury-riddled Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. They did it through team work. They did it through hard work and perseverance. They did it together.

Credit goes to Ginebra and head coach Alfrancis Chua for their magical run to the Commish Cup Finals after a woeful 7th seed finish at the end of the eliminations. They lost reigning PBA Most Valuable Player Mark Caguioa to a knee injury, had to change import early and fought through all the chemistry woes that have hounded them early this season.

Newly-minted Best Player of the Conference L.A. Tenorio spearheaded Ginebra's attack the whole way. Ginebra responded to their "substitute" leader and gamely fought toe-to-toe with the Aces' youth and vigour. Ginebra was determined to not go out without a fight. They were putting it all out there, they were the more physical team. They were loose and carefree on the court. For the first three quarters, Ginebra played like Ginebra.

Alaska Aces: The Mantle of the Bat

Luigi Trillo: Rightful Successor

In the Alaska Aces' storied franchise history, Tim Cone would be its Bruce Wayne a.k.a. The Batman. Though he has severed all ties and moved on with his coaching career, he will always be the man that brought the team to prominence. The 13 titles that he won for the Aces in the course of over 20 years will remain untouched. No matter how they broke-up, it is what it is.

But just like in the comic book world, there are always successors-- both unworthy and worthy. Dick Grayson, Jason Tood and Tim Drake. All three wore the bright colored Robin costume at one point or another. In reference, Grayson would be Joel Banal. He has all the tools to succeed Cone, but he was his own man. He had his own style, and last year it showed that it just wasn't a good fit.

PBA Commish Cup Finals: Didn't you get the memo?

The Boss' D won it for the Aces in Game 1

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the PBA Commissioner's Cup Best-of-Five Finals between the first seed Alaska Aces and the seventh seed Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

Why we opted to open this entry with that statement should be a no brainer for those of you who were able to witness the Wednesday night massacre of a hapless Ginebra side. Did they celebrate too early as  one of our favorite PBA legends-turned-TV's most Povedan-sounding analyst Jojo Lastimosa hint during their semifinals conquest of the badly-depleted Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters?

It sure seemed like it.

The Beast for PBA Commish Cup BPC

No stopping the Beast

The PBA Commissioner's Cup was supposed to be the one conference that would break the spirit of Alaska Aces' heralded rookie Calvin Abueva. It's where gargantuan imports would reign supreme, and Abueva's rookie rivals, top overall pick 6"10 Junemar Fajardo and the Meralco Bolts' 6"5 Cliff Hodge would be able to prove their worth.

Why wouldn't it be? Abueva after all is a hustling, rebounding, do-it-all and win-at-all-costs SIX FOOT ONE AND A HALF tall forward. He was supposed to hide in the shadows behind bigger teammates Sonny Thoss (who would naturally slide down to the power forward spot to make room for 6"9 import Rob Dozier at the center position) and even bossom buddy Gabby Espinas.

But how did the rookie touted as "The Beast" respond?

PBA Commish Cup Finals: Alaska vs Ginebra

Author's note: Before we get to the PBA Finals preview, let's just make one thing clear: we are bloggers. We aren't paid to do this, so it doesn't matter if we end up being wrong with our "Fearless Forecasts." We're basing our predictions on who we feel and think will win based on what we've seen during games. You can call out all the sports commentators that you idolise, and they'll hand you a politically correct "50-50." This blog is all for fun, we'd love to hear from you so share away. We don't mind you calling us "haters" or what not, as long as it's all in good, Pinoy basketball fun. Okay? 

Kung ayaw niyo talaga, e di gumawa kayo ng blog.

PG JVee Casio/RJ Jazul vs LA Tenorio

Thoss vs Tenorio

The two guys who were indirectly traded for one another will finally get to square off on the biggest stage of them all. On one hand you have the heir apparent to the PBA point guard throne, the other you have a guy who jumped from being one of the elite scorers in the amateurs to crashing the party of the would be "next in line" floor generals. If Casio approaches this series with his guns holstered, it's going to get ugly fast. Tenorio is the better defender and craftier scorer who will get the calls. If Casio isn't on the floor for the Aces, they'll have a lot of trouble getting into their sets (a.k.a. Calvin Abueva will run amock which could either be good or bad). Our advice to Jazul? Keep shooting and keep Tenorio on his toes. Tire the sumb*tch out.
Adv. Ginebra

PBA Commish Cup Semis: The Exorcism of Luigi Trillo

The MAN for the job.

There was a point in this series wherein it seemed that no matter how far the Alaska Aces have gone under young head coach Luigi Trillo, that they would never rid themselves of the ghost of Tim Cone. It's bad enough that they haven't beaten Cone until this series, but also because it was starting to make every single reason that Cone et al came up with seem true.

You can't win big in the PBA without stars. You can't win big in the PBA without money. You. Just. Can't. Win.

But after four grueling, intense and highly entertaining games, the Aces have not only triumphed over Cone and the depleted San Mig Coffee Mixers, they have managed to exorcise their own demons and proven themselves worthy of their now growing Gatas Republik's adoration.

Untamed

Running on primal instincts

There is a universal truth when it comes to the beings that roam this very world that we find ourselves fortunate enough to be part of. That no matter the education, the training or coaching, when things become increasingly challenging, nay, competitive, that every one, be it man, woman or beast, reverts to doing what they know instinctively. They no longer think, they just act in the manner that comes natural to them.

And for the Alaska Aces' 6"1 1/2 rookie Calvin Abueva, that means playing with fire, getting into the head of his opponents and occasionally, flopping to sell the contact and get the calls from the referees. There are no Xs and Os at times, Abueva leaves that up to his teammates. He runs the floor, goes hard and does whatever he pleases when he is given the basketball. It's the primal instinct to compete, to win.

PBA Commish Cup semis: Aces score 1st win over Cone

Dozier's making Bowles look old

After nine failed attempts over the course of a season and a half, Luigi Trillo and the Alaska Aces were finally able to beat former coach Tim Cone and the San Mig Coffee Mixers with a convincing 86-67 victory at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Just when it seemed that beating the Mixers was a gargantuan task that the Aces would never be able to accomplish, the Red and Black came out with a different mindset and game plan altogether: attack the rim. In Game 1, the Aces appeared to be at ease with trading jumpshots with the Mixers as they were playing exceptional defense on each other. Tonight, despite another strong effort on the defensive end by the Mixers early in the first, the Aces were just relentless.

Can the Aces really win over the Mixers?

Who's yo daddy?

Another San Mig Coffee Mixers game for the Alaska Aces, another painful loss that appears to know no end.

What is it with these two teams-- the way they cancel each other out and pretty much play at an equal footing not 'til the closing moments where the Mixers' veteran leadership and overall court savvy comes in to play? The victory was there for the taking for the hard-fighting Aces. They took every jab, straight and hook from the mighty Mixers and were unnerved by it all.

But when it mattered most, the Mixers stuck to who they were under coach Tim Cone, while the Aces faltered-- revealing their own coach's, Luigi Trillo's, lack of composure at the end. Why did Trillo opt to sit star guard Cyrus Baguio for majority of the 4th quarter when they needed some scoring to possibly break away?

PBA Commish Cup semis: Alaska vs San Mig Coffee

P*tangina banggaan to!

Trust that you've read our "emo" piece on the Alaska Aces and the San Mig Coffee Mixers going into their PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals match-up. Now, we're breaking down the match-ups and as always, going out on a limb to test our credibility (what?) and pick a winner.

PG JVee Casio/ RJ Jazul vs  Mark Barroca/ Joe DeVance
We've seen JDV being given the freedom by Mixers coach Tim Cone to run the point as an out-of-this-country sized point guard lately, and we are banking on even more ball-time for JDV. Casio and Jazul, though great offensively, are not as established defensively as Meralco's Chris Ross which allows JDV to dribble whenever and wherever he wants. This is going to be a problem for the Aces because JDV will undoubtedly set up shop down low and pretty much punish his pint-sized counterparts. If you're holding out for a Casio vs Barroca showdown, they'll cancel each other out. And as far as we've known Cone, he's not the type who's content with guys canceling one another. He wants the advantage-- and his name is JDV.
Adv. Mixers

Case of the Ex

Cone's superstars take on Aces' hustlers

Remember that ex-girlfriend/boyfriend of yours back in the day who you thought was the one you'd end up marrying someday? The one you'd spend crazy times with, experiment on (we'll leave this up to your imagination) and sincerely, at the bottom of your heart, feel will be the one who'd always be there for you as you would for them?

"The one that got away."

Well, we doubt that San Mig Coffee Mixers head coach Tim Cone feels the same for his former team of so many years, the Alaska Aces-- but there's undeniable history and a touch of bitterness there. Though they "broke up" in good terms and both parties have nothing but commendations, praises and the like for one another, the fact of the matter is that Cone left the Aces because he felt like they couldn't win anymore. They were (obviously) no match for the "richer" teams that would just treat independent ones as "farm teams," plucking superstars left and right even if they're offered the same amount of money (on paper anyway)