they are the champions, my friend.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , - Thursday, February 12, 2009





<---- from pba.ph









It was a magical February 11, 2009 for the Talk N Text Tropang Texters and the Alaska Aces in the Big Dome, the place where many lives were changed (including Patricia Hizon's), the Araneta Colosseum. It was, at last, the finals.. It was Game 7, finally! Alaska was probably very very frustrated when it lost Game 6 on February 8.



It was a great battle from the beginning. Shots just rained from both teams. But, I guess, it was Talk N Text's perseverance that made the Aces bow. The team has a lot of new comers, a lot to learn, so little experience compared to Alaska's veterans. How did these youngsters win then? Maybe, just maybe, they were more challenged than the Aces. For example, a quizbee champion would think of her young opponent as inferior and not as a threat while the latter would be challenged by her competitor, right?



I'm not saying that Alaska is a non-persevering team. Maybe, it was just TNT's time to shine. It was destiny and hardwork that brought them from second to the lowest to second; otherwise, Miller and Devance (not sure!) would not have missed 4 consecutive freethrows in the games' critical seconds (i think). Otherwise, Coach Chot Reyes would have not defeated the strategies of the more experienced Coach Tim Cone.



Let me say this, I'm very very happy for TNT. They deserve the championship after all they've been through. Macmac Cardona deserves the Finals MVP title after all the boos he had to endure. Alapag, Carey, Peek, Castro, Dillinger, Ritualo, the de Ocampo Brothers, and the rest of the gang deserve the championship after all the pain and things they did for the team. I'm not bitter at all!

Scores:
Talk ‘N Text 93 – Cardona 23, Castro 19, de Ocampo R. 12, Alapag 10, Peek 10, Ritualo 9, Carey 7, de Ocampo 2, Dillinger 1, Aljamal 0.

Alaska 89 – Miller 22, Hugnatan 17, Devance 14, Tenorio 10, Fonacier 10, Ferriols 6, Thoss 4, dela Cruz 4, Cariaso 2.

Quarterscores: 20-23, 47-41, 73-63, 93-89.


I guess I have fallen more and more deeply in love with PBA as a whole. To be honest, I don't have a team anymore. Pasenxa na, Jamships and mga Kaparokya, but I guess it's parting time. I don't want to be dishonest with you guys, but, I can't also be dishonest with myself. I love all teams, all players with the exception of those who hurt others intentionally. I'm happy with this mentality that I have right now. Masaya ako na inaappreciate ang galing ng LAHAT ng players, no matter where they come from. Sabihin ng balimbing ako or what, pero wala akong magagawa kung ramdam ko na mahal ko ang buong PBA di ba?



Another thing, I'm happy for my schoolmates! A big round of applause for Pong Escobal, Yousif Aljamal, LA Tenorio and Renren Ritualo who stayed in San Beda during their college/highschool days. Thank you for, once again, bringing pride to our Alma Mater.



Championship means "see you later, PBA." I thank PBA, as a whole, for another wonderful conference. I'll gladly yet impatiently wait for the upcoming 2009 Motolite Fiesta Conference with my hopes of seeing the likes of Simon, Salvador, Dela Cruz, Mercado, Dillinger, Baguio, Yap, Raymundo, Salvacion, Menk, Macapagal, Gonzales, Reyes, Norwood, and others play again. I'll wait for the chance of seeing The General, Rommel Adducul play for the Giants as well as the chance of rating the performances of new players and traded ones.





*This has been the 2009 PBA Philippine Cup on C/S 9*

A Message for Coach Yeng?

Labels: , , , , , - Sunday, November 16, 2008

CARDONA LEADS TNT OVER RED BULL WITH CAREER-HIGH GAME

Talk ‘N Text 103 - Cardona 42, Peek 14, Castro 10, Dillinger 9, Carey 8, De Ocampo 8, Allado 6, Ritualo 5, Alapag 1, Escobal 0, Reyes 0, Aljamal 0.


Red Bull 93 - Cruz 15, Espinas 14, Rodriguez 11, Najorda 10, Sharma 10, Baguio 10, Chan 9, Hubalde 6, Duncil 4, Hrabak 4, Ybanez 0.


Macmac wants to convince RP Team Coach Yeng Guiao to give him a spot on the Powerade Team Pilipinas. This isn't just a presumption, he actually said that it was really his main purpose.

"I work hard, I play hard, kaya ang game na ito parang message ko na rin kay Coach Yeng na I deserve to be in the national team," said Cardona after his explosive performance which led Talk 'N Text to a 103-93 win which brought them to a 5-5 win-loss card.

"Hoping pa rin ako," he stated. "Gustong-gusto ko kasing mag-national team. Minsan-minsan lang iyon eh."

Cardona's fans think so too. Actually, many people are still wondering why the tactician did not choose Captain Hook. Well, I'm sure he has his reasons. We just have to find out.


Quarterscores: 24-29, 44-50, 82-70, 103-93



SECOND GAME: Brgy. Ginebra Kings vs. Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants

Ginebra 90 – Helterbrand 23, Tubid 17, Menk 11, Artadi 9, Salvacion 8, Escalona 6, Wilson 5, Mamaril 5, Crisano 4, Valenzuela 2, Holper 0.

Purefoods 80 – Yap, J. 16, Villanueva 14, Belga 10, Robinson 10, Raymundo 10, Lanete 8, Alvarez 8, Aban 2, Salvador 2, Fernandez 0.

Quarterscores: 18-22, 35-37, 61-61, 90-80.

3 games in one post.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

3 games in one post. This is sooooo not me! I love giving details in my posts, you know. Well, I don't have any choice. I just have to update my blog and to do that means doing it the fast way. Here are some highlights of the three games from pba.ph

1. STA. LUCIA SURVIVES LATER RoS RALLY
Realtors move up to 3rd

The scores:

Sta. Lucia 88

Mendoza 16, Gregorio 13, Espino 13, Miranda 10, Yeo 8, Aquino 8, Gonzales 8, Coronel 7, Williams 3, Omolon 2, Jaime 0.


Rain or Shine 83

Isip 23, Mercado 14, Wainwright 13, Reyes 8, Norwood 7, Dulay 6, Laure 4, Salangsang 3, Tang 2, Andaya 2, Ibanes 1, Arana 0.


Quarterscores:

24-19, 41-37, 67-59, 88-85




2. CONFERENCE-BEST GAME FROM ARWIND LIFTS AIR21 OVER COCA-COLA
Express win 5th assignment in last 7 games
The scores:
Air21 111
Santos 26, David 21, De Ocampo 17, Quinahan 11, Kramer 11, Arboleda 9, Canaleta 8, Sta. Maria 3, Billones 3, Intal 2, Villanueva 0, Cruz 0.
Coke 101
Cabagnot 19, Macapagal 17, Telan 16, Belasco 15, Calimag 9, Taulava 9, Catli 8, Enrile 2, Rizada 2, Dimaunahan 2, Baguion 1, Misolas 1.
Quarterscores:
37-27, 60-50, 71-81, 111-101.



3. ALASKA SHAKES OFF SMB FOR SOLO LEAD
Devance, Tenorio get job done for Aces
ALASKA got an early Christmas present after taking the game that was supposed to be played on Christmas Day.

The Aces' defense held on when San Miguel Beer tried to mount a comeback as they posted a thrilling 91-85 victory to grab solo top spot Saturday night in the 2008-09 KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Joe Devance and LA Tenorio came up with huge plays in crucial moments when the team's reliable closer Willie Miller could not get the job done to survive San Miguel's uprising in the last six minutes of the contest.

"It's always a thrilling feeling when you beat a quality team like San Miguel Beer and the guys did a wonderful job on the defensive end," said Alaska head coach Tim Cone, whose team controlled the game from start to finish.

"To beat San Miguel, all the five guys on the court must play alert defense and tonight, we achieved that," Cone added.

Miller finished with 20 points but was held to just a single point in the fourth period. The two-time MVP also committed seven of the team's 24 turnovers in the game.

Luckily for the Aces, Tenorio and Devance were in their elements and showed poise down the stretch to escape with the victory.

Tenorio added 18 points and eight assists while Devance chipped in 15 markers, including a crucial putback off the missed jumper by Miller.

Alaska was comfortably ahead at 84-72 with 4:52 mark when Lordy Tugade and Olsen Racela fired back-to-back three-pointers that started a 10-0 blitz to move within two, 82-84, with 1:19 left in the game.

But Devance delivered the dagger as he followed up Miller's 15-foot jumper to make it 86-82.

Anthony Washington's three-pointer rimmed out in the next play and Tony de la Cruz was sent to the free throw line by Custodio for a split to make it an 87-82 lead with 35.7 ticks remaining.

Tenorio added a split after Washington was whistled for a technical foul for second motion, 88-82.

Dondon Hontiveros drilled a three-pointer to threaten anew at 85-88, 25.3 seconds left. After a split by Miller, 84-88, San Miguel had another chance to move closer but Washington lost control of the ball.

"This game was supposed to be played on Christmas Day but because of the Singapore game, they had to move it earlier and I thought this was an early Christmas present for us," said Cone.

Custodio had a career-high 20 points for the Beermen while Hontiveros chipped in 16.

Dorian Pena added 12 markers while Lordy Tugade had a quiet game with 11 and was 4-of-10 from the field. Washington chipped in 10 but was 0-of-5 from behind the arc.

PF vs. RB: the Sequel

Labels: , , , , , , , , , - Saturday, November 15, 2008

It was just any other day in everyone else's life, probably. But for James Yap and the Purefoods Squad, it was the opposite of an ordinary day. It was a huge win for them against the Barakos and it was won the hard way. I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the wonderful first meeting on the 8th of October live and the second meeting was not boring either. PF enjoyed a good time with an 11 point lead with about 7 minutes remaining. Sadly, they went scoreless for about 3 minutes and the Barakos woke up from slumber. They had completed a 13-0 run and led by 2.

James Yap, a born 3-point shooter, led his team to a 10-0 run which removed RB's hopes of winning. He had a game-high 27 points, having shot 11 field goals out of 16 attempts which includes 5 out of 8 from rainbow country. Kerby Raymundo, who just came from sickbay, and Enrico Villanueva had 14 points while former RB player Topex Robinson had 4 assists and 4 steals.

It was Gabby Espinas who stepped up for RB. He had a career-high 21 points while his teammate, Larry Rodriguez, chipped in 12 points for the Barakos who now have a win-loss card of 4-5.

Both teams played badly in the game's first half. Poor shooting and a combined 25 turnovers from both sides were the half's features.PF shot 34% from the field while RB shot 35%. PF finished the game with 25 errors overall, one more than RB.

Purefoods Team Coach Ryan Gregorio said that it is hard for his team's depleted line up to play efficiently. PJ Simon and Roger Yap are still out on sickbay as of the moment.
Scores:
Purefoods 80
Yap J. 28, Villanueva 14, Raymundo 14, Alvarez 8, Robinson 5, Bugia 4, Belga 2, Lanete 2, Salvador 2, Aban 1
Red Bull 72
Espinas 21, Rodriguez 12, Duncil 7, Chan 6, Ybanez 6, Sharma 5, Cruz 5, Baguio 5, Hrabak 3, Hubalde 2, Najorda 0
Quarterscores:
20-9, 31-31, 57-51, 80-72.

Most unfortunately..

Labels: , - Friday, November 14, 2008

Sadly, I am very busy right now with things and I also experience horrible headaches everyday which forced me to copy and paste articles from pba.ph, the official site of PBA. It isn't exactly plagiarism right? I mean, I wrote the source in every article. :)

Please bear with me if I stick with those long and professional articles. I'll write from the heart as soon as I watch a game and feel well enough to write about my feelings on the game.

I'll probably not post every game here since, to be honest, I get quite annoyed with copying and pasting every post here. :)) I'll write my personalized articles as soon as I can. :)

Thanks, fellas. :)

November 12 games.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - Thursday, November 13, 2008

Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes said they haven't figured out yet how to play 48 full minutes and this is the reason why they're below the .500 mark halfway through the KFC PBA Philippine Cup elimination round.

Reyes said that's the case even in their won game against Barangay Ginebra Wednesday night at the Astrodome.

The Tropang Texters came out flat before picking up their game in the second period then pouring it on in the last two quarters on the way to a 103-90 win over the Kings.


"We have yet to play a complete game this season even in this victory. We have to find a way to play 48 minutes to be in contention in this tourney," said Reyes.

"That's the drawback of having a deep bench with players who have yet to groove their game together. In our game against Purefoods, we played very well in the first 46 minutes only to flounder in the last two minutes. May game na maganda ang laro ni Jimmy Alapag at Yancy de Ocampo, hindi naman maganda ang kay Jason Castro at kay Don Allado. Ngayon baligtad at hindi talaga magkasabay-sabay ang ganda ng laro," Reyes further explained.

Reyes said a combination of their bad defense and Ginebra's torrid shooting enabled the Kings to dominate the game early, getting a 36-16 bulge in the first three quarter.

"All throughout, ang usapan lang namin huag kaming mawalan ng loob. Good for us, we got our game going in the last three quarters," said Reyes as they ended their three-game skid.

Mark Cardona came through with a personal season high of 32 points to pace the Tropang Texters who dealt the Kings a sixth loss against three wins.

Harvey Carey put in a double-double performance with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Don Allado, Jared Dillinger and Jimmy Alapag chipped in at least 15 points each.

Ronald Tubid, Junjun Cabatu, Jayjay Helterbrand, Sunday Salvacion and Willy Wilson all finished in double figures for the Kings, still struggling badly minus injured key players Mark Caguioa, Junthy Valenzuela and Rafi Reavis.

Talk n Text came out flat but got into the groove in the second quarter, charging to within six, 49-55, at halftime.

After a long chase, the Tropang Texters seized the upperhand at 57-55 by scoring the first eight points in the final half.

The Tropang Texters had made it a 10-to-nothing run before the Kings, returning from a timeout, ended their spell on a three-point play by Willie Wilson off a foul by Jimmy Alapag with already over four minutes into the third quarter.

Even then, there was no more stopping the Tropang Texter, who twice enjoyed a 17-point lead in the second half.

The Tropang Texters converted 63.6 percent of their shots as they hit their strides to get into the game in the second period. (NC)

The scores:
  • Talk n Text 103 -- Cardona 32, Allado 17, Dillinger 16, Alapag 15, Carey 11, Castro 7, De Ocampo 3, Ritualo 2, Reyes 0, Aljamal 0, Peek 0.
  • Ginebra 90 -- Tubid 17, Cabatu 16, Helterbrand 15, Salvacion 13, Wilson 12, Mamaril 6, Menk 6, Escalona 4, Artadi 1, Pacana 0, Holper 0, Crisano 0.

Quarterscores: 16-36, 49-55, 82-67, 103-90

** from pba.com.ph **

*first game was between the Coca-cola Tigers and the San Miguel Beermen*

The scores:

  • San Miguel Beer 89 – Pennisi 18, Hontiveros 13, Gonzales 12, Tugade 12, Pingris 11, Washington 7, Custodio 6, Villanueva 4, Bono 2, Racela 2, Pena 2, Eman 0.
  • Coca-Cola 86 – Cabagnot 14, Telan 14, Belasco 12, Catli 11, Calimag 10, Macapagal 8, Dimaunahan 5, Taulava 5, Enrile 4, Misolas 3, Rizada 0.


Quarterscores: 16-21, 36-40, 63-64, 89-86.

Loss of Kerby is too much.

Labels: , , , , , , , , - Monday, November 10, 2008

The Purefoods TJ Giants had proven it can hold on even without PJ Simon and Roger Yap. However, the loss of the team captain, Kerby Raymundo, is something too much for the team to handle.

Alaska won against the depleted lineup of Purefoods, 95-80, to stretch its winning streak to three regain solo league leadership in this conference.

“You take away LA, Sonny and Joe, and it would also be so difficult for Willie. They lost a lot minus Simon, Yap and Kerby. It’s really very difficult for them to compete with the lineup they had,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

Even the coach was impressed with the team's energy at the beginning of the game. Yet, he was quite confident that they'll be able wear the Giants down.

And they did as Alaska closed out its stint in the first round of the elims with a 7-2 win-loss card.The Giants came out strong but faded out quickly with Raymundo joining Simon and Yap out in sickbay. The Aces coach admitted that they were not aware that Kerby’s out until about six minutes of the game and when they did, they concentrated on guarding James Yap who actually had 2 straight games with 30 plus points. Beau Belga, the rookie, led the Giants with 16 points.

starting units:
  • Purefoods -- Beau Belga, James Yap, Topex Robinson, Rico Villanueva, Richard Alonzo
  • Alaska -- Joe Devance, Sonny Thoss, LA Tenorio, Willie Miller, Tony de la Cruz.

top scorers per team:
  • Alaska – Devance 20, Fonacier 16, Thoss 14, Ferriols 11, Tenorio 10,
  • Purefoods – Belga 16, Yap 16, Villanueva 12, Bugia 8, Salvador 6


** note: this is an editted post from pba.ph **

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