PBA Scenes: Petron Blaze Boosters vs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Semifinals Game 3

Best of the Night. Arwind Santos scored 22 points, grabbed 18 boards, and shot perfect from the line, making sure there's no 2nd half collapse this afternoon. Good way for the reigning MVP to bounce back after a rollercoaster conference. Santos' efforts helped his team take one win from their best of 7 series against the sneaky Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, who still have a 2-1 series edge. Aside from these, Arwind did a little bit more.

(c) Nuki Sabio/PBA

Worst of the Night. Yeng Guiao's bald, hot head. Speaking of Arwind Santos doing a little bit more, Petron's star got into the opposing coach's nerves. Standing by the sideline late in the third having a technical foul from the previous quarters, coach Yeng Guiao did a silly choice taunting Santos. That altercation brought him his second technical which basically resulted into an early meeting with the locker room. Knowing Guiao's gut and system, he could have done something in the fourth for them to chop and overtake. The problem was he wasn't even present in their huddles anymore.

Blowout. 106-73. The Blaze Boosters, by the way, won by 33 points. They did, and they just need to.

Compression Shirt Watch. Chris Ross is still wearing that weird, white, oversized compression shirt, but he dropped 8 magnificent points and played solid leadership, so everything's just fine.

Quotation. "This win is a big lift for us. Coming into Game Four, we’ll have more confidence, but we have to manage our emotions. We don’t want to turn it into something outrageous." - Petron headcoach Gee Abanilla.

Bits.

-Chris Lutz actually contributed good numbers this afternoon, that's a first in this series.


-Alex Cabagnot too.


-The long awaited JuneMar Fajardo vs Rain or Shine big, bully boys fist fight didn't happen yet,

next game maybe.


-Chris Tiu is the worst Chris in Game 3. He had 7 points.


-So it's not a bad night for the Chrises, except for Ross' compression shirt.







Game 4 is on Monday, 8pm.
Tomorrow's game features Barangay Ginebra taking on San Mig Coffee in their own semifinals Game 3.

PBA Scenes: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Semifinals Game 2

Best of the Night. The whole of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Their big men, their wings, their backcourt, their transition offense, their zone defense, their bench, their coaching staff, their ball boys, their towel boys, their fans. Everything. BGSM simply clicked on all cylinders tonight. That dominance brought them a 93-64 win over Tim Cone's boys, eventually tying their semifinal series at 1 game a piece. I can't even think of anything right now, but I'm sending a special shoutout to Greg Slaughter's 21 points, 12 boards, and beardless face. Next.

Worst of the Night. Justin Melton's minutes. Tim Cone's logic is pretty weird in this game with regard to his uprising star. The past three games, Melton made significant and necessary plays that delivered them goods. He's playing spectacular, so coach Tim didn't play him much tonight. Weird. I really thought Cone would have given him extended minutes to help his struggling squad break down BGSM's zone defense. With Melton's ability to cut through the lane, it would have been beneficial if he had his minutes extended. Oh well, next.

The Fast. Jayjay Helterbrand was shooting a bunch of jumpers prior to each game, maybe just to wash away that washed up stigma. Those jumpers worked a lot for him tonight. Mr. Fast earned himself the Mr. Quality Minutes award this game. 11 points in about 11 minutes on a decent shooting night did it right for Lamberto. 

The Physicals. Tonight's physicals feature Greg Slaughter and Chris Ellis. It's not because of a scuffle, for obvious reasons. I decided to have them here because of their physical dunks in the third quarter. Ellis' reverse one hander and Slaughter's one hand tomahawk ignited Brgy. Big Dome to rise on its feet. Chants that followed were all familiar.

Bits.

-Rafi Reavis had a shining moment when he denied Slaughter from behind. Cool sneak, Reavis.

-This series still has a better gate attendance. Uh, duh.

-Is James Yap washing his elbow pad? Just asking.

-LA Tenorio has bent himself more than anyone for the sake of a reverse lay-up. That is given, so next.

-Barangay Ginebra has a player named Bryan Faundo.

-Who the hell is Bryan Faundo?

Special shoutout to my home town Ilocos Sur! Happy Kannawidan Festival! Enjoy!

Tomorrow's game pits the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters against the Petron Blaze Boosters in Game 3 of their own series. ROS leads 2-0.  

The Kraken is Mad, and it's Good.

June Mar Fajardo is 6-10 and about 300. That's a lot of mass. Yet, considering his monster form, he's been the nicest and most gentle PBA star today. 

That is until the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters' Larry Rodriguez crawled into his nerves.

Disruptions from ROS' defense took the cool away from Fajardo's head. His offense, of course, followed. That led to the Painters' eventual victory, taking a 2-0 series lead in their semifinal duel.

I don't know, but everytime I see June Mar losing his cool, it's quite exciting. Considering that he's a gigantic frame out there, if the action burst and went ou of control, it would be so awesome to watch. I'm an MMA fan after all. 

PBA Scenes: Petron Blaze Boosters vs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Game 2.

Best of the Night. Rain or Shine's defense, obviously. Though the Boosters controlled the pace of the game for about 43 minutes, Rain or Shine was able to boil Boosters' big man JuneMar Fajardo. Even if the Kraken finished with team high 20 points, his flow was disrupted when it matters most. Another thing, Petron forgot that Rain or Shine are experts of the transition game. So even if it was effective for the Boosters, it's given that the Painters will eventually find out and mix the perfect formula for its antidote.

Worst of the Night. Chris Lutz's 7 points numbers-wise, and Chris Ross' black oversized compression shirt looks-wise. Pretty harsh night for the Chrises. By the way, Chris Tiu had 0 points in about 12 minutes, so yeah.

His name is "Jeff-three". If you hear someone hit a crucial three, lots of names would pop into your head. But if they're back-to-back crucial three's, Jeff Chan may pop into majority's brains. And guess what, majority's right! Chan hit two straight three's that ignited the Painters' 23-6 run in the dying minutes. Jeff-three scored 20 points, his best output in recent memory.

The Physicals. I don't know, but everytime Yousef Taha enters a game, trouble is always around. Early in the first half, Taha and Painters rookie Jeric Teng go at each other's face after a hard foul. But the ultimate physicality was brought in by Rain or Shine bullies Raymond Almazan, Beau Belga, and Larry Rodriguez. The trio had fair shares of elbows and slaps towards Fajardo's gigantic built. I was a little bit frustrated nothing escalated between ROS bigmen and the Kraken. That would have been fun to watch.

Bits. 

-It's obvious that this series doesn't catch a lot of cash compared to the BGSM-SMC series.     
-Ryan Arana's shoes are still awesomely pink.

-Arwind Santos' shoes won't get left behind, they're still yellow-greenly highlighted.

-I don't know, but JR Quinahan is playing like he's hurt.

-Yousef Taha had extended playing minutes, highlighted by that ferocious two handed jam.

-I can't contain my happiness everytime I spot Alvin and Jeron Teng in the stands without camera focus.

No games tomorrow, Thursday, January 30th. BGSM-SMC Game 2 will be played on Friday.

Winners and Losers of the Dwight Saga

The drama that Dwight Howard brought in this offseason transpires into his dramatic unison with the Houston Rockets. I don't know if it has something to do with Yao Ming's skype account or James Harden's pizza rolls, but the Rockets somehow convinced Dwight that playing in Houston is a whole lot better than 4 other suiting cities.

Now as the Dwight-light Saga reached it's end, let me try to sum it up with my own list of winners and losers of the biggest signing this offseason.

Winners

Houston Rockets

In general, any team who needs a legitimate center and landed the best center in the league today is a winner. With James Harden suddenly finding a partner in superman, the Rockets move on from the Tracy McGrady era, which is a million years ago, to this duo looking to bring the Rockets back to title contention. Let's fast forward to the season and see if things transpire to what we all expect it to be.

Dwight Howard

Thank God Chris Paul decides to end his free agency early, or we might just be going crazy over two undecided stars. Well, indecision stopped this morning when Dwight Howard chose the Houston Rockets. 

Howard is now $88 million richer through 4 years with his new contract with the Rockets. Aside from that, he is given the chance to star for another team which is still raising stars. That is where he wanted to be in the first place. He is an egoistic big man who wants to win a championship without giving away his "star" role. Now he's got that chance and better grab and make the most out of it if he doesn't want to feel the sting LeBron James felt in 2011. After all, he said he doesn't want to do things like LeBron. Hohoho Dwight, well said, no really, we believe you, we truly believe you. Duh.

Anyway, I just hope Dwight gets back the love he lost much like LeBron James did. But it's gonna get rocky from here. One knows that winning a championship while posting solid numbers is the only way he could do it. 

Or if he refuses to do things like LeBron, let's just wait for December 15 and his trade demand. 



Golden State Warriors

Golden State had been solid suitors for Dwight through the last 48 hours since he announced his decision. They even offered the Lakers Andrew Bogut, budding stars Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes for Howard in a sign and trade. Thank goodness that deal didn't even reach a paper. 

Instead, being wise and all, Warriors GM Bob Myers shed cap through trading the contracts of Andris Biedrins, Richard Jefferson, and Kareem Rush to the Utah Jazz. It's really shocking that Richard Jefferson is still in the NBA. The resulting acquisition makes Golden State winners. His name is Andre Iguodala. Iguodala.


Josh Smith

I wanted to include Josh Smith because after Dwight Howard was employed by his team, Smith now turns to be the biggest option in the market. Let him feel his importance guys, I suggest make him his own saga. 

With guys like Tyreke Evans completing deals somewhere, Smith could only be the remaining "star" in this draft without a team, and it just goes exciting for him from there. 

If rumors are true about Houston's interest on Atlanta's free agent forward, and if a deal gets done, NASA should be letting those spacecrafts fly letting the alien worlds know that their about to land 3rd seed in the Western Conference.  



Losers

Los Angeles Lakers

C'mon LA fans, that's enough. The franchise is the epitome of pride in the league. We get it. We know how many titles the Lakers have already won. We know how many stars the roster have. We know that the Lakers will always be superior to the Clippers. We know Kobe Bryant and his ability to lift his team. Alright, the Lakers is one of the best, if not the best, team in the history of the NBA. That is long proven. 

But c'mon, we've got a situation here. The Lakers just lost the best big man in the league. It's true that he's got issues with attitude or with how he fits with Mike D'Antoni's system -- if there's any --, but he still is Dwight Howard. Kobe himself told that he's one of a kind and you just can't simply pluck him from trees.

Robert Sacre is a living proof that the Lakers are in the negative side of the equation. If the season is to start tomorrow, he'll be their starting center. With the fact that Earl Clarke leaves for Cleveland, and Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, and maybe even Kobe himself, dance in the twilights of their careers, the Lakers failing to re-sign Howard is a total loss for the team.  

But with enough time and a whole bunch of free agents still available, the Lakers could use Dwight's abandoned cap to sign significant players. Josh Smith maybe, Mitch Kupchack? Or why not bring back Andrew Bynum? I'm kidding, please. And if management is wise enough, they could also bring in a new head coach to lead the Lakers. Uhh does anyone from the front office know someone named Earvin "Magic" Johnson? They might want to try something never tried before. 

The Lakers revolves around winning and they surely will. But this season around, I don't think they'll bully the Clippers in paying their rent on time. One positive about this offseason is that Metta World Peace is still a Laker! That's just for fun of course.

Dallas Mavericks

I am a long time fan of the Dallas Mavericks. They were the champions that never were, the legendary team that everyone tends to underestimate, they are forces in the West, and are one time world champions! 

But sadly, I need to speak like it's 2013. The Mavs suck.

Donnie Nelson tried to create cap as huge as possible for them to land either Chris Paul or Dwight Howard and other pieces necessary to bring Dirk Nowitzki his second ring. Plans were good looking, and they even tried to woo the Boston Celtics into trading Rajon Rondo to them for a bunch of Mavs players. I know everyone's aware that in real life, unplanned events are always the best. The Mavs refused to believe it, and the results were awful at least for now.

The Mavs hurt themselves by shredding too much contracts just to acquire a toptier guy. It's as if they never learned from what Deron Williams did to them last summer. They let go of OJ Mayo and Darren Collison, missed on a potential blockbuster to acquire Rajon Rondo, missed Chris Paul, and missed Dwight Howard. Their cap is huge though so they used $29 million of that to sign Jose Calderon. Seriously? I'm still heartbroken.

But Mark Cuban stays positive and told that it was time for them to move to "Plan B". I hope this time it works, and I hope Jose Calderon would bring in Jason Kidd's lucky charm. The Mavs have a weird obsession on old point guards. 

Al Jefferson

I really wanted to include Big Al on this because of his impatience. In an official interview with Yahoo! Sports, Jefferson expressed desire to play for the Mavericks if they were unable to load Dwight Howard. A few minutes later, he signed with the Charlotte Bobcats.

True that he can star with the Bobcats, but the missed chance of him playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki and helping the Mavs improve their interior brings him in the dark side of this list. If only he waited for a little more time like what Andre Iguodala did with the Sacramento Kings, he could have won something in the offseason, and the Mavs' "Plan B" would have worked.  





Last thought, please Dwight Howard, ditch the headband. Please.


--ABRG

Chris Paul's Decision to Stay in Hollywood is 'Beautiful'

I like what Chris Paul did this offseason. 

He put much pressure on the Clippers management to get him a new coach. He played well with the circumstances and blurted out what he wanted. The Clips did so what he wanted them to do and placed Doc Rivers on the empty coach's couch. As a result, Paul resigned with the LA Clippers and is now $107 million richer and was guaranteed 5 years of being on the employment line. Duh. As if he'll not make any noise come 2018. 

But what is beautiful about Chris Paul resigning with his team is that he didn't put much drama on his free agency. He played fair. It's a good and healthy talked "Give me what I want and I'll give you what you want" situation. 

This is far different from what a certain center did to Orlando a year ago who still didn't fixed a long term deal to the city who loved him, despite the management complying to all of his tantrums. And yet, the world looks at LeBron James as the epitome of arrogance. Mad world.

But whatever is happening around him and around the league, Chris Paul will surely receive tremendous amount of love from Los Angeles as he should.

The 2013 All-Star Game MVP will be in charge of leading the emerging LA team to a deeper push in the post season. Let's not talk about the regular season anymore because I'm sure as hell that the Clippers are going to sit at the Western Conference's 3rd to 4th place come April 2014.

With fellow All-Star Blake Griffin, acquired shooters JJ Redick and Jared Dudley, and strong back up from the other guys, Chris Paul's time bomb may have been more than ready to explode. I am just hoping that DeAndre Jordan would be dealt with a high benefit player, or would not be dealt at all. Add defensive flavor through Doc Rivers and the Clips are contenders. Actually, even if Mikki Moore coaches them, they'll still be contenders. 

---ABRG

Reports: Knicks, Raptors Agree to Bargnani Trade

Sources say the New York Knicks have agreed to a deal with the Toronto Raptors that is yet to be approved by the league.

The Raptors would send forward Andrea Barganani to the Big Apple for big man Marcus Camby, sharp shooter Steve Novak and a 2016 first round pick, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Bargnani, who was drafted first overall in 2006, was a primary example of a high risk, high benefit player. Known to have the size of a center with touch from the perimeter, Bargnani stuck to the high risk part. Toronto hasn't struggled that much with him but weren't that successful also. The Italian power forward averaged 12.7 points, and 3.7 rebounds in almost 30 minutes of action the past season, and hasn't improved much from the post. He's got a very hot girlfriend though.

New York letting go of Camby and Novak wouldn't post too much concerns for the Knicks. One is waiting to be mummified caused by injuries, and the other one seems to be unfamiliar with the term "2 points" and is just too one-dimensional.

This trade, though still un-inked by the NBA superiors, are just one of the continuing blockbusters that are yet to unfold. With free agency shopping beginning tomorrow (July 1), we wouldn't expect a 2013 Trade Deadline drama this week. It's all gonna be wrecked, chaotic, and huge for the league and it's future.

--ABRG