PBA Scenes: Rain or Shine Elasto Painters vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Finals Game 2

Best of the Night. San Mig Coffee's team defense really stood out tonight. They weren't shooting well, no one dominated offensively, but their defense did the most talking. In my humble opinion, Rain or Shine can almost sue the Mixers defense right now. They were harassed on national television. The evidence is strong. Anyway, Mixers even the series with an 80-70 win. It wasn't too close the whole game.

Worst of the Night. On the contrary, Rain or Shine's offense is tonight's worst. Jeff Chan led the team with 18 points, followed by Gabe Norwood's 8. All in all, as stated above, the Painters scored 70 points. That's far, far away from their average. Well, if you don't call that bad, then I no longer know what we should call it. Anyway, this is just another proof of the superiority of the Mixers' defense. On the consistent side of things, Chris Tiu had 0 points. C'mon, Chris. That's almost 5 games in a row. Wow.



Sakuragi. Marc Pingris was the best player of the game with 11 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He posted those numbers while rotating defense on Raymond Almazan, Beau Belga, Jeff Chan, and Paul Lee. As you can see, he outrebounded his points, had pretty numerous dishes, and marked multiple positions. Right now, it seems like Pingris is the only player who can do that. 



Technical Counter. Game 2 technical fouls: one. In case you missed it, coach Yeng Guiao finally had a technical foul in the finals! They were down big in a game for control and he's got heat. That's a perfect formula for a Yeng Guiao specialty.



Banger. I would like to commend Jerwin Gaco for stirring the perfect formula that I was talking about. In the second quarter, with the Mixers leading by a huge margin, Gaco got physical -this series is physical- with Painters' rookie Raymond Almazan. Of course, as a father, coach Yeng should set examples, and he did! That wasn't good though, as he puked out words that got him T'd up. Gaco kept it cool. Too bad he matched Chris Tiu's output. He might have been best of the night.



Quote. "We didn't shoot that well but we were defending well." - coach Tim Cone. I told you, Mixers' defense stood out in Game 2. That's the story.



Bits.

-We've got awesome blocks in this game including one each from Paul Lee and Mark Barroca.

- This is a pretty nice trivia. Do you know who teaches Marc Pingris' post moves? Richard del Rosario.

-They lost this game, but coach Yeng Guiao said he's not worried. That's good news actually.

-That's it right there. See you on Game 3.




That's on Wednesday, by the way. 8pm.

PBA Scenes: Rain or Shine Elasto Painters vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Finals Game1

Best of the Night. 1.6 seconds remain in the fourth quarter. Ballgame tied at 80 apiece. Huddles are heated. One final play. Ball was dead out of bounds. Jeff Chan fakes right then rushed left, drawing a defender. That man just drilled back to back threes. All eyes were on him, all minds were expecting him to finish the game. Then Gabe Norwood threw the inbound, quick, and at the center of the paint. That was far from Jeff Chan. The leather was caught. The man was 6 foot 1, quick, and bald. In a rush, a shot was made easily, and in the open. Rain or Shine win, 82-80. Best of the night should be Paul Lee, Paul Lee's game winner, and Paul Lee giving Rain or Shine a series edge over the Mixers. No questions asked.

Worst of the Night. There are a lot of Chris playing in the PBA, and Chris Tiu is the last Chris standing. He hasn't been the best Chris out there, so being the last one left, he's got that chance to be the best. So did he? Uh, not really. 10 minutes, 3 turnovers, 0 points, and a heck of difficulty escaping Mark Barroca's defense wouldn't do that at all. So apparently, Chris Tiu is STILL the worst and only Chris in the game. At least he's got consistency.

Batman. Jervy Cruz is sick of weird uniform elements and accessories. He's a simple player with a simple get up. Unfortunately, his nose tasted the bitter bone of Alex Cabagnot's elbows. So apparently, he decided to wear a protective mask. Jervy loves to keep it simple, and it became cool. And cool became cooler when he went up for that offensive board and drained the game-tying shot with less than 30 secs remaining earlier. Remember that Paul Lee game winner? That wouldn't have been a game winner if not for Jervy Cruz' heroics. So a big applause for Jervy Cruz and Jervy Cruz's face mask.

Technical Counter. Game 1 technical fouls: One. The only T that's slapped was that final time out called by San Mig Coffee, who actually burnt all of their coolers right before Lee delivered the scissors. Don't let that number fool you, this series is physical as hell.

Speaker of the House. San Mig Coffee sure put up a fight tonight. And Joe Devance sure put up numbers tonight as well. JDV went for 17 points, a couple of big rebounds, a couple of big dishes, and one big flat top. No, that's not Iman Shumpert, boys and girls.

Quote. "We got lucky in the end. We set up the play for Jeff Chan, but it was Paul (Lee) who got open. Good recognition by Gabe Norwood." - coach Yeng Guiao. Be it lucky or perfectly executed, that final play was plain dagger. 

Bits.

-San Mig Coffee is so effective without a real point guard starting the game.

-I'm not sure, but I think Alex Nuyles and Jeric Teng will soon have an explosive exposure in this series.

-Raymond Almazan is already exposed, so nevermind him.

-But Almazan threw down a beastly slam earlier, so let's mind him again. He needs to do that all the time.

-Jeff Chan was on fire in the fourth quarter. That is one bad news for the Mixers in this series.

-Beau Belga is now Rain or Shine's main man. That is two bad news for the Mixers.

-None is in the injured list in this finals. That's good news, right?

-There's no compression shirts in this series. This upsets me up honestly.

-Nothing really exciting about Game 1 when it comes to funny bones. We'll see about that come Game 2.

Game 2 of the Finals will be on Sunday at 4:30pm. Tell your friends.

   

PBA Scenes: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Game 7

Best of the Night. The San Mig Super Coffee Mixers, after a rough start to this season, and finishing at 5th seed, have knocked the top seeded Barangay Ginebra San Miguel out, 110-87, setting their dance against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for the Jun Bernardino hardware. Are you kidding me? No further explanations. Next.

(c) Nuki Sabio/PBA

Worst of the Night. Is there anyone out there who actually thought Ginebra put up a fight? A few maybe. I'm going straight to the point, the league's top seeded team sucked tonight, and they did it at the expense of moving on to the Finals. That wasn't a great timing. So just based on that, Ginebra really stunk.

Big Game. 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 3-pointers. Aren't these the numbers James Yap was producing when he won those two MVP's? Yes they are. So tonight, apart from blaming his flames to his weird arm sleeve, Yap is really determined --and inspired-- to bury Ginebra six feet below the shiny and blue Big Dome floor. Anyway, James Yap, after all injuries, and personal infernos, looks fine.

Big First Quarter. If anyone asks you regarding who was the tone setter for this big Mixers win, he might just laugh hard if you happen to say Rafi Reavis' name. But truth hurts, and is funny at the same time. But nothing could take away the truth from that truth, and the truth is Rafi Reavis scored the first 8 points for San Mig Coffee and closed the opening quarter with 12. Of course, he went back to being Rafi and finished the game with 15 points, a couple of big rebounds, three nice fall downs, one thick headband, and two sweaty arm sleeves. 

Golden Mohawk. It's not official, but I think JayJay Helterbrand tried to pay homage to Asi Taulava in game 7. I don't know why, and I don't even know if he actually did, but those are cool threads right there. 

The Apostle. Peter June Simon descipled James Yap's performance with 28 points of his own. The vets have stepped it up really high tonight. Oh well, as they should.

Quote. "Really stunning performance by us. Great shooting! Wow! I didn't do anything, these guys did it all." - coach Tim Cone. Even coach Tim couldn't believe how his team shot lights tonight.

Bits.

-Ginebra has set two PBA game attendance records. One was tonight. They lost both games. It's funny.

-24,883 gate attendance is a pretty huge number. Too bad, San Mig dropped the bombs, so there are lots of casualties. Puns.

-Mark Caguioa should have played that way from the beginning... of the season!

-You know what's higher than San Mig's morale right now? Joe Devance's flat top.

-Have you seen Justin Melton's pregame locker room dance? I won't attempt if I were you.

-I still believe Rafi Reavis was best player tonight.

Oh well, this ends the semifinals chapter of the PBA Scenes. But don't panic, a lot more is coming! The Finals chapter starts on Friday! The PBA All Filipino Cup Finals starts on Friday! That should be an awesome Friday the 14th! Now go tell your dateless friends to watch!

PBA Scenes: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Game 6

Best of the Night. Aside from the intensity of tonight's game itself, we are all in for a treat in 48 hours.  8pm on Wednesday, we are going to have a Manila Clasico that would corral everything that matter, hang them on the line, and blast a game for everything that these two teams have been working for. It is not here yet, but my best of the night is the fact that San Mig Coffee and Ginebra will all be pitted once more for an all important Game 7. Now you can go tell your friends.  

(c) Nuki Sabio/PBA

Worst of the Night. After a game like that? Duh, there's none!

Outworked Win. For about 45 minutes, San Mig Coffee outplayed, outrebounded, and outhustled Ginebra. The number of turnovers and rebounds tell the story of those 45 minutes, but, unfortunately for the Mixers, not the dying seconds. Ginebra beat San Mig Coffee, 94-91, and as I have said, we're all in for a 7th game in this Manila Clasico semifinals.   

Great Amount of Spark. I am well aware that Greg Slaughter had a huge night tonight. But I have to disagree that the giant rookie carried Ginebra solely to the win. The past few games, coach Ato Agustin seemed to have fallen inloved with utilizing Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar to help them win games. But that combination didn't worked that much in the postseason. So earlier, Mark Caguioa decided to take matters to his own hands and reclaim his reign of the country's most popular team. The Spark scored 21 points, most of which helped them climb back from being down 14 at some point in the first half. Greg Slaughter strode the finishing kick, but Caguioa, as far as this game is concerned, manned their resurrection.



Bounce. LA Tenorio is one bouncy point guard, so he just bounced back. 

Words From Worski. Ginebra legend and PBA all-time great Robert Jaworski was in the sidelines watching the game, just because, you know, he's Robert Jaworski. And it was also for that same reason that he crashed into Ginebra's locker room to deliver words for the team endangered of being eliminated. I'm pretty sure it was nothing compared to Ric Flair's flare at the 49ers locker room, but somehow, Jaworski's presence may have factored the release of Ginebra's "Never Say Die" hormones.

Sakuragi. Marc Pingris have done it again. They lost though, but he managed to pull out his inner and beastly Marc Pingris in the second half. Ping dropped majority of his 20 points from one step teardrops from the paint, which obviously brought trouble to Slaughter's reputation on the defensive end. By the way, those 20 points I'm talking about, they're Marc  Pingris' season high.

Quote. "Game 7, sa amin yan." -- Marc Pingris. These ain't bold words at all. These are determined words.



Bits.

-Rafi Reavis scored more than Justin Melton, Joe Devance, Jayjay Helterbrand, Chris Ellis, and JR Reyes. He's still kickin' it out, with a sick headband.

-James Yap equalled Reavis' production, so Rafi really did a great job out there.

-Speaking of James Yap, he had a really good and long, long, long look at the basket on that final play. Well at least no inner Arwind got involved.

-"No comment"- James Yap's comment on that crucial foul called on him that put Caguioa on the line.

-Mark Caguioa converted those two lead-taking freethrows.

-Slaughter was wearing LeBron XI Gamma Blues earlier. He might have stole it from that huge San Mig guy with the no.5 jersey.





Game 7 Wednesday, 8pm. We all know what to do.

    

PBA Scenes: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Semifinals Game 5

Best of the Night. It's unbelievable how James "Washed Up" Yap has been so powerful in the past two games. He topped his team in scoring in their game 4 loss, then lifted San Mig Coffee over the Barangay earlier, 79-76, with a crunchtime three. It was a little bit premature, considering that Yap is just having a 7-point afternoon prior to unleashing his rainbow dagger, but it went all the way through, so all negatives had been eliminated. The Super Coffee Mixers lead their series 3 games to 2, and James Yap, with 10 points and an all important finishing kick, is my best of the night.

(c) Nuki Sabio/PBA

Worst of the Night. Sometimes when teams are down by three with about 7 seconds remaining, their best guys call on every saint, and summon all kinds of miraculous spirits they know to help them salvage a game. It was odd, but LA Tenorio decided to forget every saint, and summon his inner Arwind Santos by going all the way to the basket despite being down 3 in the dying seconds. I personally don't know what Tenorio's mindset was, but it was that mental lapse that cost them the game, and eventually putting Ginebra in a twice to beat disadvantage.

Air Force. For the past two games, the best scorers are ending up with the losing team. Chris Ellis had 20 points, including a game-tying and a tie-breaking shots down the stretch. He was in the zone in the fourth quarter, and was all swaggy in the whole game. They lost though, so all positives had been eliminated.

Triangle Defense. I just need to mention this because it's amazing and it's tough to break. San Mig Coffee's defense has been superb in the postseason. How superb? Well, they are about to eliminate the conference's top seeded team.

Quote. "You get caught up in the moment. I wasn't also sure if we're up by two or three. LA's one of the smartest players I've been around with." -- coach Tim Cone. In the sport of basketball, losing focus by being caught up in the moment is a fact. And if it was an all-time great basketball coach who mentioned your name among the smartest players in the league, any end game lapse can be excused once in a while. 

Bits.

-Tenorio is one bouncy point guard, so I think he'll bounce back in the next 2 games.

-That's right, this series will go all the way. I'm hoping I was right.

-Ginebra's big men are hurt. Rumors, so chill.

-Rafi Reavis scored the first 2 points of the game, that alone signaled how strange the game would go.

-It's pretty amazing how the TV screen would shake everytime a team scores. Thrilling.

-Money Ball is still annoying as hell. Include the fact that I can not download that app.

Oh well, Game 6 is Monday.

For now, let's flap some birds. LOL.

PBA Scenes: Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are Championship-Bound.

Best of the Night. Rain or Shine advance to the All Filipino Cup Finals. Duh.

Worst of the Night. Petron Blazeless Boosters were sent fishing. Another duh.

Odd. As I said, the Elasto Painters calvarized the Boosters, and are now sitting above a line in the Finals bracket. They did that without coach Yeng Guiao, who's been suspended for extending the banned metacarpal at Arwind Santos in a previous game.

Bits.

-The last game of Petron bearing the Petron name and jerseys was absolutely frustrating. They're done for this conference. That's a third duh.

-I wasn't able to watch the game, so basically, your thoughts are all better than mine with regard to this humble blog entry. Literally DOWN TO EARTH.

Ginebra and San Mig Coffee's revolutions resume tomorrow at 3:30 pmin their very own Semifinals Game 5.

PBA Scenes: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs San Mig Coffee Mixers Semifinals Game 4

Best of the Night. Mac Baracael. There are nights when players are in the zone. Tonight is Baracael's in-the-zone night. Like an unleashed fireball, he shot the lights out with 20 points, with 12 fierce points coming from way down town. With this, Ginebra built a pretty solid 16 point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and snatching the win at end game, 85-82. That's pretty solid and really, really tough.

Worst of the Night. As a basketball fan, I give worst of the night to this San Mig Coffee loss. Down 16 heading into the payoff period, the Mixers squeezed every ounce of energy to stay sticky with their pressure defense. They forced stops and turnovers to chop down BGSM's lead, and snatching the driver seat, 72-70, halfway through the fourth. You see, that's a very tough thing to accomplish and the only reward acceptable is to win. That should have been more meaningful, since SMC should have been up 3-1. If they only held on a little more.

Big Game in a Big Loss. You wouldn't believe this, but James Yap actually played well tonight. Enduring the pain in his elbow, and with his ugly and shabby shooting sleeve, Big Game James dropped in 20 points for the Mixers, and he almost hit the game-tying three in the end. The rim was a little slippery for that beautiful leather though, so it slipped and missed, basically. But still, hats off for Yap whose last 20-point game was... well chill, I don't remember as well.

By the way. Chris Ellis, who is still the better compression shirted Chris, and Rafi Reavis, who donned those black double sleeves, are best of the night looks-wise.

Quote. "The breaks went on our side, that's why we won the game." - coach Ato Agustin. This reminded me of coach Pido Jarencio's "uminom ng malamig na San Miguel Beer" moment in the UAAP. It's worth a laugh.

Bits.

-Mark Barroca was contained.

-Justin Melton too.

-And PJ Simon , too!

-All in all, a pretty bad night for the little ones of San Mig Coffee.

-Is Japeth Aguilar still drunk or something? 7 points. Almost 10 shots. Disaster. Well, at least they've won.

-Series is tied, 2-2.

Huge shoutout to my bro, Alvin John "Vanes" Alvarez, who's celebrating his 22nd birthday today! Thanks for the magnificent food brad!