Sunday, January 08, 2012
Gary David is on fire!
Really!
I just watched the last 29
minutes of the third game of the semifinals match of the Powerade Tigers against the Rain
or Shine Elasto Painters and I must admit, I am enjoying this series more
than the Petron versus Talk N Text
one. At first, you’ll probably think that this looks like a glorified battle
for third place affair but these guys have evolved.
And it’s a joy to watch!
These squads benefited from the
2011 PBA Draft. Ever since Rain or
Shine embraced the coaching awesomeness of Yeng
Guiao, they have become a force to be reckon with. Unfortunately for them,
the team lacked a certified superstar. Don’t get me wrong – Gabe Norwood is a PBA ambassador and is
a superstar in his own right but I can’t wait for the Elasto Painters to trade
him to a team that would really use his services. Fact is, Norwood is more of a
complementary player that facilitates for the team’s top dog and frankly he’s
getting buried in Coach Yeng’s “no star player” system.
And yet when Guiao acquired a
bonafide star, everything went great for his squad.
Paul Lee is the team’s sole rookie and
he has responded wonderfully as their team’s ace. He is burly enough to post up
small PG’s and at the same time he is quick enough to dazzle the trees that
attempt to stop his tracks.
Lee’s entry to the team made a
lot of his teammates look good including Jeff
Chan, Ronjay Buenafe, Jervy Cruz, JR Quinahan, Larry Rodriguez, and Big Beau
Belga.
It’s the same thing for
Powerade. Bo Perasol has been
manning Powerade’s core for a bunch of conferences now but this is the season
where the Tigers have done away with their excessive amount of not-so-wonderful
shooting guards and not-so-useful frontline. Gary David has been scoring at
this rate whenever he is with Bo Perasol but for the longest time, he hasn’t
had a decent backup for passing opportunities and to rid himself off the double
teams. The 2011 PBA Draft brought him a shooter that is an underrated playmaker
and an all-around guy that has the ability to shut down the opponent’s top dog.
Aside from JV Casio and Marcio Lassiter,
they acquired Doug Kramer and Josh
Vanlandingham from Rain or Shine and Romel
Adducul, Alex Crisano, and Rudy Lingganay from various offseason moves to
join holdovers Sean Anthony and Celino
Cruz.
In the first game, Gary David
was his usual monster scoring self but Lassiter’s scoring went AWOL. Rain or
Shine got 52 points from Paul Lee and Jeff Chan including a vicious scoring
tear in the second half. In the second game however the Tigers turned the tide
by unleashing a huge second half and limiting Chan to a big fat zero to level
the series.
In the third game, Gary David
caught the defense napping by nailing 20 points in the fourth quarter and
overtime. He also led the charge in burying Rain or Shine’s offense with their
own brand of defense. It helped that Paul Lee’s age suddenly showed when he
bounced the ball on his foot when he got alarmed by Marcio Lassiter’s defense.
Plus it was nice to see that Doug Kramer is finally getting the recognition he
rightfully deserves.
Lee finished the game with 19
points – which is ROS’ best but his series’ worst. Jervy Cruz had a solid game
but it came for naught because he never had a play in the last ten minutes of
the game. Jeff Chan bounced back from a scoreless output with 17 but Buenafe
was held to zero. Larry Rodriguez, Rain or Shine’s silent assassin who averaged
18 points in their first two games was also held down to eight. Belga had
eleven and Norwood scored in double figures for the first time with ten.
For the Tigers, I think it’s
safe to say that the team relies heavily on David, Lassiter, Casio, Kramer, and
Anthony. Having Cruz or Vanlandingham score a bunch of points is bonus. I think
the Elasto Painters need to at least try to contain El Granada. He might be an offensive juggernaut but the last time a
PBA player scored 30 points for six straight games, it was an import... in the
90’s. If at this point they can’t lure David out of the 30-point zone then they
deserve to lose this series.
I don’t know who to root – I like
Powerade because I am a Smart-Gilas
fan but I really, REALLY hate Powerade’s uniform. I mean... when the outfitter’s
logo is visible than the actual jersey number... then you know how stupid your
uniform looks.
Anyway, I love the series. I
insist you watch it too.
Game over!
