Sunday, January 01, 2012
For the eliminated players,
this is a preview or a throwback on what they will do or they have done to
deserve a spot in this conference and reserve a spot for the next.
As for the players from Rain or Shine, Powerade, Petron, and Talk N
Text, this is a call on the paths their team will take when they succeed (or
fail) in delivering their teams to the promise land.
Happy New Year,
readers!
Game starts now!
20 ALASKA / LA TENORIO
STATS: 13.6PPG • 5.6RPG • 5.4APG • 1.0SPG
I think it’s safe to say that
Tenorio is lucky to last the rankings for this long. The only way for him to
avenge this conference is with a big time reinforcement.
19 RAIN OR SHINE / GABE NORWOOD
STATS: 7.9PPG • 6.2RPG • 3.9APG • 0.9SPG
We have been crying the heavens
for Norwood to rid himself of his current slump and while he remains
inconsistent, he proved his worth against Ginebra especially when the game was
on the line.
18 MERALCO / SOLOMON MERCADO
STATS: 14.1PPG • 3.9RPG • 5.0APG • 1.3SPG
After a hot finish in the eliminations,
Mercado scoring outburst cooled down in the quarterfinals match against the
Petron Blaze Boosters.
17 POWERADE / DOUG KRAMER
STATS: 11.4PPG • 10.7RPG • 1.2APG
Doug Kramer did what? Kramer
got the opportunity to shine in Powerade and he did not disappoint. Throughout
the conference, we’re always taking consideration on his double-double prowess.
16 RAIN OR SHINE / JEFF CHAN
STATS: 15.5PPG • 3.3RPG • 2.1APG • 0.8SPG
If there’s one man who’s bent
on having a breakout season, then Jeffrei Chan is your guy. The former FEU King
Tam is realizing his potential and the Tigers need to clamp him in any way
possible.
15 TALK N TEXT / JAPETH AGUILAR
STATS: 10.8PPG • 6.7RPG • 1.1APG • 2.2BPG
Talk N Text mentor Chot Reyes
calls Japeth as his wildcard. Indeed he is – especially with most of Chot’s big
men going in and out of the active list.
14 MERALCO / GABBY ESPINAS
STATS: 14.3PPG • 9.1RPG • 1.1APG • 1.0BPG
He will play a major role in
the import-laden conferences since he can play both forward positions well.
This conference is an indication that Espinas can be a good player playing in a
good team.
13 PETRON / CHRIS LUTZ
STATS: 18.3PPG • 2.7RPG • 3.2APG • 2.0SPG
Chris Lutz returned just in
time to save the Blaze Boosters from the injury of Alex Cabagnot. A-Cab should
return next week with perhaps Dondon Hontiveros in tow (a reader has explained that the Cebuano hotshot will be out for six months) but don’t think for one
second that Lutz’ importance will be diminished.
12 ALASKA / SONNY THOSS
STATS: 15.4PPG • 9.4RPG • 2.4APG • 1.3BPG
The Boss is now resting after a
stressful conference. All he needs to do is enjoy his vacation, prepare for
next conference and hopefully the Aces return to their glory.
11 RAIN OR SHINE / PAUL LEE
STATS: 13.7PPG • 4.5RPG • 4.5APG • 0.9SPG
Paul Lee survived Mark Caguioa
and the rest of the Barangay Ginebra Kings and will lock horns with Gary David
and the Powerade Tigers. I know David is the Tigers’ ace but I think the better
faceoff in this series is him against JV Casio.
10 B-MEG / KERBY RAYMUNDO
STATS: 12.9PPG • 7.6RPG • 2.9APG • 0.8SPG
Kerby did well for B-Meg
despite getting swept by the Tigers in the quarterfinals but will his
performance be enough to claim a lead seat with Marc Pingris and Joe Devance
eager for increased playing time.
9 BARAKO BULL / WILLIE MILLER
STATS: 15.8PPG • 4.9RPG • 4.7APG • 1.7SPG
Miller averaged 2.5ppg and
2.0rpg in four games for Ginebra last conference. This started the Miller
washed up rumors. A few months after, Thriller’s averages ballooned six times
as well as his rebounds and assists.
8 POWERADE / GARY DAVID
STATS: 22.5PPG • 3.6RPG • 2.1APG • 0.7SPG
His hands fumed like hell
against B-Meg where defending against him were scorers James Yap and Peter June
Simon. It resulted with El Granada bringing in 34.5 points. Can David score the
same stats against ROS where we can expect Jeff Chan, Ryan Arana, and Jireh
Ibanes to hound him?
7 TALK N TEXT / HARVEY CAREY
STATS: 12.9PPG • 11.2RPG • 1.8APG
Harvey is TNT’s silent
assassin. He is not flashy and when the game is over, you’ll just be surprised
that he just had a double-double. Expect him to have the same scenario once the
Tropang Texters square off against the Blaze Boosters.
6 B-MEG / JAMES YAP
STATS: 19.0PPG • 5.2RPG • 2.3APG
King James had it worse when he
found out B-Meg’s invulnerability will be destroyed by the conference’s eighth
seed. Definitely James Yap will feed on this debacle of a campaign to get his
Llamados up top in the next conference.
5 TALK N TEXT / JAYSON CASTRO
STATS: 15.6PPG • 4.6RPG • 5.1APG • 1.0SPG
The Blur has been Talk N Text’s
main man at the quarterback spot and even with the return of Jimmy Alapag and
Ryan Reyes from sickbay, Chot Reyes can’t do much without his ever reliable
combo guard. The Jason Castro-Denok Miranda matchup should excite people.
4 POWERADE / MARCIO LASSITER
STATS: 16.3PPG • 5.6RPG • 4.0APG • 1.7SPG
Inasmuch as we have to give it
to Gary David for towing Powerade to the semifinal round, El Granada is reaping
the seeds of a revamped lineup. One of those useful additions is the California
Swagger. Lassiter is David’s Scottie Pippen in terms of scoring and he gives
out other stats which is why he is above him on this list.
3 TALK N TEXT / KELLY WILLIAMS
STATS: 14.8PPG • 8.9RPG • 1.5APG • 0.9SPG • 1.1BPG
K-Will is probably the Tropang
Texters’ most consistent performer. He doesn’t give out much in the points and
rebounds department but truth be told that he gets the job done. With Ranidel
De Ocampo still recuperating, he is the team’s main man in the big man
department. He’ll probably concentrate in defending against Arwind Santos since
he is the only mobile big man that could hang with the Spiderman.
2 PETRON / ALEX CABAGNOT
STATS: 14.8PPG • 4.3RPG • 6.8APG • 1.2SPG
The long break will benefit
every player that’s going to play in the semifinal round but none will benefit
more than Alex Cabagnot. Cabagnot only played three minutes in their series
clincher against the Meralco Bolts and you can’t really see a win for the
Boosters if he continues to go AWOL against the Tropang Texters. While an
Alapag versus Cabagnot match will be anticipated, I think he’ll have his hands
full checking out the defenses of Castro and Ryan Reyes.
1 PETRON / ARWIND SANTOS
STATS: 18.3PPG • 12.3RPG • 1.2APG • 1.3SPG • 1.4BPG
The Talk N Text Tropang Texters
are mad with vengeance after Petron squashed their hopes of becoming the fifth
team in PBA history to win a grand slam. Now Arwind Santos fuelled the romp and
the Tropang Texters will stop at nothing to avenge that loss. So it will all
come down on how the Texters defend against the Spiderman who is currently
leading the Best Player of the Conference race. Even if Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Jay
Washington, and Dondon Hontiveros return to the fold, it is not sure if Santos
will not get the lion’s share of ball possessions and shot selections.
So with these points said...
Who will win the Best Player of
the Conference Award?
If Petron wins, it’s a lock for
Arwind Santos to win the Best Player Award. Unless Alex Cabagnot goes on a
statistical barrage, I can’t see him taking out Arwind who since Day One has
occupied the top of the rankings.
If Talk N Text wins in their
semis encounter, I can see Williams or Castro looming as winners. Among the two
though, I’m going to trust on Castro more than Williams. Castro is notorious
for playing extremely well especially when the stakes are high. Machine Gun
Kelly has been silent in TNT’s last three playoff performances with Ali Peek,
Harvey Carey, and Ranidel De Ocampo stepping up big as their inside presence.
However this will depend on the
other semis matchup. It’s easy for the Tropa boys to win if they’ll go up in
the finals against Rain or Shine because Yeng Guiao rotates the minutes of his
players. Paul Lee for one has yet to explode for ROS when he gets 30 or more minutes.
The Powerade players however, are different animals. They will have Gary David
and Lassiter working on extended minutes and these guys are inside the Top Ten.
For impact alone, I can see David claiming the award especially if he does well
in the semis. For all around outputs however, I’m going to go with Lassiter
because his points, rebounds, assists, and steals outputs rival those of Arwind
(although Arwind’s rebounding average is seriously overwhelming).
While these players would want
to claim individual accolades, I don’t think they’ll like win the Best Player
Award as part of the losing squad.
Still though... a win right
here automatic gives a player a Mythical Team citation.
Game over!
Chris Lutz returned just in time to save the Blaze Boosters from the injury of Alex Cabagnot. A-Cab should return next week with perhaps Dondon Hontiveros in tow but don’t think for one second that Lutz’ importance will be diminished acab should return with dondon hontiveros in tow???? dondon was just operated on his ACL injury. he will not be expected until after 6 mos.
ReplyDeleteNO GINEBRA MAKES IT?HAHAH!
ReplyDeleteinasmuch as i want to cheat the stats list, i can't. the closest thing they have in the top twenty are mark caguioa and mike cortez. both guys were victims of ginebra's young guys experiment and there was a time were both guys were playing under 20 minutes a night.
ReplyDeleteugh. sorry. bad trip yun kasi dondon logged only a rebound and a turnover in 6 minutes of action. frankly I'm under the impression he'll return soon. thanks for the heads up though. :)
ReplyDelete