Thursday, March 22, 2012
Mick
Pennisi
probably destroyed Petron’s chances to make the semifinal round.
In return, he also gave Barako Bull ehem… a boost to the top.
Pennisi, one of the league’s
most irritating trash talkers and cheap shot artists (in a good way… or
otherwise), just baited Will McDonald
to lose his cool in what should be Petron’s
most important game this season.
Down 3-4 with two games
remaining in their elimination schedule, McDonald needs to dominate for the Blaze Boosters. Instead, the former Fujian Sturgeon played 13 minutes
before getting ejected.
The reason? McDonald hit
Pennisi right smack in the forehead with the ball. This was after a
rough-and-tumble sequence where Pennisi karate chopped McDonald’s arm and Mick
strangled the import which caused McDonald to shove him out.
Then Pennisi threw an extremely
awesome reaction that made Eddie
Guerrero’s flopping motion amateurish.
Move over, Dingdong.
Step aside, Piolo.
Go away, John Lloyd.
Philippine TV’s primetime drama
king is now here.
Don't you think he looks like Michael de Mesa?
I think this is what the
imports never thought Filipinos can do. Long before that Malaysian who grabbed Asi Taulava’s balls in the recent SEABA tourney did such thing, Filipinos
are well-known as pretty smart albeit sneaky basketball players. For those who
don’t know this, research on what crap we put on a random foreigner. We like to
play mind games and we like the players who’ll use his wiliness to piss off the
player as much as the players who hit the shots that matter.
For research materials, here is
James Yap kicking Terrence Leather during an all-important
ballgame.
And of course… Mark Yee romantically groping Anthony Grundy.
Yeah.
Attaboy.
But it is not as if the Energy
merely pissed off Will McDonald. Barako Bull played extremely well in the
opening quarter and was on the verge of stretching the lead to 20 when McDonald
showed his frustration. The “savior” who was flew in by Petron to bring his
winning tradition that Nick Fazekas
failed to give. McDonald then made an extreme lapse of judgment that fueled Petron’s
third straight loss. Plus unlike McDonald, Rodney White finished the game with 41
points and zero distractions.
While Pennisi’s head got
shackled, he did get an enormous just compensation. Pennisi joined Allan Caidic, Ronnie Magsanoc, Al Solis,
Jimmy Alapag, Renren Ritualo, and Willie Miller in the 700-three point
club.
It also gave the Barako Bull a
4-4 standing – one game higher than Petron that’s also good for fifth place.
Pennisi finished the game with
11 points – four points higher than McDonald’s output.
“I think I’m going into acting
after my PBA career is over.”
This is so true for Mick
Pennisi. Probably a bald guy a la Benjie
Paras with a thick Australian accent will have what it takes to be the next
“Yeye Bonel” of Philippine Cinema.
Anyway, for Petron they need a
miracle. In a span of days, the team overhauled their rotation. They traded Ato Agustin’s kid Marc Agustin for combo guard Chico
Lanete and then acquired RJ Rizada
from their ABL squad. And then they re-instated Nonoy Baclao and Rabeh Al-Hussaini from their reserve list. And for
those who live in a rock, “injury reserved” Fazekas for McDonald. Al-Hussaini, Lanete,
Baclao, Rizada, and McDonald finished the game with a combined 11 points, 11
rebounds, and one assist.
Petron will have another shot
to clinch four wins but this will be against the viciously souped-up Talk N Text Tropang Texters.
With such a bone-headed move, I
won’t be surprised if McDonald gets replaced by Fazekas or some other
seven-foot “savior”.
I bet it haunts Petron to lose
the way they did.
I wonder what fellow aggravator
Ronald Tubid said to Mick Pennisi
after their game?
Lufet mo ‘pre?
Game over.
