Friday, April 06, 2012
It’s fitting that this bout
will finish AKTV’s Do or Die Sunday
because with all the hype and drama on-court and off this series is getting – you
have to expect they’ll pour their all on Sunday.
The B-Meg Llamados were manhandled by the Meralco Bolts in their first game, 103 to 81 thanks mainly on Asi
Taulava’s youthful exuberance, Earl
Barron’s stabilizing factor, and Macmac
Cardona’s intensity. In Game Two though, B-Meg bounced back 95 to 85 – thanks to the superb output
of B-Meg vet Marc Pingris. B-Meg
desperately needs a player to back up Denzel
Bowles in the frontline spot. Rafi
Reavis and Yancy De Ocampo can
match up with Barron and Taulava in the paint but these two are not offensive
threats. Kerby Raymundo was but he
is in Ginebra right now having his own struggles with playing time which is why
if Pingris’ game continues he and Joe
Devance should give the Llamados the edge in the clincher.
Anyway, here are B-Meg Llamados’
keys to victory:
Frontline
scoring and rebounding:
Nice things happened when the
Llamados draw big games from their big men. While Bowles is their Mr.
Do-It-All, one thing these guys to do are to rebound well. What Pingris did in
Game Two was rare but what Devance is doing right now is odd. JDV needs to
return to his old powerful Alaska self.
James
Yap:
Yap scored 21 points in B-Meg’s
loss but just had eight in their win. Also in the 21 points he scored in Game
One, did not score in the pivotal fourth quarter. Yap’s scoring has been a
constant in B-Meg/Purefoods history and since Bowles is not scoring as much as
Barron… and with the offensive threats known to many as Macmac Cardona and Sol
Mercado, King James needs to exert effort on offense.
Shock
Troopers:
Forget Peter June Simon because
he’ll likely score at will (It feels to me that Tim Cone likes Simon better
than Yap) – the rest of the Llamados must explode. In Game Two, Josh Urbiztondo
exploded for 13 points. By merely adding Josh in their double-digit club, the
Llamados prevailed. Look for Tim Cone to give Urbiztondo, Mark Barroca, JC
Intal, and even Yancy De Ocampo additional importance.
As for Meralco, here are their
keys to power:
Help
Earl Barron:
Barron is averaging a little more
than half of Bowles. While that is a good thing, fact is it’s not. The Bolts
had only two players scoring in double figures in Game Two – Barron and Solomon
Mercado. It’s expected that Cardona will be their third option but hopefully
they can have Asi Taulava, Chris Ross, and Mark Macapagal helping their cause.
A
little less intensity:
Cardona’s madness ignited a
hailstorm of awesomeness for Meralco in Game One but that same intensity made
it hard for Meralco when after seventy seconds, Captain Hook was thrown out.
The Bolts have enough annoying cheerleaders in their stands (vuvuzelas!!!!) and
they don’t need another one languishing on their dugout.
Asi
Taulava:
One key factor why the Bolts
are fighting for the title is the resurgence of The Rock. During their last
three wins, The Rock scored more than 12 points and had more than nine rebounds.
Even with their Game Two loss, Asi had seven points and eight rebounds. The
Thing about The Rock is that 6’10 guy paired up with a seven-footer is
damage-inducing.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
|
B-MEG (3RD SEED)
|
QUARTERFINALS
|
MERALCO (6TH SEED)
|
|
88.0
|
POINTS
|
94.0
|
|
43.5
|
REBOUNDS
|
50.0
|
|
18.0
|
ASSISTS
|
19.5
|
|
6.0
|
STEALS
|
6.5
|
|
4.0
|
BLOCKS
|
1.5
|
|
B-MEG LLAMADOS
|
POINTS
|
REBOUNDS
|
ASSISTS
|
|
DENZEL
BOWLES
|
19.0
|
9.0
|
3.5
|
|
JAMES
YAP
|
14.5
|
2.5
|
4.0
|
|
PETER
JUNE SIMON
|
13.5
|
4.5
|
1.5
|
|
MARC
PINGRIS
|
12.5
|
5.0
|
0.5
|
|
JOE
DEVANCE
|
9.5
|
3.0
|
3.5
|
|
MERALCO BOLTS
|
POINTS
|
REBOUNDS
|
ASSISTS
|
|
EARL
BARRON
|
36.5
|
14.5
|
1.5
|
|
SOL
MERCADO
|
14.0
|
5.0
|
2.5
|
|
MACMAC
CARDONA
|
12.0
|
5.0
|
2.0
|
|
ASI
TAULAVA
|
9.5
|
10.5
|
0.5
|
|
CHRIS
ROSS
|
8.0
|
4.0
|
10.5
|
FEARLESS FORECAST:
This is a hard pick because
Ryan Gregorio’s crew and Tim Cone’s squad can give Ginebra a great run for
their money. But if I get to choose though, I want the Ginebra crowd to show
their love for Macmac Cardona. This heat magnet is such a character that he’ll
make their semifinal match extremely exciting.
Game over.
