Archive for April 2012
I almost saw Luc Longley
In a few hours I’m going to
travel to Caramoan.
It’s awesome because I get
to spend time with my DOTA buddies
whom I assed-kicked ardently when I was still actively playing the game (I’m
semi-retired… like what is Robert
Jaworski to the PBA) but it
sucks because I’ll get to miss this.
Yes, yes, yes. This is the
ribbon-cutting of sorts for the re-launched NBA Philippines website. For some insane reason, I am going to
write for them. I don’t know if this is a good idea but I have to thank Master Mark from Hoops Philippines and Dino
Maragay from Philippine Star for the opportunity. I also got to hand it to
my fellow Hoops and now Star sports guy Christian
Angelo Jacinto as well as my writing mentors for challenging me in my
making my awesomeness flawless. I think I’m fine joining as a blogger. If I’m
going to compare this with something, it’s like Quinito Henson, Jinno Rufino, Rick Olivares, Aaron Atayde, and Bill
Velasco are the reparatory players while I alongside Pio Garcia and Brutus the Heckler are the featured players.
I’m going to like this
experience. While I will miss the chance to see the inauguration and the Luc Longley sighting, I brace myself in
making the big leagues of popular internet sports guys like Fire Quinito.
Hopefully I won’t turn out
as a dud… and at the same time gain fans in the process.
And score a lot of
freebies.
Game over!
The search for the Best Import in the Finals
At the start of the B-Meg versus Talk N Text PBA Commissioner’s
Cup Finals, the damage Denzel Bowles
unleashed on Ginebra import Jackson
Vroman was still fresh in our minds.
Let’s face it – of the three
SMC imports that started the conference, Bowles was not near the credentials of
Ginebra reinforcement Chris Alexander
and Petron hired gun Nick Fazekas.
All we know is that Tim Cone visited
her daughter in college and saw this seven-foot monster destroy his foes.
Little did we know that this
little-known warrior turned out the best of the bunch?
Guaranteed a Best Import Award, what Denzel Bowles
would like to end this conference kissing a B-Meg title.
“Easier said than done” said the
players and staff of Talk N Text.
While the Llamados prevailed in
Game One, B-Meg was wary of a Talk N Text attack in Game Two. During the clash
the Tropang Texters started out strong but it wouldn’t take long for Bowles and
the rest of the Llamados to make Chot
Reyes go evil anew. Jayson Castro
played insane with 23 points, 5
rebounds, and 5 assists but so did James
Yap with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and
5-of-8 beyond the arc. Ryan Reyes,
Ali Peek, and Kelly Williams combined for 33 points which was a point less
of the combined output of Josh
Urbiztondo, Peter June Simon, and Marc Pingris.
Denzel Bowles outscored Donnell Harvey, 33 to 29 but Harvey had
more rebounds (14 to 13), assists (4 to 1), steals (1 to 0), and blocks (2 to
1) and had fewer turnovers (1 to 3).
The most important thing though
is that Talk N Text managed to expose Bowles’ weakness.
Bowles is a phenom at 22 but
taking those words in consideration… he is just 22.
I’m pretty sure that age doesn’t
matter since he did bring B-Meg to the finals but Bowles’ immaturity showed
during Game Two’s dying seconds. First up, he made a pivotal error when he
threw the ball over to Harvey. If you check out the replays, it felt that
Bowles was throwing a timebomb. You can see in his face (although he covered it
with his jersey) that Bowles grew frustrated at the matter. And then, a couple
of bad plays led to Bowles in the charity stripe. Bowles muffed both shots
which could have been potential game changers.
When the Llamados won 104 to
102, those free throws were badly felt.
So coming to Game Three, I feel
Bowles needs to settle down and let this game slide. I’m pretty sure he will
learn from his mistakes. However for Talk N Text this is something they can
exploit. Let us remember that what we saw in Game Two was reminiscent with the
Ginebra outright semis berth tiebreaker and the first game of the B-Meg/Meralco encounter.
What Donnell Harvey is doing is
what Earl Barron did against Bowles.
Harvey usually gives the ball up to his teammates but in the finals he has been
doing the offensive onslaught with his shot put-like aim. The Meralco Bolts were inches away from a
semis seat but with the unfortunate events that happened on Macmac Cardona proved too much for
their stand. B-Meg might have escaped the Bolts but TNT is a different animal.
Aside from Castro and the aforementioned players, they still have Ranidel De Ocampo, Jared Dillinger, Larry
Fonacier, and Jimmy Alapag. They also have a wonderful system piloted by
Chot Reyes…
… Not to mention that they are
now using their lucky white board named “Lucky
Yellow”.
No question Bowles will have
his numbers.
The question is if he can
sustain it when the game is on the line?
Game Three should be a treat.
Game over!
Onsite News: April 27, 2012
Onsite news: I’ll probably stay
away from blogging for a couple of days because I’ll be in Caramoan for the weekend. Don’t worry because I’ll probably bring
my laptop with me to check out the re-launched NBA Philippines website.
Am I plugging this NBA
Philippines site for personal gain?
Ladadee…
Anyway, as soon as I’m available
to blog, I’m going to post a lot of wonderful pictures where you can see my hot
body… emphasis on the word “hot”.
So I’ll likely check out the
internet for the events that happened in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals,
the Chinese ships that sail in our turf, and other news worth caring about.
By the way, let me say a
wonderful shout out to this guy for stopping a criminal act.
Also I have to say wazap to Ralph Lumbres for
almost finishing cum laude when he graduated.
At least you graduated at UP!
Sure, UP’s basketball program
sucks (Viva Santo Tomas!!!) but
think of all the wonderful opportunities your school will bring you!
Game over!
Casio's remote chance of winning
If there’s one thing cool about
the Marcio Lassiter trade (although
there’s nothing cool about the trade if you're a Powerade fan), there is an outside chance that JV Casio will win the Rookie of the Year Award. The former DLSU guard is doing well with the
humongous playing time he is getting with Powerade
and if the Tigers makes another finals stint and the Petron Blaze Boosters get the boot early, then Casio can win the Top Rookie plum for sure.
Actually with the scenario I’m
pushing, Gary David could be MVP.
Haters… I said could.
Moving on…
Here are the Top Ten Rookies of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup. I could make
this since the start of the season rankings but it’s virtually the same. Also... check out the end part of this list.
10 – Chris
Lutz / Blaze Boosters
Stats:
12.0ppg • 1.0rpg • 3.5apg (Note: 2 games only)
His injury is perhaps the
reason why the Lassiter trade happened. The guy has yet to score in single
digits but he also has yet to play a game since appearing in Petron’s first two
games in the conference.
9 – Eric
Salamat / Aces
Stats:
2.8ppg • 0.5rpg • 0.5apg
By virtue of him playing more,
sent this former Blue Eagle to where he is now. He could have played more for
the Aces but Bonbon Custodio just had to explode.
8 – Rudy
Lingganay / Tigers
Stats:
2.9ppg • 1.1rpg • 2.1apg
Lingganay missed a few games
but still finished the conference as the fifth-best among rookies in assists.
His stock just soared with Celino Cruz batched with Lassiter in their trade
with Petron.
7 – James
Sena / Express
Stats:
6.7ppg • 4.4rpg • 0.8apg
You can’t see him… at times
because Meralco discards Nelbert Omolon and Mark Isip took over in the
leadership role but make no mistake… he is still an integral part of their
frontline.
6 –
Mark Barroca / Llamados
Stats:
4.2ppg • 1.9rpg • 1.1apg • 0.8spg
Sure, Roger Yap was booted out
of the squad but the emergence of Josh Urbiztondo as starter and the entry of
Jonas Villanueva as the veteran leader made it hard for Barroca to log heavy PG
minutes.
5 –
Dylan Ababou / Kings
Stats:
7.9ppg • 2.6rpg • 0.7apg
Just when everyone thought that
Super Ababou will get grounded in Ginebra, Siot Tanquingcen surprised everyone
by giving Ababou heavy minutes. In their final game, Ababou was their only
bright spot on offense before fouling out at the start of the fourth quarter.
4 –
Mac Baracael / Aces
Stats:
8.7ppg • 3.7rpg • 1.3apg
While the injury of Tony Dela
Cruz didn’t help Baracael’s offense (partly due to Custodio and Adam Parada),
he was one of the consistent players in Joel Banal’s roster come playoff time. His
scoring average jumped from seven to thirteen during that stretch.
3 –
Paul Lee / Elasto Painters
Stats:
11.6ppg • 4.1rpg • 3.2apg • 1.0spg
Lee was one of those affected
by the entry of the imports. Perhaps Drew Crews is more of a slasher import? I
have no idea. Maybe Lee could have been more productive if he shared the
spotlight with a post up reinforcement?
2 – JV
Casio / Tigers
Stats:
11.7ppg • 3.4rpg • 7.2apg
JV Casio is first among rookies
in assists, third in scoring, and fifth in rebounds. Let’s face it – in this
season… the top pick is not a bust! How Casio reacts to the entry of Rabeh
Al-Hussaini could make a lot of heads turn. A healthy Rabeh will be a welcome
fit for Casio, Sean Anthony, and Gary David.
1 –
Marcio Lassiter / Tigers
Stats:
17.7ppg • 5.9rpg • 3.6apg • 1.3spg
Yes I still placed him as a
Tiger for he has yet to play a game for Petron. The Blaze Boosters have every
right to salivate for his services because the guy is a gold mine. He freed up
the defenders of Gary David by dominating in his position and at this stage of
the season, he could be an easy mark for the Mythical Ten selection.
With one more conference to go,
here are the Top 20 Rookies of the current season.
1 – Marcio
Lassiter / Powerade-Petron
2 – JV
Casio / Powerade
3 –
Paul Lee / Rain or Shine
4 –
Chris Lutz / Petron
5 –
James Sena / Air21
6 –
Dylan Ababou / Barako Bull-Ginebra
7 –
Mark Barroca / B-Meg
8 –
Mac Baracael / Alaska
9 –
Rudy Lingganay / Powerade
10 –
Magi Sison / Air21
11 –
Eric Salamat / Alaska
12 –
Allein Maliksi / Barako Bull-Ginebra
13 –
Marc Agustin / Petron-Barako Bull
14 –
Pamboy Raymundo / Talk N Text
15 –
Jason Ballesteros / Meralco
16 –
Axel Doruelo / Petron
17 –
James Martinez / Powerade
18 –
Reil Cervantes / Ginebra-Barako Bull
19 –
Paul Sorongon / Barako Bull
20 –
Gilbert Bulawan / Meralco
Where the hell is Julius Pasculado!?! The rookie rankings
reminded me on where he has been. I remember the fanfare he got but I also
doubt if he knew he’d end up like what he is now. Hopefully Alaska interim coach Luigi Trillo can
give Pasculado as well as former Cebuana
Lhuillier ward Ariel Mepana playing time.
As for Casio, can he wrestle
the Rookie of the Year Award away from Lassiter? My guess is no. Unless Casio
switches to Gary David mode and wreaks havoc a la Arwind Santos, then I can’t see him do so. However speaking of
Arwind, Las will play alongside The
Spiderman.
Don’t count out Paul Lee also since if Petron and
Powerade gets eliminated early and if Rain or Shine goes to the finals, there
is hope for the Lethal Weapon.
Will he get the stats reserved
for Arwind?
Game over!
The Lucky One CENSORED Trailer
After a trilogy of High School Musicals, Zac Efron goes
romcom.
His most recent work involves a
Nicholas Sparks novel, a new love
interest, a war scene of unbelievable romantic possibilities…
And one of the raunchiest
dialogues ever.
Just look at the censored trailer
of The Lucky One to get my point.
The Lucky One CENSORED Trailer - watch more funny videos
I got this from Funny or Die.
Game over.
Chot Reyes destroys a white board but B-Meg still wins
 |
| I got the picture from Nuki Sabio and the PBA website. Thank you! :) |
Why is it that when you see Chot Reyes in front of the camera there are a bunch of unfilled
seats in his sides?
This was
because he was seething in their bench. I don’t know if it’s the burning heat
or someone told Coach Chot that the red and yellow polo shirt design he was
wearing looked like a messed up bout with ketchup and mustard... but he was
extra angry during that game.
For a team
that’s so used in playing in the finals, they were visibly off in almost all
levels.
Poor white board… what did you do wrong?
Here were the happenings that brought B-Meg Llamados the 88 to 82 win over the defending champions Talk N Text Tropang Texters in Game One of their Best-of-7 Finals
tilt.
Harvey has
an isolation play?
Why the hell is Donnell Harvey doing an ISO? And why the hell does his ISO involves
him with his back against the basket and then throwing up a turn around fade away
shot? He should take the ball strong to the hoop! Harvey is destroying TNT’s offense because the game slows
down and it leaves the TNT players just standing around. But maybe there’s a
reason behind his madness?
Also, I
forgot the player who gave Harvey the ball at the three-point line but it’s
like giving a damaged condom to a horny teenager. Chot Reyes looked soooo
disappointed when Harvey took that shot.
The
Tropa sucks right now
I think
B-Meg took a page from Barako Bull’s
playbook. While B-Meg never really did anything physical (except perhaps for Tim Cone laying waste on an
unsuspecting chair), they did frustrate the Tropang Texters and it showed
especially during the first and fourth quarters. Harvey led the team with 25
points but after Jimmy Alapag’s 12
and Ryan Reyes’ 10, no TNT local
scored 9 points and more. Larry Fonacier
dealt eight, Kelly Williams had six,
Jared Dillinger, Jayson Castro, and
Ranidel De Ocampo were good for five, and Harvey Carey and Ali Peek combined for 16 minutes. Like I said, it’s
like Barako Bull all over again.
Free throws
What happens when you blow 20 free throws and you
still win? That’s what they a miracle. Unfortunately for the Tropang Texters,
that 16-out-of-36 hole was enough to send TNT to the Game One loss. The
Llamados were no Allan Caidics
either but their 11-of-23 shooting was enough to capture a victory. I’m not a
betting man but I swear, Chot Reyes will pound this stat to his team’s face.
Monster Bowles
This is the difference between Denzel Bowles and
Harvey. Harvey disrupts the harmony by settling for bank shots while B-Meg
craves for Bowles’ one man uprising. Every time Bowles manifests his presence
with a dunk or a rebound and putback, a bunch of B-Meg fans pee their selves a
little. Sure they both scored 25 points and Harvey could have done slightly
more (Bowles also had seven turnovers) but when the game is on the line, Bowles
finished off the Tropang Texters.
Simon
and the followers
And there’s
Peter June Simon. Just when you
thought the Tropang Texters have regained their usual devastating form, the
Scoring Apostle did the unthinkable to pour in TNT’s run. Joe Devance and Marc Pingris had eleven points each, James Yap poured in nine and Rafi Reavis came through with 12
rebounds in 12 minutes.
B-Meg is
not off the hook. Aside from their lousy free throws, they need to have a
consistent scoring at their point guard spot. Also, they have to check out how
the Tropang Texters will exalt their revenge in the second game. Jayson Castro
only had five points and I doubt if he’ll do less in the next outing and just
like the Barako Bull series, Ranidel De Ocampo is the team’s barometer.
Finally,
James Yap’s offense has yet to rear its ugly head. When Yap combines with Simon
and Bowles, TNT should get wary. Otherwise, B-Meg needs to get prepare at the
aftereffects of the massive scolding and name calling Chot Reyes gave to his
wards.
Game over.
The theme is to destroy
All hell will break loose after
the Smart-Araneta Coliseum cleans up
the stench dealt by Grayson Chance.
Eww… foreign teen sensations…
eww!
Anyway, with the Marcio Lassiter trade and the lack of
dominant superstars in the Best Player race
are creating a lot of buzz AWAY the finals.
So what’s there to look forward
to?
A LOT!
While it sickens me that Ginebra lost, my second favorite team
in the PBA right now is expected to
dominate the series.
So who’s my second favorite
team?
Both of them.
Tangina balimbing o!
Ahem.
Anyway, I’m going to make this
really, really quick because I also have another article due. It’s a battle of
system versus system where a multi-titled Tim
Cone will battle the league’s best coach in the last two years.
The Talk N Text Tropang Texters defend their crown against the B-Meg Llamados!
Talk N
Text is
so used to winning that we hate the sight of them again being in the finals. Chot Reyes wants to end his PBA coaching career with a grand slam
and I am sold that he will use his resources wisely to successfully defend
their crown.
Here are the factors for Talk N
Text to win the plum:
Destroy
Denzel Bowles
In this conference, Super Bowles rule. The guy is a
consistent performer and if the PBA continues with the unlimited height shtick
for next year, expect this guy to come back… if he has yet to in the NBA. Donnell Harvey and the rest of TNT’s bigs must devise a plan to
limit his production. I use the word “limit” loosely because Bowles is a
monster inside.
Destroy
the Original Llamados
The core of the Ryan Gregorio title team must be
contained. James Yap has been
scoring that much lately but it’s evident that he can shoot TNT’s lights out
when the game is on the line. Peter June
Simon is the team’s zone buster because whether he is driving, shooting, or
drawing – it’s stupid for the defense to not collapse on him. And then there’s Marc Pingris. Pingris was awfully quiet
at the start of the conference but business picked up during the playoffs and
again, his rebounding is a thing that TNT needs to stop.
Destroy
the lack of bench depth
Curiously the Llamados are
talent-stacked in the second string department. Josh Urbiztondo, Mark Barroca, and Jonas Villanueva take turns in
the PG spot with JC Intal playing the slasher spot and the trio of Joe Devance, Rafi Reavis, and Yancy De
Ocampo doing the things that make Tim Cone happy. One of these players is
expected to pop up at one point in the series and the Tropa needs to ready
themselves in defending such chaos.
B-Meg on the other hand is four
wins away for giving Tim Cone his first taste of PBA gold away from the Alaska colors. This will also serve as
redemption that they felt when they wasted their top seed to get eliminated by
the Powerade Tigers.
Here are the Llamados’ factors:
Destroy
Donnell Harvey
Harvey is not a dominant scorer
and there are times when TNT will use him as decoy to make his teammates better
but he gets it when he needs to produce the numbers. The guy is a very
intelligent player and he is using his NBA experience wisely. I can also see
Harvey stepping in and play defense against Bowles. Also unlike Jackson Vroman, given how the Texters
raced back from a 1-2 deficit against Barako Bull, he has grace under pressure.
Destroy
consistency
In some ways, Talk N Text’s
offense is just like Ginebra’s. TNT relies heavily on their backcourt stars (Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Ryan Reyes, Larry
Fonacier, and Jared Dillinger) for offensive production. The difference
between Ginebra and TNT is that the Tropang Texters have able scorers from the
inside like Ranidel De Ocampo, Kelly
Williams, Harvey Carey, and Ali Peek. It’s impossible for these guys to
play bad and win but as we saw in the Barako Bull series, these guys can be
stopped. Look for B-Meg to check out the 2-3 zone defense the Energy implied
because TNT had difficulty cracking that stance.
Destroy
the good shot selections
One thing TNT has that B-Meg
doesn’t is range. If Pingris defends against Ranidel, De Ocampo needs to draw
him out of the shaded area. So is Kelly Williams. Ryan Reyes is a great
rebounding guard and when he dials from deep then expect the B-Meg to scramble
especially when Jimmy Alapag and Jayson Castro joins them. Will B-Meg use
quickness in stopping TNT’s speedsters or will they use their size? One thing
TNT has is that they can shift from one rotation to another in an instant. The
Llamados need to push these guys to their weak spots and hope and pray that won’t
luck out.
One team will win this series
in six games. I won’t be surprised if both squads dig deep in their rotation to
catch the other team off-guard. I call for Rich
Alvarez to see action at one point because if TNT goes on to do a circus of
talents to cast a shadow on Bowles, I can see this guy coming in. Meanwhile,
don’t be surprised to see Val Acuna getting
minutes. I know Acuna isn’t a name that serves the list well but he might come
in helpful if TNT decides to exploit Dillinger and Fonacier against Yap and
Simon.
The top teams collide for this
exciting series.
Who will win: the team picked
to win… or the team that everyone wants to defeat.
Game over!
Petron's Curse
(This is a first of many articles that involves... The Curse)
The Petron Blaze Boosters/San Miguel Beermen
aside from being perennial title contenders are extremely ferocious traders.
Often Petron
gives out perfectly-executed deals but most of the time they flesh out
imbalanced moves. A lot of their trades are often controversial… and they often
involve up and coming stars.
Sometimes however,
fate would find ways to make them pay.
Read on.
Jay
Washington:
This is not an
imba trade… now. But what if Talk N Text
messed up with their selection? The Tropa traded durable starter Jay Washington to San Miguel in
exchange for their third overall pick in the 2008 PBA Draft which turned out to be Jayson Castro. Lucky for TNT they got Castro. While Washington has
been a MVP contender, he has been missing in action for almost a year now
because of injury.
Arwind
Santos:
This was a
highly-imbalanced trade because Santos was picked up for Marc Pingris and Ken Bono but then Pingris was sent to Purefoods
for draft picks that Air21 eventually gave up to other teams. I think the only
curse Arwind Santos acquired with Petron is the MVP snub. Will this be the year
Arwind wins the MVP trophy? I don’t think so.
Alex
Cabagnot and Joseph Yeo:
In separate
deals the Beermen managed to snag these two former Sta. Lucia and Coca-Cola stars: Cabagnot from Air21 for Mike Cortez and Yeo from Sta. Lucia for
Bonbon Custodio. On paper these
trades look nice but SMB had a lot of weapons compared to the teams they traded
with. There’s no curse for SMB on these trades because almost everyone thought
these trades were fair.
Nonoy
Baclao, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, and Rey Guevarra:
These guys
were the first three choices by Air21 in the 2010 PBA Draft. Baclao and Rabeh were making waves and San Miguel
wants these three on their side. Now Commissioner Chito Salud made San Miguel work to get these guys (at the
beginning of the trade it was Seigle, Mick
Pennisi, and Joseph Yeo) and the results of the trade ended with the
Beermen giving up Dondon Hontiveros, Dorian
Pena, Paul Artadi, and Danny Seigle. San Miguel bungled this trade for
three reasons. Firstly, Baclao and Guevarra were never given enough playing
time to develop. Secondly, Rabeh Al-Hussaini spent most of his SMB/Petron
tenure on the injured list. And finally, these four broke out in a major way
(especially Danny Seigle) when they were given the minutes. In the end, San
Miguel/Petron gave up four big-time veterans for a couple of struggling kids.
Chris
Lutz and Dondon Hontiveros:
Two
conferences after the trade that sent Hontiveros to Air21 (now Barako Bull),
the then-Smart-Gilas swingman was
sent back to SMB/Petron with Carlo
Sharma and the rights to select the third pick overall for Sunday
Salvacion, Mick Pennisi, a future draft pick, and the rights to select the
eighth pick overall… which turned out to be Allein Maliksi. Now fans had a lot
of opinions as to why the Blaze Boosters got the third pick… which turned out
to be Chris Lutz, a Smart-Gilas mainstay. Now Hontiveros was injured during his
first game and Lutz has had issues maintaining his health, missing 14 of
Petron’s 32 games. Worse, Pennisi was the guy responsible in eliminating Petron
by feigning doom when Petron import Will
McDonald launched a ball in his head.
Oh yeah… and
here are a bit of thought bullets to further my point:
Boybits
Victoria:
Dropped to
assistant coach status when everyone thought he still can play.
Dale
Singson:
He was doing
so well for Shell and his growth got messed up when he joined the Beermen.
Christian
Calaguio:
He relished
the reserve role too much that when talent after talent appeared, his pecking
order became farther and farther.
Romel
Adducul:
Moving to San
Miguel was the worst way for Adducul to follow up a respectable career in Ginebra.
Enrico
Villanueva:
Taking him out
of Red Bull started the downfall his career is experiencing right now.
Lordy
Tugade:
His game
worked at the start but as the talents increased his stock lowered.
Larry
Fonacier:
It took a
trade to Alaska to bring back the Baby-Faced Assassin’s credibility.
And of course,
they wasted a lot of rookie selections as well like when they drafted Sam Eman to be a benchwarmer and James Sena who they never really gave
any chance and had to work his ass off before getting a break with the Shopinas Clickers (now known as Air21 Express)
So now we have
Marcio Lassiter donning the Petron Blaze Booster uniform. I expect Lassiter to
occupy the small forward as what he has done with Powerade. One problem he
needs to take on is his all-around game. Those points, rebounds, and assists
might go down since this is Arwind Santos’ bread and butter.
It’s funny
because the reason why Petron opted to choose Lutz is because Lassiter’s game
would clash with Arwind Santos.
Hopefully the
curse won’t happen for Lassiter.
For every
Arwind, Jay-Wash, Cabagnot, and Yeo are a bunch of stars that faded out.
Game over.
The Philippine Patriots need to stop trusting former Ginebra imports
What happens
when a depressed man with nothing to care about suddenly finds that moment to
redeem himself but instead of seizing the chance bails out of the moment?
Ask Chris Alexander.
He knows.
Maybe I like
the Ginebra version of Chris Alexander more than his Air Asia-Philippine Patriots version because the Ginebra version is
not a douche bag. Who breaks up a commitment through Facebook???
If you
invested on a relationship but you want to break things off, the less cowardly
way to go is by relaying the matter to the other party personally!
I hate this
more because who knew after that spirited Twitter
explosion by Alexander he’ll turn out like this? If FIBA bans Alexander
which is what the ABL and the
Patriots are pushing, the ex-PBA Best Import has no choice but to retire. In a
week he turned from hero-slash-clairvoyant to whiny dude-turned-persona non
grata. As professionals, people must be worth what they are paid. While
Alexander is also bombarded with personal issues, he must make it a point to
not piss any more people off. Lucky for the Patriots, Nakiea Miller – the player they sent away in favor of Alexander –
never held a grudge against his former employers and agreed to terms for
another tour of duty with the Pats.
Now he’s a
class act if I see one.
Hopefully he
stays as a class act.
Now for Mikee Romero, Erick Arejola, and the
rest of the Air Asia-Philippine Patriots squad, they should NEVER EVER invest
on a Ginebra import ever again. Alexander just got axed because he returned to
the United States with no official notice. Before that Billy Ray Bates just got fired for allegedly taking a chick to his
condo that turned out to be a dude.
Now that Jackson Vroman’s responsibilities just
got cleared, maybe they can get him to play for their squad?
I still think
Alexander was the missing piece of Ginebra’s championship hopes in the 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
However, I
doubt if he’ll suit back as a Gin with Noli
Eala in charge.
Game over.
Bollywood actress beheaded
I just saw this news about a Bollywood actress getting kidnapped and
beheaded by her fellow actors.
It shocks me how a human brain
works. Whatever 26-year-old actress Meenakshi
Thapar did to Amit Jaiswal and
Thapar’s boyfriend Preeti Surin was
enough to mess up her life. These two met Thapar on the set of their soon-to-be-released
Heroine movie and these two
kidnapped the girl because they thought she was rich. They even asked her mom
for a lot of money so they wouldn’t force her to do pornography. When they
found out that she’s not that rich, they killed her, hacked her body and threw
it on a water tank, and threw her head off a moving bus.
It sickens me that there are people
out there that lack the mind to live properly. I hate dead things as much as
trusting people that shouldn’t be trusted and this story had both. What I don’t
get though was how easy it was for these two to get caught. It was as if what
they did was extremely random. Did they all of a sudden grow conscience?
The unfortunate thing about the
incident is that this catapult Meenakshi Thapar’s name to cult status. I
seriously believe that Heroine, the last movie she did will rake in India’s box
office. It sucks that she’ll get fame in this kind of situation but in this way
people will remember her.
Rest in peace.
Petron finally destroys Powerade's title hopes!
 |
| This is what you get when you place Marcio Lassiter's face on Nick Fazekas' body. |
I’m sorry Powerade Tigers fans but you just got
robbed by the Petron Blaze Boosters.
I know – the Marcio Lassiter trade needs to happen.
For three months that’s all the talk we’ve been hearing. Lassiter hates the
trade and so does Powerade coach Bo
Perasol but Noli Eala, Rajko
Toroman, and the rest of the San
Miguel Corporation wants the California
Swagger on their side and apparently there is nothing the Tigers can do
about this. After all, there are talks that after the end of the season, we might see Powerade leaving the league. The Powerade officials continue to shrug this but the recent developments are enough for the anxious public to murmur.
So what’s with
the robbery talk?
Let’s just say
that Petron managed to make Powerade think they have the edge… but in fact it
was the other way around.
Sorry Petron
fans but a healthy Rabeh Al-Hussaini
will get a second wind in his career with Powerade. Ato Agustin never gave him the opportunity that Yeng Guiao once did and this will bite
his ass in the long run. If there’s one guy that can make Rey Guevarra work, it has to be Perasol especially since Josh Vanlandingham hasn’t been
producing the numbers that is expected of him.
But Lordy Tugade?
No question,
the Alaminos Assassin is a superstar
especially during the mid-2000’s when Red
Bull was lording the PBA. If you
compare Guevarra with Tugade, then the former NU Bulldog is a more accomplished scorer. Perhaps, Guevarra was
Tugade’s old version when he was still learning the ropes.
But Lordy
Tugade???
The problem
here is not Tugade’s talent. It’s his contract. His trade favors Petron. Tugade
was a free agent that agreed to terms with Petron to play for ONE SEASON,
choosing the squad over the Shopinas
Clickers and the Barako Bull Energy.
Tugade plays adequate minutes for the squad and averages a weak less than five
points per outing. Besides at the twilight of his career, he is at the tailend
of his contract.
Maybe Tugade
thought he’ll end his career with the SMC?
Or so he
thought.
The trade also
takes out Petron’s burden to give him minutes – expecting the return of Chris Lutz and Dondon Hontiveros in time for the third conference.
What if at the
end of the conference Tugade opts out of re-signing and returns back to Petron?
Meanwhile, Celino Cruz also joined Lassiter in
Petron. Cruz can actually help Petron because he can pad the Boost Blazers’
backcourt (by the way I still think Petron Blazers is better than Petron Blaze
Boosters hence the “Boost Blazers” remark) that already plays Alex Cabagnot and Denok Miranda at the same time.
By the way,
perhaps this is the right time to change Petron’s colors from blue and white to
green and yellow because they have four FEU
Tamaraws in their roster.
When I did a
column a couple of weeks back, I thought Petron needs to give up Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao, and Guevarra to the
Tigers in exchange for Lassiter. Super Marcio averages more minutes than these
three combined plus this will help give Powerade a complete lineup. Tugade and
Cruz just cancel out each other and at the end of the day, Lassiter was just
traded to Petron for Rabeh and Guevarra – which was the trade Commissioner Chito Salud recently
vetoed. Baclao is a better suit for Powerade because he will not rob Gary David from his shot attempts. I
also feel that Baclao is a defensive demon once he gets more exposure.
Petron wants
the trade that much and Powerade failed to control the terms. If they really
wanted Tugade (which I doubt) the Powerade management should have given up a
lot less than Celino Cruz. Is Powerade about to upgrade James Martinez to that pivotal third guard spot and are they
serious about Rudy Lingganay as JV Casio’s full-time backup? Petron
never really gave up anything while Powerade lost their all-around player. As
much as the move can make their frontline bigger and deeper, Lassiter made it
easy for David to fire away.
Can Tugade do
that?
Am I too hard
on Tugade? No… I don’t think so. I’m pissing it at Petron. It seems to me that
Rajko Toroman is looking for ways to re-claim his wards and while Powerade has
expressed no intention to trade the other vital cogs of their roster, a part of
me thinks a JV Casio to Alex Cabagnot
trade is in the works.
Or hell, maybe
they can just give up Casio for Baclao and either Lanete or Cruz.
Here’s another
idea for a trade – how about the Tigers use the Blaze Boosters to initiate a
three-way trade that could involve Ginebra? Petron can get Marcio Lassiter,
Ginebra can get Rey Guevarra and Lordy Tugade, and Powerade can have Rabeh
Al-Hussaini and either Rico Maierhofer
or Enrico Villanueva! Do you know what Ginebra isn’t? It is not a team that
relies on their frontcourt for points. Villanueva and Maierhofer are wasted on their bench but what they really need are a bunch of wingmen to fill up the
void left by the injured Mark Caguioa and the traded JC Intal and Ronald Tubid!
Powerade will use these big men wisely and definitely better than what Ginebra
is doing!
Hopefully
Petron and the rest of the San Miguel teams won’t go brainless and destroy Lassiter’s
career. More than a year ago, Petron traded for Al-Hussaini, Baclao, and
Guevarra and instead of developing, these guys de-evolved.
As for
Lassiter, he is a victim of his own talent. I think all the Smart-Gilas players are. Dylan Ababou is now with Ginebra, Lutz
and Lassiter are now with Petron, and Mark
Barroca is with B-Meg. Casio
looks to be SMC’s next “victim” leaving Alaska’s
Mac Baracael, Talk N Text’s Japeth
Aguilar, and Meralco’s Jason
Ballesteros as the other ex-Smart-Gilas stars that aren’t with the SMC. I
wish Lassiter the best and hopefully the California Swagger won’t end up as a wasted
talent.
Game over!
