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Rain or Shine wins Game 1, Petron's Fajardo leads Conference Player statistical points race By Eddie Alinea PhilBoxing.com Sat, 15 Feb 2014 A well-rested Rain Or Shine took advantage of a visibly tired San Mig Coffee side and the breaks that came its way in the dying seconds to fashion out a heart-rending 83-80 victory Friday night opening their best-of-seven championship series for the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Gabe Norwood defied coach Yeng Guiao's instruction to look for top gunner Jeff Chan with the game was on the line in the dying moments by issuing a pass instead to a momentarily free Paul Lee who converted an ally-oop shot that broke an 80-all deadlock and lifted the Elasto Painters a hard-earned 83-80 victory. A charity by Lee himself off a technical foul called on the Coffee Mixers' mentor Tim Cone who sued for time despite having none left spelled the final tally in the game which, according to Guiao set the tone of what the fans should expect in the series. The Mixers, actually, had ball possession with 22.5 seconds remaining of the contest with the count standing at 80-all, but instead of letting the team played the clock for a dying second basket that could either tie the score and send the game into an extra five minute overtime or win outright with a three-point shot, Cone called for that 30-second timeout that for all intent and purposes killed the team's momentum. Point-guard Marc Barroca attacked the basket too soon at resumption failing to spot an unguarded James Yap while his layup fell short, allowing Lee to grab the defensive rebound and the chance to escape with the win with 1.6 seconds left. Ironically, Yap, who two nights before lifted the Mixers to a lopsided 110-87 Game 7 triumph over sister team Barangay Ginebra with a 30-point performance, had just struck for back-to-back baskets that gave Cone's chargers an 80-78 advantage in the final 34.7 seconds mark from a 78-all stalemate. Rather than curse Norwood's defiance, the Painters' no. 2 guard's decision earned praises from the fighting Congressman of Pampanga. "We set up a play for Jeff (Chan), but it was Paul who got open. I have to give recognition to Gabe for his wise decision to pass the ball to Paul underneath the basket," Guiao said during the traditional post-game press conference by way of paying tribute to Norwood for using his good judgment. Lee, actually, set the tone of what to happen as early as the first period where he stole the ball thrice and block a pair of Mixers' attempts as the Painters roared ahead, 10-4. "It's just the first game and we got lucky in the end," Guiao, who made a big stride to winning first title victory in the All Filipino, surmised. "This is the way the series will run its course. Very exciting games, that could go either way." Cone, who is gunning for his fifth All Filipino Cup and a 16th overall plum that will break the legendary Baby Dalupan's all-time 15, took full responsibility for his and his team's dying seconds misplays. "I should have let them (Mixers) run the play," he rued in reference to the ill-advised timeout he called. "I feel really horrible. That's all on me. I feel bad because our guys really worked so hard." Guiao and his Painters, whose only crown victory came three years ago in the 37th season ending Governor's Cup, look forward to making 2-0 when they meet the Mixers anew at 3 p.m. today in the same five-decade-old Big Dome, which was inaugurated on March 16, 1960 when Filipino boxing Hall of Famer Gabriel "Flash" Elorde knocked out Harold Gomez of Rhode Island in the seventh round to crown himself the World Boxing Council junior lightweight champion. Fatigue has, indeed, caught up with the Mixers, who have been playing first class basketball every other day since their semifinal round showdown with the Gin Kings started last January 27, needing the full seven-game route to advance to the finals. Their numbers showed this in lasts Friday's Game 1where the Painters beat them in nearly all departments. They were a measly 1-of-11 from downtown with only Joe de Vance connecting and Yap and PJ Simon who were unerring in Game 7 of the Ginebra series, both turning in unforgettable 0-of-3 or a record low 9.1 percent. The Painters made 6-of-25 from the same zone besides converting 28-of-53 from elsewhere for 52,8 percent as compared to the Mixers' 46.3 percent on 31-of-67 attempts. The Mixers were horrendous from the line where they sank only 15 of 30 tries, while the Painters showed superiority in 9-of-12 for a not-so-bad 75 percent passing grade. With high-leaping Marc Pingris hauling down 12 caroms and De Vance 10, the Mixers though ruled the boards, 55 with 20 from the offensive side ass against 44-10 of the relatively smaller Painters. Despite these numbers though, the Painters never showed complete dominance as they could only post the biggest lead of seven points, 32-25, a little less than eight minutes gone of the first period, which ended with both teams tied at 37 points apiece. The scores changed hands 11 times from there and the Mixers even went atop by six, 74-68, on rookie Justin Melton's three-point incursion, 74-68, 5:24 remained and 76-70 a minute later. This led Guiao to believe Cone and his men are far from over and are capable to come back starting today despite the visibly weariness. "They didn't look tired and we will presume that they're tired. So we will be running, running and running (till they fall dead)," Guiao said of his strategy the rest of the way. oOo TRIVIA: Unless those voting for the Best Player of the Conference in the on-going PBA Philippine Cup open their eyes on the intangibles and rely only on the statistics, June Mar Fajardo stands to get the honor despite failing to lead his team past the semifinal round where the Boosters were beaten black-and-blue by Rain or Shine to the championship playoff..... The towering 6-foot-9 Petron Blaze slotman led everyone in the race for the award with with 38.8 statistical points ..... Seven others in the top standing belong to the teams that aren't playing in the best-of-seven championship series - Arwind Santos, also of Petron, Japeth Aguilar of Ginebra, Jay Washington of Global Port, Greg Slaughter, also of the Gin Kings, Jayson Castro of Talk 'N Text, Sonny Thoss of Alaska and Asi Taulava of Air 21--guys, who except for Fajardo, Santos, Slaughter and Aguilar, failed to carry their teams past quarterfinal round ..... Only SanMig Coffee Mixers point-guard Marc Barroca is playing in the current title-playoff between SMC and RoS and if one of those voting is to be believed when he was overheard saying , Fajardo is cinch to win the award, apparently because of the statistical points he earned by his 16.4- point per game norm, 14.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.4 assists in 18 games he played on the way for the Boosters to make it to the Final Four ..... Hindi naba talaga kino-consider ngayon ang intangibles sa pagpili ng individual awardees a PBA? Tanong ng isang beteranong sportswriter na sa loob ng mahabang taon ay nakasasaksi pa kung paano napapagpasiyahan ang mga manlalarong pinagkakalaooban ng karangalan ..... During his time, the sportswriter said, statistics were used only as guide in choosing the awardee ..... Stats didn't decide honorees. In those times, he added, intangibles were being considered and were given premium, like Barroca's three-straight selection as Player of the Week honoree .....;. How many times has a player won crucial games for his team ..... attitude and sportsmanlike conduct, to mention a few ..... Well, this writer agrees 100 percent for reason that he, too, had participated in the selection of individual performers during the early years of the country's and Asia's first professional league. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.  |
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