Purefoods Survived Despite Unbelievable Calls from the Officials

I never watched Game 1. I am only watching Barangay Ginebra Kings (BGK) and Purefoods TJ Giants (PF) games. My friend, whom I treated as my younger sister asked me to update her of the game since she won't be ablt to watch it. And it's my pleasure updating her.

To my surprise, James Carlos Yap will be playing. News had told that he might not play due to injury. As what the commentators said, two Yaps (James and Roger) are missing. But not this time. J. Yap is there to play.

PF had a poor start. Air21 Express showcased a full court press. They had their, uhm, good defense. First Quarter ended with 15-22 in favor of Air21. I thought PF would lead at the Second Quarter with 35-32 in favor of Air21 before the Quarter ends. But, it was so disappointing since it ended 37-43, still, in favor of Air21.

But my hopes ain't over. I felt good when they tied at 53 despite the dirty defense exhibited by Air21. It even become more exciting since it was Kerby Raymundo who make the basket for the lead. It was a 3 point play for him. Seems like the momentum was now in PF. Homer Se just had an air ball after PF got the lead. Not just that, Air21 had committed a lot of fouls, ha ha. Not only players, but Coach Bo Perasol as well. *wink wink* It is not surprising. Perasol and Air21 is used to it, ha ha. It was 72-66 in favor of PF at the end of Third Quarter.

Now, this one's unbelievable. Team manager Alvin Patrimonio was called for a technical foul? Say what?! Oh well, how could Patrimonio not react to the offensive foul called against Enrico Villanueva when it was supposed to be a 3-point play. Hmmm, smells something fishy huh? I just can't believe it. I just said 'booooooooooooooo'. That technical foul was followed by three more technicals. One for Coach Ryan Gregorio who did nothing, and two for Topex Robinson. Topex made me laugh, ha ha. He, himself asked for the second technical foul from the referee. And he was ejected from the game. No R. Yap, now, no Topex. It was all Chico Lanete. And know what? Lanete was pushed by Wynne Arboleda, no foul. Making Arboleda shot a 3 point basket. Then showed his tongue. Grrrr..

But, I admired PF team. Despite unbelievable and almost one-sided calls, they managed to stay focused. It was 80 all with 4 minutes remaining in the Fourth Quarter. 89-86 in favor of Air21 with 1:38 minutes left. Still everybody's ballgame. I can't remember who made the basket, but it was 89-88 in favor of Air21 with 1:16 minutes left. The ball game was so exciting. It was 92-91 in favor of Air21 with only 40 seconds left. Kerby now has 32 big points. I almost gave up. It was 96-91 with only 23.5 seconds remaining. But Kerby never let me down. He just scored a 3 pointer to make it 96-94. Whew! In the last play before the end of the pay off period, it was 97-94 in favor of Air21. PF has no time out left. Kerby attempted another 3 point shot but failed to gain the basket. But J. Yap had the offensive rebound against Arwind Santos with about 3 seconds left. He had his turn around 3 point shot, and it was a tie ball game at the end of the 4th Quarter. This was the 3rd game where PF would be playing for an Over Time.

It was all because of Kerby and J. Yap. It's our night. Aaron Aban stand out as well for me, in defense particularly. It was 105-100 in favor of PF with 1:27 minutes remaining. 105-103 with 58.6 seconds remaining. 108-103 with 14.9 seconds remaining courtesy of the should be flagrant foul of Arboleda, but was called as a regular foul instead. 108-105 with 3.7 seconds remaining, PF's ball, and... we won!!!

And who could be the Best Player of the Game? None other than Kerby 'The Kid' Raymundo who scored almost 1/3 of the PF's score. Double-Double, 37 big points and 11 rebounds. Congrats Kerby!!! Congrats J. Yap!!! Congrats PF!!!

Scores:

Purefoods 108 -- Raymundo 37, Yap J. 31, Villanueva 13, Lanete 7, Aban 7, Belga 4, Fernandez 4, Simon 3, Alonzo 2, Salvador 0, Robinson 0.

Air21 103 -- Arboleda 25, Se 25, David 21, Santos 18, De Ocampo 4, Quinahan 3, Billones 3, Kramer 2, Intal 2, Canaleta 2, Cruz 0, Sta. Maria 0.

Quarterscores: 15-22, 37-43, 72-66, 97-97 (reg.), 108-105 (OT)

Game 8 of the Championship?

My cousin had been encouraging me to watch PBA live at the Araneta Coliseum yesterday. He said that it would be a championship-like battle between Barangay Ginebra Kings (BGK) and Air21 Express since they were the teams that fought for the crown last Fiesta Conference. But due to personal reasons, I was not able to join them. I just watched the game on TV, CS9, with poor reception and boring commentators (one of 'em called Gary David as Bal David twice), haha.

It was really a championship-like ballgame. BGK, like last fiestacon, had a depleted line-up. Mark Caguioa, Eric Menk, Rafi Reavis, and Billy Mamaril are missing in action. Air21, on the other hand, had a complete line-up. Arwind Santos and Homer Se are now back after being suspended due to their game against Rain or Shine Elasto (ROSE) Painters last October 5.

As usual, BGK had a poor start. But, JayJay Helterbrand's three 3-pointer in the 1st quarter keeps the Big Dome rocking. It was a close fight. A lot of lead changes. But the game was fun. It was raining 3 point shots for the BGK. JunJun Cabatu has 4/7, Helterbrand 5/11, Junthy Valenzuela 1/2, Ronald Tubid 3/7, and Paul Artadi 1/4. Summing it up, they scored 42 points just from their 3 point shots.

The game was a revelation for Cabatu. I thought it was just mere luck when he hit a 3 point shot last game against Sta. Lucia Realtors (SLR). But his 4 three-pointers last night means he is hot from the arc. He was hailed as the Best Player of the Game (BPG) with a career-high of 23 points, with 6 rebounds and 5 assits.

It feels like an extension of the 2007-2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference Championship. And BGK fought again with pure HEART. I wonder how strong BGK line-up would be if Mark Caguioa is back in shape. Smells like back-to-back championship huh? I wish.

Scores:

Ginebra 101 - Cabatu 23, Helterbrand 21, Valenzuela 14, Tubid 13, Artadi 11, Wilson 6, Crisano 6, Pacana 4, Holper 2, Escalona 1, Salvacion 0.

Air21 92 - Santos 19, De Ocampo 15, Arboleda 12, David 11, Se 10, Quinahan 8, Billones 7, Intal 4, Cruz 3, Canaleta 3, Kramer 0.

Quarterscores: 22-20, 41-46, 76-77, 101-92

We Are The Champions

We Are The Champions - Queen Music Code

"We are the champions, my friend.
And we'll keep on fighting, till the end.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
No time for losers, 'coz we are the champions, of the world."

Coach Bo Perasol, before the Finals started, told that it would be Air21 vs The Philippines in the 2007-2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference Championship. If this is so, I believe The Philippines slept last night and woke up today very happy, for BARANGAY GINEBRA KINGS (BGK) ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE 2007-2008 SMART PBA FIESTA CONFERNCE.

I can't really explain the happiness the championship had brought not only to me, but to my BGK JAMSHIPS as well. Kinda funny that we all end up emotional. It's as if that in all the BGK Players had been through, the BGK JAMSHIPS are there as well.

I remember in my previous post, I leave a question on "Who really deserved this championship? Is it Air21, who, from the start of the eliminations landed the top spot. Or is it BGK who travel its way from the bottom?" And I believe, it was really BGK who deserved the championship crown. As what everybody says, they played purely by HEART.

Almost everyone had been injured. In the eliminations, Mark Caguioa had been injured. Before the eliminations ended, Ronald Tubid had been injured. At the start of the Finals, JayJay Helterbrand and Paul Artadi had been injured. Game 7, Junthy Valenzuela had been injured. All of the star players had suffered injuries. But with their NEVER SAY DIE SPIRIT, they managed to dig in their bench, reached the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, and finally, the CHAMPIONSHIP.

BGK lost Ronald Tubid since the last game of the eliminations. BGK surely missed his classic defense. But Chris Pacana and Junthy Valenzuela stepped up to fill in Tubid's loss. In Game 4 of Finals, losing JayJay could mean nightmare to BGK, but Tubid's comeback had been a surprise for Air21. This then had given him the personal achievement of being Eric Menk's co-Finals MVP.

JayJay, the Best Player of the Conference was not able to play in the Finals since Game 2, 3rd Quarter. Paul Artadi, even though hurting from a pulled hamstring in Game 1 of Finals, uses his pure heart to fill in JayJay's place. He mentioned touching words such as "kaya nga kami nasa ginebra kasi never say die ang puso namin" and what about "PUSO LANG TALAGA ANG NAGPAPATAKBO NG TEAM NA 'TO" It's as if those words are enough to win the championship.

Junthy Valenzuela absorbed the never say die spirit of BGK. Game 6, he shed a tear as he was ejected from the game, being called for his 2nd Technical Foul. Game 7, nobody knows that his knees are hurting, not until he cried for pain. And then, everyone knew that his knees are all wrapped up. But his desire to win the game is much greater than the pain in his knees. No wonder why BGK JAMSHIPS' Meriel got too emotional with this one.

Eric Menk, no wonder, he is hailed Finals MVP. The Finals series is his come back. More particularly, Game 7. Ranidel de Ocampo nor Kramer cannot stop 'Major Pain'. Can't wait for the All Filipino, the MVP Eric Menk is back!!!

Chris Alexander, 'The Greatest'. The Best Import. I was so speechless. I knew you also have the heart of the champion. You even told everyone "I just can't go home without winning this one" BGK fans will surely miss you. Hope to see you next Fiesta Conference.

And what about Mark 'The Spark' Caguioa. He promised this championship. And in the dying minutes of the game, he uses his heart above all the pain he's feeling in his knees, both knees. He really can't make the basket due to his injury, but his heart helped him grab rebounds in the crucial moments of the championship. You can see in his face that he is aching, but you can feel in his heart that he wanted to win the championshiop. *sniff*

Of course, I won't forget Chris Pacana. After all the doubts many had in you. I salute you for the confidence you had. The steals against Air21's star player, Gary David shows that you don't have any first time jitters. Although a point guard you never hesitated in rebounding the ball. And a never say die attitude defense from Air21's fastbreak is in you. You just stand there against Gary David, or Homer Se, or Arwind Santos, establish your position, raise both hands, then the opponent can't get the basket. Makes me admire you more. *blush*

We started at the bottom, now we're on top of the world. CONGRATULATIONS BARANGAY GINEBRA KINGS!!! WE ARE THE CHAMPION!!!

The Best Players Are In Barangay Ginebra Kings

Finally, I've got the courage to write this article. I wanted to have this posted last Friday, but words are so hard to find, even last night.

Photo grabbed from www.pba-online.net

JayJay Helterbrand and Cris Alexander of the Barangay Ginebra Kings (BGK) are hailed as the Best Player and Best Import of the Conference (BPC and BIC) respectively. The moment I heard this news from my JAMSHIPS, I had this on my mind -- "Usually, when the BPC is awarded to someone, his team loses that game". And this thought holds true for BGK that night. JayJay's team does not merely lose the game, he even got injured. (huhuhu..) Thus, Air21 Express tied the series 1-1.

I was hoping that Game 3 would be on BGK's side. But, I was wrong. Knowing that JayJay could not play, I somehow prepared myself for the BGK's loss. And they did. Now, Air21 leads the series 2-1.

Basketball is a team game, it is not won by an individual. Last night, it was only 'The Furious'. There's no 'The Fast' nor 'The Fearless'. Eric Menk had stepped up and is regaining his MVP moves. Alexander tallied a triple-double (14 points, 17 rebounds and 11 shot blocks). But, we still lose the game. And I really felt sad. But, it won't hinder me writing this blog and boasting to everyone that 'The Best Players Are In Barangay Ginebra Kings'.

In fairness to Air21, I admire Arwind Santos, one of the most consistent players in the league, and KG Canaleta, and his humility. If not for them, I might hated the team. Paul Artadi and Alexander may be playing physical this series. But a clean physical game. Not physical to the point of throwing away your opponent intentionally (Wynne Arboleda), intentionally pushing your opponent using your elbow (Gary David), and using a karate move not on the ball but on the arms of your opponent (Homer Se). I'm not blind not to see how good David was. He really is the 'Mr. Pure Energy' of Air21. But his attitude makes me dislike him. More when he shows an insulting salute to our 'Gentle Giant'. He better give thanks for Alexander is a sports one. If it happened to be someone like Terrence Leather, he might have broken bones last night.

The series aint over. It takes 4 wins to grab the championship. If Air21 wins, congratulations to them. They did a great job. And they made history by winning their first ever title. But if BGK wins, a lot would surely rejoice, and count me in. Who really deserved this championship? Is it Air21, who, from the start of the eliminations landed the top spot. Or is it BGK who travel its way from the bottom? But, no matter what happens, I would still cheer for the best players, the BGK. I'm not speaking on my own, I'm not being biased, I have the statistical proof:

• Top Scorer of the Series: Mark Caguioa
• Top Rebounder of the Series: Cris Alexander
• Top Assist of the Series: JayJay Helterbrand
• Top Steals of the Series: Chris Pacana
• Top Blocks of the Series: Cris Alexander

GO BGK!!! The Philippines is counting on you!!!