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!!!

Leather Ejected, James Yap Runs Away Like A Kid

Last night, it was a do or die game for SLR vs Alaska (Game 1) and TNT vs Purefoods (Game 2). I failed to watch the first game for it started 4:40PM, I was still at the office by that time. Game 1's winner was SLR, a come from behind, having Joseph Yeo as the Best Player of the Game.

Luckily, I was able to watch Game 2 from the very first minutes of the first quarter. Kerby Raymundo was playing good that time. Unlike from what I've read from comments at pba-online, 'The Kid' was now showing his real play, my thought at that moment. If I'm not mistaken, he scored 6 out of the 8 points of the team. It was 14-2 in favor of Purefoods when suddenly, after the time-out called by coach Chot Reyes, the TNT have a 16-1 run. All of a sudden, it was 18-15 in favor of the Phone Pals.

(Sigh!) I really wanted Purefoods to win. I wanted them to be the team that could surpass the Wildcard Phase and eventually meet Ginebra in the Quarters. But, on the way that they are playing, I doubt they could win the game. There's just something wrong. They hadn't figured it out all conference-long.

Come second and third quarter, offense and defense of TNT was just so perfect. Bringing them 21 point lead at the end of the 3rd. 12 minutes left, I've got 12 minutes hope that James Yap, who was featured on half time, could show his million moves to come back from that big big deficit. 12 minutes for him to prove that he really is the 'Big Game' James.

Entering the 4th quarter, a 3 point play was engineered by the injured Reda Rhalimi. Feels like the momentum is now at Purefoods. I was still hopeful. At the 9-minute mark, the game was "A MESS". Jondan Salvador is having a physical move against the more physical defense of Terrence Leather who was called for a foul at the third strong bump with each other. And then, the Terrence Leather I saw during their match vs Ginebra, was the same Terrence Leather I am seeing now. It's as if he would throw a fist on Jondan, the latter step back and the referee stops the commosion. But, Leather is unstoppable, he even throwed the ball with a bang on Jondan's face. Ouch!!! The attitude of Leather made him ejected of the game, having called for a 2 technical foul. The same reason why he was out of the playing court vs Ginebra.

On the lighter side, for a laugh, here comes James Yap. While Ali Peek tries to stop Leather, King James sneeked a knee on Leather's leg. Making Leather run after him. And like a kid, literally, a kid, he ran away from Leather. The number of times the brawl was replayed, that's the number of times me and my brother laughed. Then, the next thing you saw, everyone's on the court. Oh well, for you to picture out what I've been trying to draw here, I've attached the video of the Royal Rumble, I mean, the PBA game. :)

As a result, 2 Technical Fouls was called against Leather, and 1 each for Peek, Salvador, J. Yap, Villanueva, and Sanz. Aside from the personal foul that lit up the rumble. Raining Technical Fouls. Earlier in the first half, Coach Ryan Gregorio was called for a technical foul as well.

I just thought that with Leather ejected, the TJ Giants would gain the momentum, and finish the quarter with a win. But I was so, so, so disappointed. The giants are not playing as a team, they are playing individually. A couple of offensive fouls were even called against them, PJ Simon having 2, if I remembered it right.

Less than 2 minutes left, I was hoping that a T-Mac hands would come in the hands of J. Yap. That with a double digit deficit, a back-to-back 3s could still bring them for the win. But, it's impossible. (sad)

Final score was 98-83, with Cardona as the Best Player of the Game.