Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Game 2: Ginebra vs. TnT
note: walang Game 3 - 6 notes kasi I never bothered to watch them live. Ginebra improved to 2-4 after their win against Welcoat. Next game is against Air21 on Friday. Originally published at http://carloricohermoso.net/blogView.php?id=525
The Long Way to Araneta. Now that Rocky's office is a bit far unlike early this year when she was a five minute walk away from our office in Ortigas, Rocky and I met at about 7:30 PM in Robinson's Galleria. My girl battled through traffic and time just to get to Ortigas and meet me before we head to Araneta Coliseum. Game starts at 7:20 PM, according to the ticket. I estimated that Rocky and I will be at Araneta by 7:40 PM, just enough to catch the second quarter of the game.
After waiting for 5 MRT trains (they were unusually full) to pass by on us, and after battling other crabs and singits in the train (sardinas kami ni Rocky sa 5th MRT train), we got at Araneta by 8:00 PM. I had to battle my way to surrendering my long umbrella (tsk, bawal ipasok), and rush to the green gate where I thought the PBA 31st Season HardCourt (PBA Annual for 2005-2006 season) was available pero it's not yet out pa pala. By the time Rocky and I got to our seats, it was 9 minutes into the third quarter. YES. Third quarter. At 8PM. What the hell (what do they gain anyway. I'd later learn that the RedBull-Welcoat game was played in less than 2 hours).
It was disappointing to arrive that late in Araneta, especially after our MRT experience. But what the heck, it's always better late than, err... nevermind. Baka humirit mga stromboys sa akin. haha.
A complete Talk 'n Text team. They're a really power-house team out there. Complete in all positions. There's Asi Taulava and Yancy de Ocampo exchanging the center slots, Yousif Aljamal (a great replacement for Vic Pablo), Harvey Carey, Don Allado at the paint (throw in Migs Noble and Jonathan Aldave too) with versatile Jay Washington who can play 2 to 4. And hoho, there's Mac Cardona, Renren Ritualo, Jimmy Alapag, and Donbel Belano at the guard spots (with big guard and ex-Ginebra Kalani Ferreria at the sidelines). Talk about completeness.
Meanwhile, as I have said it before, Ginebra seemed an imbalanced team loaded with 8 guards and 5 big men, that even former journeyman Gilbert Lao played extended minutes- something he didn't enjoy in his stints in Coca-cola and Welcoat. Should Caguioa come in anytime soon, Ginebra is still loaded with guards. Menk, I believe is far from what I saw back in 2005 when he was just really carrying the team on his back. I hope he will carry the attitude and the work ethic he learned from Tokushima, or else I will sell my Eric Menk jerseys. Ginebra is really short of a big man in the mold of Rudy Hatfield.
Highly fast paced, physical game. I thought I was seeing a fast paced WWE match. Geez, PBA's officiating really took a 180 degrees spin. Gone are the touch-fouls days. Salvacion and Carey were at each other, following a Carey block on Salvacion trey attempt. The next thing I saw, they were shoving over the possession and almost came into blows. Holper and Washington had their moments too. Funniest was Donbel Belano's angas against Billy Mamaril. The small guy wouldn't back down and even charged Billy Mamaril. I'm surprised no technical fouls nor warnings were called. Each player had to bleed before being whistled for a foul. Jeez, Jimmy Alapag was being squashed at the back court. Asi Taulava must have felt all the hacking fouls that Ginebra players have given him (hmp, that's for being a SNOB enough not to sign my PBA book back in November last year). Funny how Cardona almost picked a fight with someone who tangled his arm that when he turned, he realized that it was fellow Lasallian Sunday Salvacion that he quickly had his kiss-and-make-up session with him. I'm surprised that despite the loose officiating the refs had (with nameplates at their back), Ronald Tubid still managed to draw an offensive foul off Cardona. HAHA.
It's also note-worthy of seeing players rush to the court after each time-out, to avoid nakaw plays. This "rushed" feeling also affected Jong Uichico on one instance when he called on a 30 second timeout and asked his boys to run to him immediately, and run back immediately to the court after the timeout expired. No wonder the game ended at 9PM. YES. THE GAME ENDED AT 9PM. Suddenly, Rocky and I had all the time in the world.
Breaks of the Game, Ginebra comeback, and raining threes. Renren Ritualo is like a loaded gun. Nakakasa na yung kamay nya even before he touches the ball. Jeez, why didn't you do that in Tokushima? Every time he touched the ball, my heart squeezed. The most painful of all is his buzzer beating three points off the glass along the baseline -- it was a broken play for Talk 'n Text then that their three point attempt missed and landed into the hands of Ritualo as time expired. Kaboom. You know that shot will go in when he releases the ball. Talk 'n Text's rain men were just too hot to handle. Whenever Ginebra threatened to catch up with the Talk 'n Text lead, someone would release a trey -- whether it's Belano (coming off a pick and left unguarded) or Alapag (from the parking lot). Suddenly I missed Vince Hizon and Pido Jarencio's days with Ginebra. Sama mo na rin si Dudut.
It was nice to see Ginebra applying a full-court press. Over the years that I watched Ginebra, I've never seen them apply a full-court press. Too bad Talk 'n Text managed to throw in the ball just before they could commit a five second violation, or cross the court just before they could commit an eight second violation. But costly unforced turnovers and lapses in defense did it for Ginebra. There was Rafi Reavis rebounding the ball alone with one hand, and the ball goes off from his hands into the baseline. There was Jimmy Alapag missing both free throws but manages to get his own rebound. Mark Macapagal had his share of bad fouls too (it's a wonder why Jong Uichico opted to play with Macapagal instead of Tubid when Ginebra was trying to catch up that Tubid only got to play in the last two minutes). There was Lao opting to throw a long pass to Helterbrand at the other side of the court, only to be stolen by Washington. *sigh* Macky too had his share of backcourt boo-boos.
Ginebra's furious rally just fell short. Sayang. Well, it's the same old story, I guess. Jayjay Helterbrand shooting a trey and making those tight passes to Rafi Reavis. Tubid scoring a lay-up and one. Artadi making(!) those jump shots.
The Gin Kings' ball movement is a little bit stagnant though. It's as if there's a big guy who doesn't know whom to pass the ball to. Not much drives to the basket except on fastbreak plays. Ginebra's passing too much and rotating the ball too much that they're usually left with the low-percentage jump shot. No post-plays or daredevil lay-ups.
Game ends 111-102 for Talk 'n Text. :(
Outlook. Two more months and 16 games to go. Lots of games in Cuneta next month, most will be played during weekdays. What the hell. Too early to tell though.
Up next: Ginebra vs. Welcoat. Ginebra's big men will have their hands full against Joe Devance, JR Reyes, and Nic Belasco. I think Ginebra's guards can outplay Welcoat's. Like Ginebra, Welcoat is two players short of being contenders. Let's see. Ginebra vs. Alaska on the 31st. Cuneta. I don't know if I can go.
It must be my shoes. Back in November 12, 2006, Rocky and I watched the Ateneo-La Salle Fil-oil Flying V game at Ultra, and proceeded to Araneta for the Ginebra-Talk 'n Text game. We're such basketball junkies. On that day, I wore my then-new "Testify" Accel shoes (my officemate calls it a spaceman's shoe). Ginebra and Ateneo lost on that game. For this Ginebra-Talk 'n Text game, I wore the "Testify" shoes again. Ginebra lost.
You'll never see me wear those shoes again in any Ginebra-Talk 'n Text match.
The Long Way to Araneta. Now that Rocky's office is a bit far unlike early this year when she was a five minute walk away from our office in Ortigas, Rocky and I met at about 7:30 PM in Robinson's Galleria. My girl battled through traffic and time just to get to Ortigas and meet me before we head to Araneta Coliseum. Game starts at 7:20 PM, according to the ticket. I estimated that Rocky and I will be at Araneta by 7:40 PM, just enough to catch the second quarter of the game.
After waiting for 5 MRT trains (they were unusually full) to pass by on us, and after battling other crabs and singits in the train (sardinas kami ni Rocky sa 5th MRT train), we got at Araneta by 8:00 PM. I had to battle my way to surrendering my long umbrella (tsk, bawal ipasok), and rush to the green gate where I thought the PBA 31st Season HardCourt (PBA Annual for 2005-2006 season) was available pero it's not yet out pa pala. By the time Rocky and I got to our seats, it was 9 minutes into the third quarter. YES. Third quarter. At 8PM. What the hell (what do they gain anyway. I'd later learn that the RedBull-Welcoat game was played in less than 2 hours).
It was disappointing to arrive that late in Araneta, especially after our MRT experience. But what the heck, it's always better late than, err... nevermind. Baka humirit mga stromboys sa akin. haha.
A complete Talk 'n Text team. They're a really power-house team out there. Complete in all positions. There's Asi Taulava and Yancy de Ocampo exchanging the center slots, Yousif Aljamal (a great replacement for Vic Pablo), Harvey Carey, Don Allado at the paint (throw in Migs Noble and Jonathan Aldave too) with versatile Jay Washington who can play 2 to 4. And hoho, there's Mac Cardona, Renren Ritualo, Jimmy Alapag, and Donbel Belano at the guard spots (with big guard and ex-Ginebra Kalani Ferreria at the sidelines). Talk about completeness.
Meanwhile, as I have said it before, Ginebra seemed an imbalanced team loaded with 8 guards and 5 big men, that even former journeyman Gilbert Lao played extended minutes- something he didn't enjoy in his stints in Coca-cola and Welcoat. Should Caguioa come in anytime soon, Ginebra is still loaded with guards. Menk, I believe is far from what I saw back in 2005 when he was just really carrying the team on his back. I hope he will carry the attitude and the work ethic he learned from Tokushima, or else I will sell my Eric Menk jerseys. Ginebra is really short of a big man in the mold of Rudy Hatfield.
Highly fast paced, physical game. I thought I was seeing a fast paced WWE match. Geez, PBA's officiating really took a 180 degrees spin. Gone are the touch-fouls days. Salvacion and Carey were at each other, following a Carey block on Salvacion trey attempt. The next thing I saw, they were shoving over the possession and almost came into blows. Holper and Washington had their moments too. Funniest was Donbel Belano's angas against Billy Mamaril. The small guy wouldn't back down and even charged Billy Mamaril. I'm surprised no technical fouls nor warnings were called. Each player had to bleed before being whistled for a foul. Jeez, Jimmy Alapag was being squashed at the back court. Asi Taulava must have felt all the hacking fouls that Ginebra players have given him (hmp, that's for being a SNOB enough not to sign my PBA book back in November last year). Funny how Cardona almost picked a fight with someone who tangled his arm that when he turned, he realized that it was fellow Lasallian Sunday Salvacion that he quickly had his kiss-and-make-up session with him. I'm surprised that despite the loose officiating the refs had (with nameplates at their back), Ronald Tubid still managed to draw an offensive foul off Cardona. HAHA.
It's also note-worthy of seeing players rush to the court after each time-out, to avoid nakaw plays. This "rushed" feeling also affected Jong Uichico on one instance when he called on a 30 second timeout and asked his boys to run to him immediately, and run back immediately to the court after the timeout expired. No wonder the game ended at 9PM. YES. THE GAME ENDED AT 9PM. Suddenly, Rocky and I had all the time in the world.
Breaks of the Game, Ginebra comeback, and raining threes. Renren Ritualo is like a loaded gun. Nakakasa na yung kamay nya even before he touches the ball. Jeez, why didn't you do that in Tokushima? Every time he touched the ball, my heart squeezed. The most painful of all is his buzzer beating three points off the glass along the baseline -- it was a broken play for Talk 'n Text then that their three point attempt missed and landed into the hands of Ritualo as time expired. Kaboom. You know that shot will go in when he releases the ball. Talk 'n Text's rain men were just too hot to handle. Whenever Ginebra threatened to catch up with the Talk 'n Text lead, someone would release a trey -- whether it's Belano (coming off a pick and left unguarded) or Alapag (from the parking lot). Suddenly I missed Vince Hizon and Pido Jarencio's days with Ginebra. Sama mo na rin si Dudut.
It was nice to see Ginebra applying a full-court press. Over the years that I watched Ginebra, I've never seen them apply a full-court press. Too bad Talk 'n Text managed to throw in the ball just before they could commit a five second violation, or cross the court just before they could commit an eight second violation. But costly unforced turnovers and lapses in defense did it for Ginebra. There was Rafi Reavis rebounding the ball alone with one hand, and the ball goes off from his hands into the baseline. There was Jimmy Alapag missing both free throws but manages to get his own rebound. Mark Macapagal had his share of bad fouls too (it's a wonder why Jong Uichico opted to play with Macapagal instead of Tubid when Ginebra was trying to catch up that Tubid only got to play in the last two minutes). There was Lao opting to throw a long pass to Helterbrand at the other side of the court, only to be stolen by Washington. *sigh* Macky too had his share of backcourt boo-boos.
Ginebra's furious rally just fell short. Sayang. Well, it's the same old story, I guess. Jayjay Helterbrand shooting a trey and making those tight passes to Rafi Reavis. Tubid scoring a lay-up and one. Artadi making(!) those jump shots.
The Gin Kings' ball movement is a little bit stagnant though. It's as if there's a big guy who doesn't know whom to pass the ball to. Not much drives to the basket except on fastbreak plays. Ginebra's passing too much and rotating the ball too much that they're usually left with the low-percentage jump shot. No post-plays or daredevil lay-ups.
Game ends 111-102 for Talk 'n Text. :(
Outlook. Two more months and 16 games to go. Lots of games in Cuneta next month, most will be played during weekdays. What the hell. Too early to tell though.
Up next: Ginebra vs. Welcoat. Ginebra's big men will have their hands full against Joe Devance, JR Reyes, and Nic Belasco. I think Ginebra's guards can outplay Welcoat's. Like Ginebra, Welcoat is two players short of being contenders. Let's see. Ginebra vs. Alaska on the 31st. Cuneta. I don't know if I can go.
It must be my shoes. Back in November 12, 2006, Rocky and I watched the Ateneo-La Salle Fil-oil Flying V game at Ultra, and proceeded to Araneta for the Ginebra-Talk 'n Text game. We're such basketball junkies. On that day, I wore my then-new "Testify" Accel shoes (my officemate calls it a spaceman's shoe). Ginebra and Ateneo lost on that game. For this Ginebra-Talk 'n Text game, I wore the "Testify" shoes again. Ginebra lost.
You'll never see me wear those shoes again in any Ginebra-Talk 'n Text match.
