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| Mac Baracael heroics (albeit controversial) led this weekend's bunch of reunions. (credits to interaksyon.com) |
What. A. Weekend.
Okay that's getting old I have to find something new.
This weekend wasn't as hyped compared to last week's Manila Clasico since there weren't any super high profile matches like a San Mig - Ginebra match - up or a San Mig - RoS match - up. Despite that though, this weekend's set of match - ups actually have very similar story lines.
All match - ups had a reunion.
San Mig Coffee Mixers (5 - 3) def. Barako Bull Energy Cola (4 - 4) 81 - 77
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| Allein Maliksi just flew against his former Barako Bull squad. (credits to interaksyon.com) |
For one, San Mig Coffee has found two of its future one - two punch combination in Allein Maliksi and Mark Barroca.
Second, Polo Bustamante was spot on for leaving Barako Bull after trading Allein Maliksi.
Lastly, Allein Maliksi is a PRIME TALENT.
San Mig Coffee won a thriller of a game against the Barako Bull Energy Cola, 81 - 77 last Saturday night. The game was literally decided till the last second, with a Mike Singletary turnover in the waning seconds of the game pretty much sealing the fate of the Energy Cola. Allein Maliksi's two free throws would complete ice the game for the Coffee Mixers.
This game served as the reunion between Allein Maliksi and the Energy Cola, plus the reunion of
Maliksi lead the Coffee Mixers with an all around stat line of 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Mark Barroca was clutch in this game, hitting the game tying jumper and the free throws which would give San Mig the lead for good in the final seconds of the game. He would end the game with 12 points and 4 steals. Import Marqus Blakely was his usual stellar self registering 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (2 - 5) def. Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters (4 - 4) 101 - 100
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| Coach Yeng Guiao was left fuming after the controversial win by Ginebra. (credits to interaksyon.com) |
Well, this time it was Rain Or Shine's whose hearts were broken.
Rain Or Shine would wound up losing in INCREDIBLY controversial fashion, 101 - 100 against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Just like the previous game, this game also went down till the last second, although for this game, it was quite literal. A lot of people thought this game was over after a tough jumper by RoS import Arizona Reid over Ginebra import Dior Lowhorn. After all, there was only 2.6 remaining after that jumper, and only a handful of players/teams can make a shot with that amount of time.
Ginebra has Mark Caguioa and LA Tenorio, but RoS has Jireh Ibanes and Gabe Norwood to cover those guys. Well, I guess they (for good reason?), forgot about Mac Baracael.
Mac Baracael played hero in this game, after getting fouled in this play. He would go to the charity stripe for 3 free throws, his only free throws for the game at that, and guess what, he made all of them.
If you were to ask me, was it a foul or not? Well, using my limited knowledge on basketball, I don't think it was a foul since the contact was after the shot (although who knows, there might be a counter argument for that). What really turned me off though was the time given to Rain Or Shine.
The referees gave the Elasto Painters only 0.3 seconds, whereas it was clear that Baracael was fouled with 1.3 (or even 1.4) seconds remaining in the clock. Sure Kume Salud can say that in the rule book it states that the time that will be given after a foul will be the time after the whistle was blown, but, doesn't that put the referees at a negative light? Medyo nahahalata ha.
Meralco Bolts (5 - 3) def. Air 21 Express (2 - 6) 100 - 91
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| Mike Cortez played great against his former squad. (credits to interaksyon.com) |
In this reunion match - up though, it was Mike Cortez who got the last laugh.
The Meralco Bolts tied with the San Mig Coffee Mixers for the second spot after beating supposedly reborn Air 21 Express, 100 - 91.
It was actually a pretty close game till the early part of the third period, but the triumvirate of Hodge, West and Cortez exploded to lead the Meralco Bolts to a relatively comfortable 11 point lead heading into the final frame.
Mario West led the way with 29 points, while Cliff Hodge is looking to make a late run for Rookie Of The Year after an explosive 24 point, 13 rebound performance. Mike Cortez also had a great game with 17 points and 6 assists.
Petron Blaze Boosters (8 - 1) def. Globalport Batang Pier (3 - 5)
101 - 90
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| Elijah Millsap had a superb triple double performance against the Batang Pier. (credits to interaksyon.com) |
Petron ended its elimination round campaign with a 101 - 90 win against the Batang Pier. Despite the assured top spot given to the Blaze Boosters, they still played as if they were on the brink of elimination.
A couple of people probably expected Jay Washington explode in this game. After all, he had to play second fiddle to Arwind Santos the past two conferences, and that must have pissed the living hell out of Jay Wash. After all, he is a former Best Player Of The Conference. Now that he was traded to Globalport, he had the chance to make this reunion a sweet one for him and a bitter one for the team that pretty much left him sitting on the bench the past two conferences.
Well, that wasn't the case, as not only did Petron win, but Arwind Santos thoroughly outplayed his former team mate, posting an impressive 15 point 11 rebound performance against Jay Wash's 11 points. Someone's making a run for Abueva, Castro and Tenorio in the MVP Race.
Elijah Millsap also filled up the stat sheet, registering a triple double of 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Technically though, it was a quadruple double as he also racked up... 10 turnovers.
Marcio Lassiter was also solid in this game, scoring 18 points on 4 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc. Fajardo and Cabagnot also provided ample scoring, registering 13 and 12 respectively.
That's the reason why refs have whistles...they need to blow the whistle to make the call and stop the clock...it will never be negative...it's been like that since the inception of basketball (or almost all sports bounded by time)...imagine if the refs will review their call and adjust the time to when the contact was made instead of when they blew the whistle...that's not logic thinking. The reason why the clock will stop is when the table officials hear the refs' whistle. It's never going to be negative on the referee's part being human. It's more of cheating if they will adjust the time to the point of contact. It will always be when the whistle is blown. If you want it that way then we no longer need referees...just have them players call their fouls parang larong kalye.
ReplyDeleteI'll respect your opinion, but that was still a crucial error by the referees. The whistle should be whistled when a foul (or violation) is seen, hindi yung hihintayin pa. Kahit sa larong kalye ganun. What's done is done though.
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