Chris Ross

Beating the Still Perfect Beermen is Possible for NLEX. But…

San Miguel Beermen
(Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

SMB looked like a team that can’t be stopped by a Phenom. Alone

Having the best all-local starting five has its perks for the San Miguel Beermen. After 3 games into the new season, they have already converted those games into 3 wins with the last one being against the Talk N Text KaTropa where they needed to bleed for that win before hanging on for an 88-76 victory. And that game also proved that the Beermen are more than just about their super starting unit which is led by 4-time MVP, June Mar Fajardo.
Against the KaTropa, Brian Heruela and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, a former TNT player, provided the defensive intensity that held the ground for San Miguel before stars Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and sharpshooter, Marcio Lassiter all returned to the floor and delivered the finishing blows. Rosser had 8 points while Heruela had 5 points- both came off the bench for Coach Leo Austria.
If Leo Austria can lean on his bench players the same way he can lean on his starters, then it’s already a big problem for the NLEX Road Warriors as they happened to be the next team who will try to end the Berman’s winning streak.
To begin with, no one among Yeng Guiao’s boys can actually match-up defensively against the Kraken, Fajardo. Sure, the Road Warriors got Asi Taulava who has been as dominant as Fajardo back in his prime years but Taulava is among the oldest players to hit the court in the history of the league so Yeng Guiao can’t risk letting his big man getting eaten by Fajardo.
Another reason why Yeng Guiao will have a hard time working on his strategies against San Miguel is the fact that his guards will have to defend the dynamic duo of Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross, two of the league’s best pick-and-roll guards. Sure, Guiao can send his own dynamic duo of Kevin Alas and Kiefer Ravena to match-against the backcourt duo of San Miguel but we all know that even if Kiefer Ravena goes supernova, it’s not enough. Not against a team like the Beermen.

Conclusion

One thing is certain for now: tonight’s main event between the Beermen and the Road Warriors will be a must-see game because we can expect a high-scoring game from two high-scoring teams who have explosive scorers left and right. 
Question: Can NLEX become the first team to beat San Miguel this season? 
Answer: No. 
Why? The Beermen got 5 stars on their starting 5 and a bunch of reliable players- and a good system that has been installed by a winning coach. 

How Many Awards and Championships did Chris Ross get this year?

Accomplished Year for Chris Ross After Getting Multiple Awards and Championships

The 32-year-old Filipino-American Chris Ross didn’t have early success in the PBA. Drafted overall 3rd by Burger King in 2009, he went on to play with four franchises as an average player, nothing special was happening.
Until his stint with San Miguel Beermen changed everything. He blended well with the team and was able to find a spot and it continued for years. With SMB, Chris Ross has received 5 championships, 2 finals MVP, the best player of the conference, All-Star and many more.

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It was the last two years were his career suddenly picked up and this year all of his hard work paid off. 
Here are some of the accomplishments of Chris Ross this year.
1. 2017 Most Improved Player – Chris Ross
2. 2017 All-Defensive team together with Japeth Aguilar, June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood, Jio Jalalon and Chris Ross
3. 2017 Mythical First Team- Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar and Arwind Santos
4. 2017 All Filipino Finals MVP
5. 2017 Best player of the conference ( Commissioners Cup)
6. 2017 PBA All-Star
7. 2017 Defensive player of the year
8. 2X Champion ( 2017 Philippine Cup and 2017 Commisioners Cup)
The PBA Press Corps 24th Annual Awards Night will be happening today and Chris Ross will be receiving his second and back to back award for the Defensive Player of the Year.

Durham, Bolts Erase 18-point Lead, Stun SMB

Meralco Claims Number 1 Spot after Comeback Win

Jared Dillinger scored 16 points off the bench to spark the Bolts’ comeback. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

The good news for the Meralco Bolts is, they only need to win their final game to claim the number 1 spot entering the quarterfinals. The bad news is, they needed to do it against a San Miguel team which they haven’t beaten since 2015.
Nope. Not this time around, Beermen. The Meralco Bolts came back from an 18-point deficit to claim the number 1 spot after stunning the San Miguel Beermen, 104-101.
Hoping to continue their mastery of the Bolts, the San Miguel Beermen jumped to a double-digit lead early on. The Bolts were struggling to get anything going in their offense as the Beermen’s defense continuously forced them into committing turnovers which the Beerman would convert into points on the other end.Throughout the 2nd quarter, the Bolts were struggling miserably as they shot only 37% in the field including a 27% 3-point shooting.
San Miguel for their part, shot way better in the field, making 47% of their shot attempts in the first half including 53% from the 2-point area. The lead went down at 8 after a Baser Amer lay-up with 66 seconds left before halftime. On the ensuing possession, Marcio Lassiter nailed a trey to put the lead back to double-digits. June Mar Fajardo already had 10 points by halftime. So is Marcio Lassiter. So is import Terrence Watson. Meanwhile, Allen Durham did have 10 points but was continuously struggling to make his shots against the suffocating defense of the Beermen which forced him to make only 4 of his 13 attempts in the first 24 minutes of action.
The Beermen continued pouring in the points in the shaded area to start off the 3rd quarter with Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot.Chris Ross who went scoreless in San Miguel’s previous game, another 3-pointer a few possessions later and a shot by Fajardo put the lead up to 17, forcing Norman Black to call a timeout 3 minutes into the quarter.  Fajardo later added another dunk after a bad pass by the Bolts player.
S0an Miguel’s lead then ballooned to 18 points after a jumper by Watson. Meralco tried to chip away at the lead as Mike Tolomia scored on a lay-up to bring the lead down to 16 but the Beermen were able to answer every basket that the Bolts made. Meralco came back roaring as they cut down the lead to 10 with a trey from Tolomia with less than 2 minutes to play in the 3rd. San Miguel brought a 12-point lead coming into the final quarter.
A goaltending violation against San Miguel cut down the Beermen’s lead to 7 in the opening minutes of the fourth as Reynel Hugnatan nailed a jumper to furthermore bring down the lead to just 5, forcing San Miguel Coach Leo Austria to call time.

After back-to-back made baskets by Fajardo, Allen Durham another trey with under 6 minutes on the clock only to be answered by another basket by Fajardo. A pair of charities by Cliff Hodge brought Meralco within 2 with under 5 minutes to play.

After the Beermen increased their lead back to 9, Meralco charged back right away, just trailing 96-92 with under 3 minutes to go until Jared Dillinger drained another trey cut down the lead just to 1. After a Watson basket, Amer scored on another three-pointer to tie the game at 98 apiece with 1:24 to go. Durham gave Meralco its first taste of the lead on a driving lay-up against Fajardo with under a minute to play. Chris Ross answered right back with another trey to give the Beermen a 101-100 lead heading into the final 40 seconds. Durham scored on his own missed shot to put his team back up 102-101 with under 28 seconds remaining.

San Miguel still had one more chance to take the lead but Fajardo’s shot was heavily contested and Meralco was able to grab the ensuing rebound and call an all-important timeout with 4 seconds on the clock. Durham added two more free throws as San Miguel ran out of time on the other end.

Allen Durham led the way for the Bolts with his 35 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. Dillinger added 16 while Chris Newsome finished with 14 points. Baser Amer also contributed 13 points. For the losing team, Fajardo had 26 points to go along with his 8 rebounds. Terrence Watson and Marcio Lassiter had 18 points each while Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross finished with 16 and 10 respectively.

While the starters of San Miguel produced their usual numbers, it was the bench scoring that allowed Meralco to mount a comeback and eventually, helped them win the game.

Scores:
Meralco – 104
Durham 35, Dilinger 16, Newsome 14, Amer 13, Hodge 8, Tolomia 8, De Ocampo 6, Hugnatan 2, Nabong 2, Atkins 0, Yeo 0, Lanete 0, Sedurita 0, Caram 0, Faundo 0
San Miguel – 101
Fajardo 26, Watson 18, Lassiter 18, Cabagnot 16, Ross 10, Santos 6, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Espinas 3, Heruela 0, McCarthy 0, Pessumal 0, Reyes  0, Agovida 0, Tubid 0, de Ocampo 0
Quarter scores:
19-31, 39-51, 69-81,104-101 
Jared Dilinger scored 16 points off the bench to spark the Bolts’ comeback. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Watson, Fajardo Lead the Way for SMB

SMB Wins a close one against Phoenix

The Kraken led the way with another dominant performance (Photo by PBA Media Bureau)
The Phoenix Fuel Masters took the lead early on in the first quarter, fell behind by double figures during the next 2 quarters before coming back alive during the dying minutes of the 4th quarter. In the end, it was the championship experience of June Mar Fajardo and the rest of the San Miguel Beermen that prevailed as they avoided an upset by defeating the eliminated Phoenix team, 109-107. And doing so wasn’t easy either even for an experienced team.
Like the other teams who are already assured of their respective quarterfinal slots, the San Miguel Beermen knew they have to win their remaining games if they want to improve their position come the quarterfinals.

Here’s the thing, if the Beermen win this game, they will be tied with the NLEX Road Warriors for the 4th spot which will give them a chance to earn a twice-to-beat advantage. If they lose, they will be tied with the Rain o Shine Elasto Painters for the 5th spot. Either way, the Beermen will be tied with another team and if you are a team who is gunning for a rare grand slam, you would surely prefer to be fighting for a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals, right?

After Fuel Masters import Brandon Brown scored 17 points in the first quarter alone, the Beermen, led Alex Cabagnot, June Mar Fajardo and Chris Ross, buckled up on defense as they successfully contained Brown during the entire second quarter alone which enable Leo Austria and his team to mount a comeback and eventually take the lead 56-52 heading into halftime.

While both teams struggled offensively, only shooting 37% in the field during the first half, the 2-pt field goal percentage of San Miguel proved to be the difference as they outperformed Phoenix 50% to 42% in that category during the entire game. Free throw shooting has also played an important part as well as total assists as the Beerman has proven again and again that they can beat any team if they are fluidly passing the ball around, looking for the best scoring option.

When the 3rd quarter started, the Beerman wasted no time pouring point after point after point. Marcio Lassiter converted on back-to-back three pointers and then the Kraken followed with a 3-point play, forcing Phoenix Coach Art Vanguardia to call a timeout with 9:30 to play in the quarter. The Beermen went on to keep a double-digit lead during majority of the third quarter.
Then, things got interesting in the 4th after Phoenix trimmed down San Miguel’s lead to 3 with under 8 minutes to spare in the game only to be answered by another Lassiter trey.

Both teams traded both made and missed baskets in the next few minutes of the 4th. The Fuel Master got as close as 2 points, at 98-96 with five minutes on Matthew Wright’s free throws. Then, on Brandon Brown’s free throws, the game was tied at 100 with under 3 minutes to go until the Beerman answered with 4 straight points to put their lead up by 4-points with under 2 minutes left.

The Fuel Masters still had one more chance to inch closer but Mathew Wright uncharacteristically air-balled a 3-pointer with under a minute left. To make things worse, Arwind Santos was able to tap the ball away from Brandon Brown then Fajardo was fouled and made both free throws. Jeff Chan later scores on a lay-up to cut the lead to 4, at 106-102 with 21 seconds to go in the game. Cabagnot made 1 of 2 free throws after winning a jump ball and then JC Intal nailed a  trey with under 10 seconds only to for Cabagnot to make 2 more throws to ice the game with 6 seconds to go.

The Fuel Masters scored on another basket with 1 second remaining but that proved to be their last hurrah as the Beermen dribbled away the clock off a timeout.

Terrence Watson led the way for the Beermen with 26 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Fajardo, for his part, finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. Alex Cabagnot also finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds to complement the performance of Watson and Fajardo.
On the other side, Brandon Brown had 30 points while Jeff Chan had 18 points on 8 out of 16 field goal shooting. JC Intal followed up with 12 points on his own. In fact, the bench of Phoenix actually outscored their San Miguel counterparts 33-22 but we all know that the Beermen have one of the best starting units in the PBA today.
Scores:
San Miguel – 109
Watson 26, Fajardo 24, Cabagnot 24, Santos 15, Lassiter 13, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Espinas 3, Ross 0, Heruela 0, McCarthy 0, Pessumal 0, Reyes 0, Agovida 0, Semerad 0, Tubid 0, de Ocampo 0
Phoenix – 107
Brown 30, Chan 18, Intal 12, Eriobu 10, Alolino 9, W. Wilson 8, Dehasa 7, Wright 5, Lanete 4, Kramer 2, Jazul 2, J. Wilson 0, Hayes 0, Miranda 0, Ababou 0
Quarter scoring:
23-28, 56-52, 86-77, 109-107