By the Numbers: Aggressiveness and Free Throws: Does Nash Racela Have a Point?

Who was the more aggressive team, really?

TNT Coach Nash Racela was left puzzled with the huge disparity in the free throws. 

The Talk N Text KaTropa were sent packing for an early vacation after they dropped their semifinal series against the crowd favorite, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings after Ginebra pounded on the ejection of TNT’s import, Glen Rice Jr., en route to a 115-105 Game 4 victory for Tim Cone and the rest of the defending champions which sealed another Finals rematch with the Meralco Bolts. 

But, if you were watching the entire series as this basketball pundit did, then you witnessed how heated and tensed the entire series was especially in the last two games which were both won by the Gin Kings.

If the players were tensed, if the fans were tensed, so were both head tacticians, particularly Nash Racela. In fact, during the halftime break of Game 3, he had to be pulled away from Ginebra Governor Alfrancis Chua after both gentlemen nearly came to land blows as both engaged in a verbal fistfight. Fortunately, no fines were handed down and no one was hurt. 

But even after that, Alfrancis Chua, the ever passionate Alfrancis Chua took things to Twitter, fired a series of tweets which were obviously for the TNT coach even without mentioning the former’s name. Nash Racela for his part, begged off to be dragged from this attack from Chua, saying it was up to PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa to comment about the tweets of the Ginebra governor.

So what was the point of all these? The answer to that is simple. Nash Racela, the ever-sarcastic Nash Racela first questioned Tim Cone in saying that the main reason why Ginebra was awarded 43 free throws in Game 3 was that Ginebra was the “more aggressive” team in terms of attacking the basket.

Okay. So let’s check the number for the entire series to see who was telling the truth:

Game 1: 121-94 win by Ginebra

Game 1 saw a dominant Ginebra team which frustrated the KaTropa by shutting down Glen Rice Jr., who missed 12 of his 20 attempts which rippled to the struggles of the rest of the team. Now, aside from shutting down the import of their opponents, the one thing Ginebra did in the series opener was shooting better in the 2-point area. In fact, the Gin Kings attempted 68 shots in the 2-point area while making 40. Free throw shooting also favored the Gin Kings as they went to the line, 32 times while making 23 charities. 

In this case, Tim Cone was right because TNT, as a team, only attempted 59 shots from the 2-point area and they only made 26 of those 59 attempts, a 44% field goal shooting. TNT was only awarded 25 free throws which the KaTropa converted 18 from the 25 giveaways. 

Game 2: 103-96 win by Talk N Text

Now, Game 2 was a little more different than Game 1. The 2-point field goal shooting of TNT was at 30 out of 53 which was good for 56%. On the other side of the fence, Ginebra fired 59 attempts from the inside of the three-point area and made 32 of those attempts which resulted in a 56% field goal shooting.

If you will ask this basketball pundit, Ginebra was the “more aggressive” team in this particular game because of the fact that they shot more and made from the two-point area, especially in the shaded area. In terms of free throw shooting, 35 free throws were awarded to TNT and only 19 for Ginebra and that was something that Tim Cone didn’t whine about until Nash Racela went sarcastic after Game 3.

Game 3: 106-103 win by Ginebra

If you’ve watched Game 3, then you know that this game was when things began to break apart especially for the KaTropa. Why? Here’s why:

Even though both teams made 29 field goals from the 2-point area and both Ginebra and TNT shot 45% and 47% respectively from that area, it was the huge disparity in the number of free throws that heated things up. Just how wide the disparity was? 43-14 in favor of the Gin Kings. Ginebra was awarded 43 free throws and made 30 of them. In fact, 27 of those attempts were awarded in the first half which had Nash Racela scratching his head. In contrast, Racela’s boys made 12 of 14 free throws for the entire Game 3. No wonder why he was being sarcastic after that. 

Game 4: 115-105 win by Ginebra

As mentioned above, the Gin Kings were able to book their return trip to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals after beating an all-Filipino TNT crew. To accomplish this, however, the Gin Kings needed 46 points from Justin Brownlee. 

But what was more interesting in this specific game was the disparity again, in the number of 2-point baskets, both attempted and made. TNT fired 63 shots from that are and the made 30. In contrast, Ginebra made 28 of their 47 2-point field goals. You cannot really blame Nash Racela for questioning aggressiveness of Ginebra if we are to look at the field goal shooting of both squads. 

Conclusion:

Maybe Tim Cone was right for Game 2. Maybe Nash Racela had the right to be sarcastic about the outcome of Game 3 and, the series in general. But the basic rule in basketball: if you constantly attack the shaded area, you can score easy baskets and fish fouls from defenders. 

Maybe both squads were indeed aggressive from their own perspective. 

Or maybe, one team wasn’t lucky enough.  

By the Numbers: Ginebra’s Big Numbers from Last Night’s Game 46, 25, 21

Ginebra needed big numbers from 3 players to eliminate an import-less TNT team

Coach Tim Cone knows one thing: Ginebra will need more of those numbers come the Finals. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Every basketball fan knew that from the moment Glen Rice Jr. got himself ejected after pushing down Ginebra rookie, Kevin Ferrer and even almost hit the latter with the ball, it would have a rippling effect on the flow of the ballgame. 

For the fans of the defending champions, an ejected TNT import meant that their team could easily score and take the life out of Nash Racela and the rest of the KaTropa. 

Instead, Talk N Text was able to hold onto the lead despite the departure of their import and even built an 18-point lead only to have Ginebra erase it completely as the Gin Kings completely outplayed Jayson Castro and company in the second half which ended with a 115-105 Ginebra win over the fading TNT KaTropa that cemented a Finals rematch between the Gin Kings and the Meralco Bolts.

So, how did the Gin Kings fight they way back to finally eliminate a Talk N Text that was playing an all-Filipino crew? Answer: they needed  big numbers from these players to accomplish that feat:

Justin Brownlee- 46 Points

Okay. Let’s begin with the most obvious one. The ejection of Glen Rice Jr. benefited one specific Ginebra player the most: Justin Brownlee. 

Also read: Comeback is REAL: Brownlee Score 46 Points to Lead Gin Kings

By the end of  Game 4, Brownlee compiled 46 points, his new career’s best, on 15 of 23 field goal shooting which included 4 makes from the 3-point line. In fact, his 11-0 personal run in the 3rd quarter alone enabled Ginebra to get back into the game. But Brownlee was more than just scoring in last night’s victory. Aside from his 46 points, the Ginebra import also grabbed 10 boards and 5 assists while blocking 2 TNT shots in an all-around performance. 

LA Tenorio- 25 Points

While his backcourt partner, Scottie Thompson was held scoreless, LA Tenorio stepped like the “Tinyente” we all know used to know and love in the past, and scored 25 big points, many of those points came in during the pivotal second half run of Ginebra which enabled Ginebra to charge back from an 18-point hole. Tenorio’s 25 points were highlighted by 6 long-range bombs. 

In addition to this, “Tinyente” also had 7 assists, proving that he is still among the elite floor generals we have in the league right now. Although he turned the ball over on 6 occasions, that doesn’t change the fact that Tenorio was one of the reasons why Ginebra is back in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals for the second straight year, giving them a shot at winning back-to-back Governors’ Cup championships. 

Greg Slaughter- 21 Points

With fellow frontline players, Joe Devance and Japeth Aguilar struggling to get anything going on offense, Greg Slaughter, the gentle giant off the bench, made 7 of his 8 shot attempts, on his way to finish the game with 21 points to lead the bench players of both squads. Like Brownlee, Slaughter’s 87% field goal shooting can be associated with the absence of Glen Rice Jr. and the subsequently fading away of the defense of Talk N Text, especially in the second half. Slaughter also had an efficient shooting night at the free throw line, making 7 of 9 charities. He also added 9 rebounds and blocked 2 shots in a remarkable defensive effort for the big man from Cebu. 

The trio of Brownlee, Tenorio and Slaughter combined for 92 of Ginebra’s 115 points. While it’s an impressive outing for the three of them, the rest of the Gin Kings need to improve especially with the Finals about to open on Friday. If they will continue to rely on three players to do all the dirty works in the floor against a vastly-improved Meralco team, Ginebra fans are in for a long Finals series. 

But knowing Tim Cone, he will find ways to have his team ready despite a shorter preparation period because whether you’re a Ginebra fan or not, Tim Cone is one of the reasons why Ginebra was able to win their first championships in 8 years and he will be one of the main reasons why Ginebra is back in the Finals again, facing the same team they’ve beaten last year. 

Comeback is REAL: Brownlee Score 46 Points to Lead Gin Kings

Ginebra Erased an 18-point Lead as Glen Rice Jr. got Ejected

The absence of Glen Rice Jr. was too much for TNT as Justin Brownlee scored 46 points. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Okay, folks. If you have seen how heated Game 3 was, how it was filled with fouls, including numerous technical fouls, how close the score was at the end of that tension-filled Game 3, then you can expect more of the same in Game 4 when the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings will gun for a return to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals while they will be facing off against the Meralco Bolts, a team they’ve beaten in last year’s Finals. 

On the other hand, Coach Nash Racela and the rest of the Talk N Text KaTropa will need all hands in to win this game and force a sudden death match on Tuesday. For that to happen, the KaTropa will need more than just another monstrous performance from their import, Glen Rice. Jr.

As Glen Rice Jr. walked out of the court and later, of the venue, the chances of a Ginebra victory increased remarkably. However, the Talk N Text KaTropa were able to hold on their own, for a short period of time as the Gin Kings stunned the KaTropa when the crowd favourites left nothing to chance after erasing an 18-point hole in the third quarter to win Game 4, at 115-105 to book their much-awaited Finals rematch with the Mealco Bolts.

Coming off their close encounter back in Game 3 of their best-of-5 semifinal series which ended in a 106-103 victory by the defending champions, both teams started off scoring against each other as the KaTropa built a 5-point lead 4 minutes into the game as Jayson Castro scored 7 points during that span. Then, Glen Rice Jr. made it 27-17 after draining jump shot just a few steps away from the 3-point line as Ryan Reyes and Moala Tautuaa joined forces to score TNT’s next 5 points to make it 32-17 which was followed by a timeout from Tim Cone. 

However, just when TNT was already leading, Glen Rice Jr. was ejected after pushing down Kevin Ferrer AND, throwing the ball which almost hit Ferrer in the face. Despite that, TNT was able to end the first quarter with the lead, at 43-32.

Knowing that the KaTropa were already without their high-scoring import, Ginebra slowly trimmed the deficit to 43-38 during the first 3 minutes of the second quarter. From that point on, turnovers plagued the offense of both teams as Ginebra was able to furthermore to push down the lead to 5 points but TNT was able to score thanks to the aggressiveness of Jayson Castro who completed a 3-point to play to make it 52-44 with under 7 minutes to play before halftime. Then, Tautuaa added a one-handed dunk to bring the lead up to double-digit. Roger Pogoy then drained a long-distance bomb to give the KaTropa, a 15-point advantage in the closing minutes of the first half as both teams headed into the break with TNT leading at 66 -52.

Troy Rosario top-scored TNT with 18 points in the first half while Jayson Castro added 14 points and 6 assists to lessen the effects of Glen Rice Jr.’s absence who had 2 points before getting thrown out. While both teams were shooting above 50% in the field, points scored off fastbreak opportunities propelled TNT into the lead during the first half as the KaTropa outscored Ginebra13-2 in fastbreak points. And, despite the absence of their import, TNT rebounders were able to outmuscle their Ginebra counterparts, holding a 22-15 rebounding edge.

Justin Brownlee had 18 points to lead the Gin Kings as LA Tenorio added 14 markers in the first half. One of the reasons why Ginebra failed to pound on the absence of Glen Rice Jr. was the fact that Ginebra’s offense was mired with 13 turnovers in the first half which the KaTropa converted to 16 points.

Right after Justin Brownlee dunked the ball during the first two minutes of the second half, Jayson Castro drained two charities to give TNT an 18-point advantage. However, LA Tenorio made a 3-point shot and Brownlee added two free throws to make it 72-59 with 8:33 to go as Nash Racela called a timeout to stop the bleeding. Then, Justin Brownlee went on personal 11-0 scoring blast to bring the lead down to 74-69 with under 7 minutes to play in the quarter. 

With Ginebra threatening to inch closer, Jayson Castro and Moala Tautua scored the 4 straight points to put TNT’s lead to 9, at 80-71 with under 4 minutes to go. TNT’s lead never went back to double digits during the remaining minutes of the 3rd quarter as both squads went into the final quarter with the KaTropa only leading by 6 points, at 86-80.

Kelly Williams opened the 4th quarter for TNT with an alley-oop dunk but Sol Mercado made another trey for Ginebra to bring the Gin Kings with 3 points, at 88-85. Then, the score was finally tied at 90 apiece after Justin Brownlee calmly drained two charities with under 10 minutes left in the game to force a puzzled Nash Racela to talk things out with his players because their 18-point lead had already evaporated. Mark Caguioa gave the Gin Kings the lead, at 92-90 after scoring on an inside shot only for Castro to add 2 free throws to tie the game anew, at 92 all. Justin Brownlee continued his scoring onslaught as he drained another one from outside and LA Tenorio scored on another inside basket to give the Gin Kings a 99-94 lead.

Exactly like they did back in the 3rd quarter, TNT struggled to make shots as they missed tons of open shots as LA Tenorio added trey to give Ginebra, a 10-point advantage with under 5 minutes left. Roger Pogoy finally broke the silence for TNT after scoring on the inside but the entire KaTropa team continued with their slump which was made worse by the ejection of Glen Rice Jr.

Justin Brownlee scored 46 BIG points to lead the Gin Kings. Former Ateneo Blue Eagles LA Tenorio and Greg Slaughter added 25 and 21 respectively while Sol Mercado added 11 points off the bench. As a team, the Gin Kings were able to make 13 out of their 32 attempts from deep while blocking 9 shots.

Without their high-scoring import, the rest of the KaTropa struggled all game long as they were lead by Troy Rosario with his 28 points to go along with his 10 rebounds. Jayson Castro had 26 points, 8 boards, and 9 dimes. The bad side of that impressive stat line was that Castro only made 9 of his 20 attempts.

Scores:

Ginebra – 115

Brownlee 46, Tenorio 25, Slaughter 21, Mercado 11, J. Aguilar 6, Ferrer 4, Caguioa 2, Thompson 0, Devance 0, Helterbrand 0, Jamito 0, Cruiz 0, Mariano 0, R. Aguilar 0, Taha 0

TNT – 105

Rosario 28, Castro 26, Pogoy 14, Semerad 12, Williams 10, Tautuaa 9, Reyes 4, Rice Jr. 2, Golla 0, Carey 0, Hernandez 0, Lingganay 0, Seigle 0, Chua 0

Quarter scores:

32-41, 52-66, 80-86, 115-105

By the Numbers: 3 Reasons why Ginebra vs TNT Game 3 was Equally-Matched

These will explain why the game wasn’t decided until the final buzzer

Jayson Castro came back to life in the 2nd half to equalize the game.  (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Let’s face it: there were three kinds of fans in last night’s Game 3 of the best-of-5 semifinal series between the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings and the Talk N Text KaTropa: the happy ones which were the Ginebra, the sad or angry ones which were the fans of Jayson Castro and company and, the neutral ones which enjoyed the result regardless of who won the game. 

While the entire game was filled with fouls including a notable number of technicals many of which were called against the KaTropa which consequently led to the wide disparity of free throws awarded, can we all agree about one thing? 

The game was well-matched in terms of statistics because even though Ginebra was able to establish a double-digit lead in the early stages of the game, both teams were struggling with their shot attempts which ended in both teams only making 39% of their respective shot attempts.

Listed below are the 3 numbers of both teams which made the game close all night long:

60-58 Rebounds (In Favor of Ginebra)

In any game of basketball, whoever controls the rebounds, wins the game. Who said that? Hanamichi Sakuragi. 

In last night’s Game 3, both Ginebra and Talk N Text were able to get the rebounds as a result of both teams’ struggle the ball into the ring. Glen Rice Jr. for one, grabbed 20 rebounds for the KaTropa while Justin Brownlee 13 boards for Ginebra but what made the big difference which enabled Ginebra to come out victorious on a 106-103 decision was the number of offensive rebounds they were able to get off their own missed shots. 

Sure, both teams were equal in the number of offensive rebounds with 17 apiece but it was Ginebra who was able to take advantage of those extra possessions which allowed them to score 22 second-chance points in the process- many of those came in the crucial final 2 minutes of the games. 

26%-25% Three-Point Shooting (In Favor of TNT)

Let’s just put it this way: we all know that TNT can shoot the lights out on any given night and Game 3 was no exception. Despite their low shooting percentage from beyond the arc, Nash Racela’s boys were occasionally dropping long-distance bombs from deep as they made 11 of their 41 attempts n that area. In fact, Glen Rice Jr.’s three-point shot in the dying seconds of the game brought his team within 3 and had he nailed the final attempt at the buzzer, the game would have gone into overtime. 

That’s how the deadly the three-point shot is. One makes and it can change the course of the game. TNT’s shooting from the rainbow country was of the reasons why the KaTropa were able to stay within striking distance until the final buzzer. 

16 Turnovers Each

The turnover battle provided some needed excitement in a game that was filled with tensions and questionable calls from the referees. If anything, the 16 turnovers apiece of both squads proved that their respective defensive plans were clicking all game long especially in the 4th quarter. Both teams succumbed to make bad passes on multiple occasions.

Despite the painful loss which inched them closer to an early end to their season, we can’t deny the fact that Talk N Text was the better team in terms of taking advantage of their opponents’ mistakes by scoring 19 points off those 16 Ginebra turnovers. 

Game 3 Recap of 2017 PBA Governors Cup: Ginebra vs TNT

By the Numbers: 3 Disparities that Favored Ginebra in Game 3

Whether the Gin Kings will admit it or not, they had help. Lots of it.

Glen Rice Jr. torched the Ginebra with 44 points but couldn’t deliver in the end. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

If you allow a player like Glen Rice Jr. to score 44 points and grab 22 rebounds including 9 offensive rebounds, then your defense is not working to perfection. It means that the player can find other ways to score. That was the case in last night’s Game 3 when Rice Jr. started to torch the defending champions, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings right from the tip-off as he scored 14 points in the first quarter alone. 

Despite this monstrous performance, the Gin Kings came out victorious as they beat the Talk N Text KaTropa, 106-103, which moved Ginebra one win away from returning to the Finals, should they win tomorrow’s Game 4.

In a game that was mired by numerous shoving matches between players of both teams which resulted in a number of technical fouls being called mostly against the KaTropa, in a game where the result wasn’t decided until the final buzzer when Glen Rice Jr. missed a 3-point shot that would have forced an overtime period, let’s put aside the emotions, the heat and take a look at the disparities that when you look at them, you’ll realize that these numbers had played important roles that propelled the Gin Kings to a 2-1 series lead:

31 First Quarter Points

In the 3 games of the series, the team who scored 31 points in the first quarter alone went on to win the game. Nothing beats having a high-scoring first quarter because it helps the team set the tone of the game early on. In the two games that Ginebra won so far, they reached 31 points in the first quarter which enabled them to build an early momentum. While Game 3 was not decided until the final buzzer, the 31 points of Ginebra in the first quarter enabled the crowd darlings to establish their offense.

28 Points from the Bench

Sure, TNT got 44 points from their import, Glen Rice Jr. but got little reinforcement especially from their bench players who only produced 15 points. The Ginebra bench troopers, on the other hand, were able to contribute more especially on the offensive end as they combined for 28 points. Greg Slaughter continued his stellar play with 19 points, including 9 of 12 free throw shooting, and 6 rebounds. This is a luxury Tim Cone enjoys because having a reliable set of bench players allows him to rest his starters, namely their import, Justin Brownlee who logged 44 minutes last night and scored 17 points. 

27 Free Throws in the First Half

Okay. This is one disparity that said to have triggered a halftime backlash between Alfrancis Chua and Nash Racela as both squads were walking into their respective locker rooms. Both gentlemen nearly got to blows but were separated by team officials and their respective players. Even PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa had to get in their way to make sure that no blood will be dropped. Imagine this: the Gin Kings were awarded 43 free throws, 27 of those in the first half alone. 

Just how big the disparity was in the free throws? 27-8. In the first half. Alone. While Tim Cone apparently didn’t say a thing when TNT was awarded 35 free throws back in Game 2, Cone was quick to explain that Ginebra was simply the more aggressive team which enabled them to fish more fouls from TNT defenders. As they say, what’s a Ginebra win without a little drama on the side, right?

The defending champions can seal a rematch with the Meralco Bolts in the Finals with a win tomorrow. In terms of firepower and talent, we all know that both teams are loaded with both firepower and talent. It’s never a question of who can produce more points. It’s more about who has the heart to win it all despite all the odds. One thing is for sure: We can all expect a more chaotic Game 4 tomorrow. 

Monstrous Performance from Glen Rice Jr with 44 and 20 but Missed Most Important Shot as Ginebra Escapes with the Victory

Gin Kings Use Balance Attack to Inch Closer to Finals

Scottie Thompson had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Just when the Ginebra faithfuls who were watching in Batangas and those who were watching on their respective TVs thought that the Gin Kings would finally take a commanding 2-0 series lead back in Game 2 of their best-of-5 semifinal series, the Talk N Text KaTropa went back to business and disappoint the crowd darlings as the KaTropa won Game 2 to tie the series at 1 game apiece. 

Now, both the defending champions, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings and the KaTropa will slug it out anew to decide to will move within 1 win away from a slot in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals to dance against the already waiting Meralco Bolts.

“GI-NE-BRA! GI-NE-BRA!” These were the words that were coming from the mouth of those who were in attendance as they witnessed the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings moved within one win away from returning to the Governors’ Cup Finals after battling it out all game long to come out victorious, 106-103 against the Talk N Text KaTropa.

Wanting to make up for their sloppy start that eventually cost them Game 2, the Gin Kings went back to basics as they immediately two blocked shots and take a 13-5 lead in the first 3 minutes of the game. Coming off a timeout, Glen Rice Jr. scored the KaTropa’s next 7 points which were highlighted by 2 dunks and a 3-point shot to make 13-12 and force Tim Cone to use a timeout. Throughout the remainder of the quarter, TNT held a 3-point lead during most of the time until the KaTropa, again, started to clank away all of their shot attempts as  Sol Mercado ended the first quarter with a lay-up to make it, 31-26 in favor of the Gin Kings. Glen Rice Jr. already had 14 points in the first quarter alone.

TNT began the second quarter with Jayson Castro and Glen Rice Jr. scored the first 4 points of the KaTropa as Ginebra struggled to get anything going on their offense during 3 minutes into the quarter until their inside attack started to click in as the Gin Kings were able to fish fouls from TNT defenders. 

Later in the quarter, LA Tenorio drained a 3-pointer to make it 45-37 as TNT continued to struggle with their own shots and were also mered by turnovers. After hanging onto a slim margin, a shot from rainbow country by Justin Brownlee increased Ginebra’s lead to 9, at 51-42 approaching the 2-minute mark of the 2nd quarter. Then, Scottie Thompson added a lay-up to make it 55-45 with under two minutes before the halftime break.

The Gin Kings held a 60-49 advantage at the half as LA Tenorio stood the tallest for Ginebra with his 13 points to lead all Ginebra scorers. Scottie Thompson and Greg Slaughter scored 9 points apiece. What was the difference for Ginebra in the first half? Simple: Free throws. The Gin Kings were awarded 27 free throws in the first 24 minutes of action with the Gin Kings 19 of those freebies.

Glen Rice Jr. had 27 points and 9 rebounds to lead the KaTropa but no one else on the TNT team scored in double figures in the first half as Jayson Castro only managed 6 points and that was one of the primary reasons why the KaTropa fell by double digits entering the 3rd quarter.

Again, the dynamic duo of Glen Rice Jr. and Jayson started things off for Talk N Text as they joined forces to trim Ginebra’s lead to 62-56 with under 9 minutes to play in the third, leading to a Tim Cone timeout. Talk N Text continued to score as the lead went down to as low as 2-points, 69-67.  

Ginebra went on to re-establish an 8-point advantage during the course of the third quarter as TNT was able to prevent Ginebra from breaking the game wide open as they kept themselves within striking distance thanks to their improving shooting from beyond the three-point line. Despite Glen Rice Jr. only scoring 2 points in the 3rd quarter, Talk N Text was only down, 85-80 heading into the final quarter.

When the 4th quarter began, Glen Rice Jr. drained another bomb from long distance and Jayson  Castro added another mid-range jumper to knot the score at 85 apiece with barely a minute into the quarter. After a series of missed attempts from deep by both teams, the KaTropa finally overtook Ginebra, 91-89 on a Kelly Williams basket which followed by a Ginebra timeout with 7:05 left. A few possessions after that sequence, Scottie Thompson added another trey to give his team a 94-93 lead heading into the final 5 minutes of the game.

Then, with Ginebra clinging to a slim margin, Scottie Thompson, again, outrebounded TNT rebounders and scored on a putback to make it 101-98 with 2:09 remaining in the game. Joe Devance scored on another putback to make it 103-98 and forced Nash Racela to call another timeout with 1:33 on the clock. Then, with Jayson Castro missing on a three-point attempt on the previous possession, Joe Devance came out of nowhere to score a crucial putback to make it 105-100 with  32 ticks left on the clock.

After TNT inched closer, at 106-103 on Glen Rice Jr.’s trey with under 10 seconds left, Scottie Thompson missed both charities on the other end, leaving the door open for TNT to force an extra period but Rice Jr.’s final attempt just clanked off the rim as time expired.

Joe Devance led the Gin Kings with 20 points. Greg Slaughter came off the bench to score 19 points. Justin Brownlee had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Ginebra won because of their ability to grab offensive rebounds and score 22 points off those offensive rebounds which played an essential role in the endgame.

Glen Rice Jr.’s 44 points and 20 rebounds to lead Talk N Text went straight to the trash can as the KaTropa are just one loss away from ending their season. Jayson Castro added 17 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists but also had 4 turnovers.  The game was basically equally-matched in every statistic except for one thing: points scored by bench players. The bench players of Nash Racela only managed 15 markers, a far cry to Ginebra’s bench players who combined for 28 points.

Related: Our prediction of the game, did we get it right? 

Scores:

Ginebra – 106

Devance 20, Slaughter 19, Brownlee 17, Thompson 17, Tenorio 16, J. Aguilar 8, Mercado 7, Ferrer 2, Helterbrand 0, Jamito 0, Cruz 0,, Mariano 0, Caguioa 0, R. Aguilar 0, Taha 0

TNT – 103

Rice Jr. 44, Castro 17, Semerad 10, Williams 10, Rosario 7, Pogoy 7, Golla 3, Reyes 3, Seigle 2, Carey 0, Nuyles 0, Tautuaa 0, Hernandez 0, Lngganay 0, Chua 0

Quarter  scores:

31-26, 60-49, 85-80, 106-103

By the Numbers: 3 Awful Things that Almost Doomed Meralco

These things will hamper the Bolts’ chances come the Finals- regardless of who they will face

Allen Durham logged in 46 minutes in Game 3. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Sure, the Meralco Bolts are heading back to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals after sweeping the Star Hotshots via a 91-88 victory last night. While the players deserve to celebrate being back in the Finals and have another shot at  winning the first ever title since coming into the league, we all know as well as Coach Norman Black knows for himself that the Bolts will need to play way better in the Finals compared to how sloppy they performed in Game 3. 

If anything, Meralco was lucky to be able to come out victorious last night despite their sloppiness. The Bolts will need more than just luck especially if they are to face-off against the defending champions, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, again, should the Gin Kings prevail as victors in their on-going semifinal series against the Talk N Text KaTropa which will be playing their Game 3 tonight.

3 Bad Numbers to Forget in the Finals

Allen Durham had to play for 46 MINUTES

Make no mistake about it, folks. Allen Durham has emerged as one of the best imports to play in this year’s Governors’ Cup. If anything, his 24 points, 19 rebounds and 6 assists were testaments to how great Durham is as a player. But, if the Bolts want a fighting chance against whoever they will be facing in the Finals, Allen Durham must be fresh especially during the critical situations of the game which means, he shouldn’t be playing for 46 MINUTES. 

This means that the rest of the Bolts must step up on both ends of the court to shred off some pressure from Durham and give him the appropriate time to rest. One bad effect of Durham playing heavy minutes which was visible in last night’s Game 3 was the fact that Star threw two defenders at Durham on multiple occasions which resulted in 7 turnovers by Durham himself. 7 wasted scoring opportunities.

20 Turnovers

To be honest with you, this basketball pundit cannot believe that the Bolts did actually win last night despite the fact that there were careless with the ball and turned the ball over 20 times. 20 turnovers. 20 wasted opportunities to score. 20 mistakes which the Star Hotshots took advantage and scored 18 points off those turnovers. As mentioned earlier, 7 of those turnovers came from Durham and mind you, he had the same number of turnovers as of the entire Star team.  

7 Missed Free Throws

Simply put it this way: free throws should be the easiest way for any team to score points and teams should take advantage of all of their opportunities to score free throws because whether we like it or not, free throws can have a rippling effect on the outcome of the game especially if the score is close. And, in last night’s Game 3, the Bolts missed 7 missed that would have widened the lead given the closeness of the score. Had the Bolts made more free throws, Meralco would have won it in the 4th quarter. 

Regardless of who they will be playing against in the Finals, the Meralco Bolts have to remember one thing: both the Gin Kings and the KaTRopa are two talent-laden teams and can compete against them at full force. If anything, their lapses in Game 3 should be a warning sign to the Bolts that if they don’t improve and play like they did in Game 2, there won’t be a championship celebration for Meralco.

By the Numbers: 3 "SAYANG" Numbers that Star Threw Away

Had Star won, these would have been the reasons why

Mark Barroca was 2 assists shy of a triple-double. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

If you were fortunate to watch last night’s Game 3 of the best-of-5 semifinal series between the Star Hotshots and the Finals-bound Meralco Bolts, then you can just imagine the feeling of regret that Star Hotshots Coach Chito Victolero is feeling right now. 

Let’s just put it this way: the Hotshots were down double digits on multiple occasions. They were able to get back into the game and even take the lead in the 4th quarter. They were just 1 defensive stop away from extending this series to a Game 4 but the Bolts were able to score right back and the moment the extra period began, that was when the Hotshots began to falter as the Bolts held Star scoreless for almost 4 minutes in the extra period and by time the Hotshots managed to score, time was no longer on their side. 

And mind you, folks, Star almost won without Paul Lee and with Kris Acox only producing 4 points during the entire game. Given how close the final score was, Star fans can only say, “Sayang!”

The “SAYANG” Numbers:

8 Steals

If anything, we can only appreciate the defensive efforts of the Hotshots for making life difficult for the Bolts. They made Meralco bleed it out unlike in the first two games of the series where Meralco had a double-digit lead by endgame. Those 8 steals were proof that if Star had played D the way they did last night during the first two games, the series would have had a different look by now. Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon had 3 each of those 8 steals

12 Second Chance Points

This was probably one of the biggest advantages Star had against the Bolts all night long. They outmuscled the Meralco rebounders to grab offensive boards and score 12 points off their own misses. In fact, if Star managed to score in one of those offensive rebounds during the dying seconds of regulation, they would have won the game. 

Mark Barroca’s 21 Points

Perhaps the only one who deserves to feel bad was Mark Barroca. Why? 21 points. 12 rebounds including 4 on the offensive end. 8 assists. 3 steals. A block. This is the Mark Barroca that we always know after all those years. Sure, he missed 15 of his 22 shots just to produce 21 points but what can he do? His teammates were missing. Their import’s performance was miserable. Paul Lee was absent, for good. After last night’s performance, can we all agree that Mark Barroca deserves our praise, right?

As painful as it is to hear especially for Star fans, they are done for the season, unfortunately. But this latest semifinal exit, their 3rd this season, can only make them better as they will use this setback to motivate themselves and hopefully, improve come next season.

Durham Powers Meralco with 24, Heads to the Finals

Attempted Upset ends in an Upset as Star faltered in the End

Meralco defenders limited Kris Acox to only 4 points. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

After a come-from-way-behind win in Game 1 and an unmercifully dominant slaughter in Game 2, the Meralco Bolts can book their return trip to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals with a win in Game 3 against the fading Star Hotshots who will have to do without their star, Paul Lee who has been ruled out for the rest of the series. While Paul Lee was never a factor in the first two games, we all know what a Paul Lee can especially if he is healthy. Unfortunately for the wards of Chito Victolero, they must find a way to turn things around and force a Game 4. A win in Game 3 would be a perfect start.

Just when Star thought that they can actually beat the Meralco Bolts and they certainly almost did, they faltered at the worst possible time as the Bolts were able to hold on for a 91-88 victory in Game 3, sweeping the best-of-5 semifinal series and finally booking their ticket back to the Finals. And, they had to work hard for this victory. 

The moment Chris Newsome started running on a fastbreak opportunity and finished a lay-up and was followed by Jared Dillinger’s first trey of the night, the Meralco Bolts were already on the run as Newsome and Dillinger scored the game’s first 5 points. A few possessions after that sequence, the Star Hotshots answered right back with their mini-scoring run to tie the score at 7 apiece and we all knew from that moment that this game is going to be a high-scoring affair. 

Throughout the opening quarter, Meralco missed several shots, including open ones as Star was able to take the lead, at 15-14 after Mark Barroca completed a 3-point play only to be answered by Baser Amer who drained another three-point shot for Meralco to make it 17-15, in favor of the Bolts. Just when we thought that the Bols were starting to pull away after establishing an 8-point lead, the Hotshots the next 5 points to come within 30-27 to end the first 12 minutes of the game.

After struggling with their possessions that were ruined by turnovers and well-guarded shots, Ranidel De Ocampo and Baser Amer each drained a 3-pointer which gave the Bolts, a 7-point cushion during the early going of the second frame. Raynel Hugnatan later added another long-distance bomb to make it 41-33 with 6:50 remaining on the clock, forcing a timeout from the Star coaching staff. The Bolts’ lead did not go above 8 points as Star was able to bring it down to 6, multiple times. That pattern was finally broken by Allen Durham who scored on a 3-point play to give Meralco, a 54-43 lead going into the halftime break.

Durham had 14 points after the first two quarters to go along with his 7 rebounds. Ranidel De Ocampo was again, effective off the bench with his 10 points which included 2 3-pointers. As a team, the Bolts were making it rain in the first half as they made 7 of their 13 attempts from outside. Overall, Meralco was shooting 58% in the field during the first half and that was one of the reasons why they were in the lead during the first half.

Aldrech Ramos led the way for the Star Hotshots with 8 points off the bench. Marc Pingris and Ian Sangalang had 6 points apiece. Import Kris Acox only managed 2 points on 1 of 5 shooting- a part of the 42% field goal shooting of the Hotshots in the first half.  In addition to this, Star’s performance from beyond the arc was also one of the reasons why they were down early on as they only made 4 of their 11 attempts from rainbow country.

Moments after the Bolts went up by 13 points to open the 3rd quarter, Mark Barroca went on a personal 5-0 run to bring the deficit down to 8 points. After Cliff Hodge made just 1 of 2 free throws, Marc Pingris scored on the other end to bring Star within 7, at 57-50. However, Hodge added 2 more charities and a lay-up to give Meralco another double-digit lead with under 8 minutes left in the quarter. Meralco was hit by a shooting slump anew as Marc Pingris and Mark Barroca each hit a pair of charities to make it a 6-point deficit, at 64-58 with under 5 to play in the quarter as Norman Black was forced to call a timeout.The lead was then trimmed down to the slimmest margin, at 69-68 entering the 4th quarter as Star was able to take advantage of the Bolts’ foul situation throughout the latter part of the 3rd quarter.

Both teams struggled with their shot selection during the first 4 minutes of the final quarter as the Bolts were holding onto a 1-point lead until Mark Barroca, with a pair of charities, gave Star the lead, at 74-73 with 7:53 to go in the game. Turnovers and highly-contested shots starred for the offense of the Bolts which enabled the Hotshots to score on the other end as Star increased their lead to 3 after Pingris scored in the shaded area while by being guarded by Allen Durham.

After a pair of charities from Durham which closed the gap to 1, Jio Jalalon drained a long bomb to give Star a 4-point cushion approaching the final 3:00 mark. With his team needing a basket, Allen Durham drove towards the shaded area and scored on a lay-up with under 2 minutes to play and Chris Newsome added another lay-up to tie the game at 83 apiece with 1:18 remaining on the clock.

Both teams missed their ensuing opportunities to score in the final minute as Meralco used up their final foul to give with 30 seconds to spare as Chito Victolero used the opportunity to draw out a play. Unfortunately, Star was still able to grab the offensive rebound off a Jio Jalalon miss which enabled another timeout from Star. Barroca missed the next three-point attempt of Star and Allen Durham secured the rebound with 3 seconds left and called a timeout. Durham missed on the ensuing possession. Overtime!

After clanking on most of their attempts from outside, Jared Dillinger opened the scoring chores in the extra period with a 3-pointer. From there on, Star missed all of their attempts even as they were able to grab the offensive rebounds. And finally, after scoring just a point in the entire second half, Ranidel De Ocampo scored on a 2-pointer jumper to increase the Bolts’ lead to 5 with 1:17 left in the overtime period. After missing on their next possession off a timeout, Chris Newsome held onto the rebound and Meralco used another timeout. Rafi Reavis scored the first two points of Star in overtime with 35 seconds left only to be answered by a trey from Cliff Hodge which was later answered by another shot from the rainbow country from Mark Barroca with 11 ticks on the clock as Norman Black called for another timeout. Unfortunately, time ran out for Star as the Bolts held on even after losing on a jump ball in the previous possession.

Allen Durham scored 24 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and dished 6 dimes although he turned the ball over 7 times. Cliff Hodge added 18 points while Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger totaled 10 points apiece. Just how the Bolts managed to win this game with 20 turnovers? Answer: They had a better field goal percentage, making 44% of their shots while limiting the Hotshots to 38% field goal shooting.

Despite the mere fact that Star only turned the ball over 7 times, the Hotshots still lost. Mark Barroca almost had a triple-double, registering 21  points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists while playing for 37 minutes. Marc Pingris added 16 points while Jio Jalalon scored 12 off the bench. Kris Acox, like in the previous 2 games of the series, was offensively absent as he concluded his stint with the Hotshots with 4 points on 2 of 9 shooting nightmare.

Scores:

Meralco – 91

Durham 24, Hodge 18, De Ocampo 13, Amer 10, Dillinger 10, Newsome 9, Hugnatan 7, Atkins 0, Yeo 0, Lanete 0, Sedurita 0, Caram 0, Faundo 0, Tolomia 0

Star – 88

Barroca 21, Pingris 16, Jalalon 12, Sangalang 8, Ramos 8, dela Rosa 7, Reavis 6, Acox 4, Gamalinda 3, Melton 3, Lee 0, Simon 0, Abundo 0, Pascual 0, Brondial 0, Mendoza 0                                                                                             

Quarter scores:

30-27, 54-43, 69-68, 83-83, 91-88

By the Numbers: The 3 Ugly Truths Behind Ginebra’s Collapse in Game 2

Electrifying D Won Game 2

Because you cannot win without playing DEFENSE

Just when everyone thought that the defending champions would take a commanding 2-0 series lead in front of a favorable crowd in Batangas, the Talk N Text KaTropa immediately went to work right after the tip-off, built a double-digit lead in the early goings of the game, kept their composure intact when the Gin Kings were able to make a comeback and even momentarily took the lead and in the end, the KaTropa were able to hang onto a 103-93 Game 2 victory over the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings which knotted the series at 1-1. 

Had TNT lost the game last night, they would be in a  tight situation coming into tomorrow’s Game 3 because it would mean that they need to win 3 straight games against the same team just to get to the Finals of the PBA Governors’ Cup. Fortunately, the players of Coach Nash Racela did many things right, things that they didn’t do in the series opener that put them in a better position to challenge the champs.

Kelly Williams had 8 defensive rebounds, 2 steals and a block in Game 2. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

While field goal shooting was an area where both the KaTropa and the Gin Kings were equal, shooting 44% and 46% in the field respectively, it was the defense of Talk N Text that gave them an 18-point lead and consequently, defense won them the game in the 4th quarter.

The Numbers that Won Game 2:

19 Forced (and Unforced) Turnovers

Simply put it this way, folks. If you force your opponents into making those costly turnovers especially during the playoffs, it means that your team’s defense is working to perfection. And that was what exactly happened last night. The KaTropa were pressing the Gin Kings at every turn and that pressing defense forced 19 turnovers by the Gin Kings which Talk N Text converted into 23 points. Greg Slaughter had 5 of those turnovers as he was constantly defended by two defenders every time he gets in the post. Classic defense. Still effective. And as a result of their frustrations, there were noticeable times when the Gin Kings threw bad passes. Effect: Unforced turnovers. Another effect: 20 fastbreak points for TNT.

14 Points for Ginebra in the First Quarter

If anything, having a good start in any basketball game is essential to victory and if we are to look back in Game 1, the Gin Kings scored 31 points in the first 12 minutes of the game. Last night, it was the KaTropa who scored 31 points in the first frame but unlike in the first game where they were able to score 22 points, Talk N Text, this time around, defended well early on and limited Ginebra to 14 first quarter points. 

10 Steals

Let’s face it. The Gin  Kings are a talented team with the most winningest coach in the history of the PBA in Tim Cone. But that, however, does not make them a perfect team and the KaTropa made sure that the rest of the PBA saw that as they were able to steal the ball from Ginebra ball handlers, 10 TIMES. There were 3 players who had 2 steals each in Game 2, namely Troy Rosario, Kelly Williams and, Roger Pogoy who scored 14 points off the bench. Glen Rice Jr. the league’s leader in steals per game this conference, had 1 steal.

Here is the game 2 recap TNT vs Ginebra.

Glen Rice Jr.’s 21 Points Lead TNT in Game 2

Glen Rice was outstanding but Jayson Castro also led with a double-double as TNT avoids going 0-2.

Glen Rice Jr. stepped up in the 4th quarter to lead TNT. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

The defending champions have already drawn the first blood in this series. They will now have the opportunity to take full control of the series and go within a win away from a second consecutive Governors’ Cup Finals appearance and yes, they certainly have the firepower to do so. 

On the other hand, the Talk N Text KaTropa are hoping to bounce back from a disastrous Game 1 performance and equalize the series at 1 game apiece. The only question is: Can the KaTropa find a way match up against the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings and avoid being down 0-2 coming into Game 3?

They built an 18-point lead. They blew that lead and let Ginebra take the lead, temporarily. Their import, Glen Rice Jr, didn’t play an entire quarter due to foul trouble. The odds were against the TNT KaTropa and yet, they came out victorious, scoring an important 103-96 win to tie the best-of-5 series at 1-1.

As expected of them, the KaTropa opened the scoring chores of Game 2 as they held the Gin Kings scoreless for the first 2 minutes of the game until Justin Brownlee’s lay-up gave Ginebra their first two points. TNT went up as high as 10-4 on Anthony Semerad’s fastbreak lay-up which resulted to Ginebra calling for their first timeout of the game with 8:43 left in the opening quarter. 

Both teams then struggled to get anything going as Ginebra scored the next 4 points only to miss the next few sots. On the other hand, Ginebra’s defense bothered TNT players as Glen Rice Jr. hit a trey to break the KaTropa dry spell. Unable to control the rebounds early on, Ginebra fell to 19-10 after Moala Tautuaa hit a putback basket to force another timeout from Tin Cone. A dunk by Rice Jr. with 3:11 left in the quarter gave the KaTropa their first taste of a double-digit lead, at 23-12. Ginebra faced a 31-14 hole entering the second quarter as they were plagued by their 12 turnovers in the opening quarter alone.

The KaTropa held onto the double-digit lead during the early minutes of the second chapter Ginebra cut it down to 13 from the highest 18, twice. Then, Joe Devance decreased it to 12, at 36-24 after scoring on a lay-up. Then, Sol Mercado swished in a 3-pointer to cut down the lead to 9 only to be answered by Jayson Castro who hit a 3-pointer of his own to put the lead back to 12. Mercado later added another unguarded 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 6, at 39-33 with under 7 minutes to play before halftime as TNT’s offense became as messy as it was like in Game 1. 

Japeth Aguilar later soared on a monstrous dunk to the delight of the pro-Ginebra crowd and putting his team down by just 4. However, just when TNT was starting to regain control after Jayson Castro hit a trey and Glen Rice Jr. added another free throw, Glen Rice Jr. was called for his 4th personal foul with 3 minutes left in the first half.  The Gin Kings inched closer to 49-47 at the end of the first half after Justin Brownlee hit one from long distance to end the half.

Brownlee led the way for Ginebra with 17 points on 50% field goal shooting in the first half. Sol Mercado added 8 markers off the bench. Defense was again, one of the reasons why Ginebra was able to come back from an 18-point lead as they blocked 5 TNT shots in the first half and the Gin Kings were able to take advantage of the KaTropa’s mistakes as they scored 17 points off those 11 TNT turnovers.

On the other hand, nobody among the players of Nash Racela scored in double figures after the first two quarters as Glen Rice Jr. and Troy Rosario had 9 points each while Jayson Castro had 6 points- scored on 2 3-pointers. If there was one thing that enabled the KaTropa to hold onto the lead, it was their ability to run on the break as they were able to score 10 fastbreak points as compared to none by Ginebra.

Come the third quarter, the Gin Kings wasted no time as Joe Devance scored the first two points of Ginebra to tie the score at 49 all then Japeth Aguilar added another jumper to give Gin Kings the lead for the first time at 51-50. However, Ginebra has been plagued with turnover anew as Talk N Text, like they did in the first half, was able to run on the break and established a 10-point lead with under minutes to play in the quarter.TNT went on to lead the rest of the third quarter despite Glen Rice Jr. not playing due to foul trouble as the KaTropa led 76-69 heading into the 4th quarter.

The KaTropa re-established a double-digit lead during the early minutes of the final quarter as Kelly Williams scored on an alley-oop dunk to make 79-69 with under 3 minutes into the quarter, forcing Tim Cone to call an early timeout. TNT later pushed their lead to 13 off a Tautuaa basket with under 8 minutes remaining in the game. From that point on, TNT again, held onto the lead the rest of the way as Ginebra failed to sustain the same energy that they had which enabled them to battle for the lead in the 3rd quarter.With under a minute to go in the game, Sol Mercado drained two triples to bring the deficit down to 6 but it was already too late.

Glen Rice Jr. scored 21 points on an efficient 6 of 10 field goal shooting despite playing in the 4th quarter with 5 fouls. Jayson Castro had 20 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds while Troy Rosario had 16 points. One of the keys that triggered this important win for Talk N Text was their points off turnovers as they scored 23 points off Ginebra’s 19 turnovers. The KaTropa also had 20 fastbreak points, many of those were also off the turnovers of Ginebra.

For the losing team, Justin Brownlee had 25 points and 10 rebounds while LA Tenorio had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal. Sol Mercado added 14 points off the bench for Ginebra who was hounded all game long by the defense of TNT which forced the Gin Kings into turnovers that took away all of the possible opportunities to mount a comeback, especially in the 4th quarter.

Scores:

TNT – 103

Rice Jr. 21, Castro 20, Rosario 16, Pogoy 14, Tautuaa 10, Williams 7, Semerad 5, Seigle 4, Reyes 2, Nuyles 1, Hernandez 1, Chua 1, Golla 0, Carey 0, Lingganay 0

Ginebra – 96

Brownlee 25, Tenorio 17, J. Aguilar 14, Mercado 14, Thompson 8, Slaughter 8, Devance 4, Cruz 4, Caguioa 2, Helterbrand 0, Ferrer 0, Jamito 0, Mariano 0, R. Aguilar 0, Taha 0

Quarter scores:

31-14, 49-47, 76-69, 103-96

By the Numbers: 4 Things That Went Wrong for the Slumping Star

Because basically, everything did go wrong for the Hotshots

Here are the four main reasons to their demise however

Mark Barroca was the lone starter who scored in double figures. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

If you watched last night’s Game 2 of the best-of-5 semifinal series between the Meralco Bolts and the Star Hotshots, then you can just imagine how frustrated Chito Victolero is right now. 

To begin with, Victolero was already frustrated with how the referees handled the game which saw 21 fouls called against the Bolts and 18 against the Hotshots. The Bolts on the other hand, were able to regain their dominant selves as they continuously pounded in on the Hotshots’ struggles on both ends of the court as they are ONE win away from another Finals appearance after a 98-74 victory last night. 

With Game 3 happening tomorrow, with their season on the line, the Star Hotshots have a choice: Improve or, go on an early vacation.

To help you explain the frustrations of Chito Victolero and the rest of the Star coaching staff, this basketball pundit listed down the numbers that doomed the Hotshots against the league-leading Bolts:

0 – Zero Points for Star Guards

Let’s start with the simplest reason why Star lost last night. Paul Lee had 0 points. So was Jio Jalalon. So was PJ Simon. Lee, for one, only attempted one field goal that missed and was taken out of the game the rest of the way, playing for barely 4 minutes. Jalalon, another bench trooper who was supposed to be backing up Mark Barroca, went 0 of 6 in the field. The result: the Star Hotshots still have 0 WINS in this series.

1 – Only One from the Rainbow Country

Another reason why the Meralco Bolts were able to run away from the Hotshots early on was the fact that Star, as a team, only made ONE of their 8 three-point attempts in the first half. That player who made that lone long-distance bomb was the journeyman, Aldrich Ramos who finished with 8 points in 15 minutes of action. 

By endgame, the Hotshots finished with a horrible outing from beyond the arc, making 7 of their 24 shots from that area. In addition to this, only ONE starter managed to score in double figures and that starter was none other than Mark Barroca who led the Hotshots with 16 points. The result: Star is ONE loss away from another early vacation.

5 – Five Fast-break Points, Not too fast  

Unlike in the early stages of Game 1 when Star was able to run and score on the break, the Hotshots only scored 5 fast break points during the entire Game 2, another visible sign that they weren’t in sync all game long. In addition to this, Star’s defense allowed 5 Meralco players to score in double figures, led by Allen Durham, Jared Dillinger and Ranidel De Ocampo who all scored 18 points apiece. Baser Amer and Chris Newsome provided the spark in the backcourt with their 16 and 10 points respectively. 

9 – The horrible performance of Acox

One player who was visibly struggling in both games was none other than Star import, Kris Acox. In Game 2, Acox only managed 9 points on another 4 of 12 field goal shooting. If Star wants to extend this series into a Game 4, they will need Acox to escape that horrible shooting slump that he endured in the first two games of the series and score more because if not, Allen Durham will continue to “eat” Acox alive every time they slug it out in the court. 

The Bolts Return to Dominant Form: Takes a 2-0 Lead

No big lead needed to be erased this time

Allen Durham outplayed Kris Acox. Again. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

One team can inch closer to a return to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals anew, with a win tonight. Another team can tie the series at 1-1 and bounce back from a forgettable meltdown in Game 1. The Meralco Bolts and the Star Hotshots are aiming for different goals for Game 2 but both will require the same thing for the both of two teams: an all-important win in Game 2.

As it turned out, the Meralco Bolts learned from their mistakes in the first game of the series as they regained their dominant form to beat the Star Hotshots in Game 2 of their best-of-5 semifinal series after a 98-74 victory over the Hotshots which puts Meralco one win away from booking their ticket to the Governors’ Cup Finals.

As soon as Justin Melton scored the Hotshots’ first two points of the game, Allen Durham and the Bolts didn’t wait long and answer right back. 3 minutes into the game, Jared Dillinger, who was one of the reasons why the Bolts won Game 1, drained his first trey of the night to give Meralco a 12-5 lead, forcing a visibly frustrated Chito Victolero to call a timeout. 

Then, Cliff Hodge gave his team their first taste of a double-digit lead on a mid-range jumper as Baser Amer followed that up with a 3-pointer to put his team up, at 19-6. Allen Durham later scored on a fadeaway jumper to make it 23-8 for the Bolts approaching the final 3 minutes of the quarter with the Hotshots missing a big chunk of their attempts thanks to the equally frustrating defense of Meralco. 

After the first 12 minutes of action, the Bolts held a 30-11 advantage and a big part of that was their better shot selection which resulted to them making 66% of their shot attempts in the first quarter alone and successfully limited Star to make only 5 of 22 shots in the field.

Ranidel de Ocampo, a seasoned shooter himself, opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer as the Bolts’ lead increased to 22. The lead went up to as high as 23 to as low as 16, 38-23 as Star continued to make a significant scoring run throughout the second quarter. 

And finally, the Hotshots were able to drain their first 3-pointer of the night after 4 straight misses on Aldrich Ramos’ long-distance bomb with 4:55 before halftime, prompting Norman Black to talk things out with his boys. And the Bolts responded positively a Meralco Bolts went on a 6-0 scoring to put back the lead to 22 with under 3:30 to play in the second frame. Both teams went into the halftime break with Meralco at the lead, at 53-32.

Baser Amer already had 14 points after 2 quarters- including 3 made shots from deep. Allen Durham added 10 points while Chris Newsome, who only had 7 points in Game 1, already had 8 at the half in Game 2. The Bolts’ unselfishness, which resulted in Meralco dishing out 15 assists in the first half alone was one of the reasons why they were able to dominate early on.

For the Star Hotshots, many things went terribly wrong for them in the first half. Nobody had scored in double figures in the first half as import Kris Acox had 7 points on 3 of 8 shooting. To give you an idea how bad the Hotshots’ offense was during the first 24 minutes of the game, they only made 1 of their 8 attempts from outside the arc. They weren’t better shooting in the 2-point area as they only made 34% of their shots in that particular area as compared to the Bolts which made 73% of their inside attempts. 

Like he did in the first quarter, Jared Dillinger drained the Bolts’ first three-pointer in the second half which was followed by a posterizing slam dunk by Allen Durham. And speaking of the three-point shot, Allen Durham later scored one that made it 63-34 with under 8 minutes to go in the third quarter. After Star went on a mini-scoring run that decreased the deficit to 22, Jared Dillinger, again, delivered from the rainbow country as his trey increased the lead to 30, at 73-43. The Bolts entered the final quarter with 78-48 lead. 

In the 4th quarter, after Ranidel de Ocampo scored on another three-point shot, the Star Hotshots went on another scoring run to make it 81-58 with under 10 minutes to play, prompting another timeout from Norman Black. Then, Mark Barroca drained two technical charities off a flagrant foul from Chris Newsome and Rafi Reavis added another jumper to push the lead down to 19, the closest they had been in the entire second half. Another Dillinger trey put the lead back up to 26 after Meralco was able to answer that Star run. The Bolts’ lead never reached below 20 points the rest of the way.

Allen Durham followed up his Game 1 performance with 18 points and 25 huge rebounds. Ranidel De Ocampo scored 18 points too to provide the much-needed leadership off the bench. Another player who scored 18 points for the Bolts was none other than Jared Dillinger who drained 6 of his 8 attempts from outside the arc.  Baser added 16 points and dished out 8 assists. The Bolts shot 52% in the field including 42% from outside.

For Star, only Mark Barroca and Mon Abundo were the only players who scored in double figures for the Hotshots as they scored 16 and 14 respectively. Kris Acox was again, a non-factor in this game as he scored 9 points on 4 of 12 field goal shooting. The Hotshots’ inability to make the most out of their possessions is just one of the many things which doomed them early on as they only made 31% of their shot attempts.

Scores:

Meralco – 98

Durham 18, Dillinger 18, De Ocampo 18, Amer 16, Newsome 10, Hodge 9, Tolomia 7, Faundo 2, Atkins 0, Yeo 0, Lanete 0, Sedurita 0, Caram 0, Hugnatan 0, Nabong 0

Star – 74

Barroca 16, Abundo 14, Acox 9, Ramos 8, Sangalang 6, Melton 5, Pingris 5, Reavis 4, dela Rosa 4, Brondial 3, Lee 0, Jalalon 0, Simon 0, Gamalinda 0, Pascual 0

Quarter scoring:

30-11, 53-32, 78-48, 98-74

Analyzing the Numbers that Enabled the Gin Kings to Run Away

How Ginebra Won Game 1: The Numbers

Glen Rice Jr. had to bleed for his points during the entire game (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

If anything, their defense both in their lone quarterfinal game against then Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel Beermen and again in Game 1 against the Talk N Text KaTropa got the job done for the defending champions, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings who took Game 1 by disorienting the offense of the KaTropa on a 121-94 victory to start their best-of-5 semifinal series. While defense was Tim Cone’s main weapon against a TNT that has a Jayson Castro who can score at will given the opportunity, there were other things that Gin Kings did right and efficiently which inched them 2 more wins of another Finals appearance. 

The Numbers:

54 

The bench players of Ginebra provided the needed reinforcement in last night’s victory as they combined for 54 points, outscoring their TNT counterparts who only scored 30 points. Greg Slaughter continued to prove that he is still a vital part of the Gin Kings’ core as he led the bench of Ginebra with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 BLOCKS, providing an effective performance on both sides of the court.  Mark “The Spark” Caguioa provided the spark in the 4th quarter as he scored 13 points in only 12 minutes of action while Jervy Cruz was able to regain his shooting touch as he added 10 points on an effective 5 of 7 field goal shooting. 

The production of the bench players enabled Tim Cone to limit the minutes of his starters with the lone exception of LA Tenorio who logged in 32 minutes in the game. Justin Brownlee didn’t even need to score more as he totaled 21 points, 8 boards and 5 dimes to lead the Gin Kings. The bench players’ production also enabled the Gin Kings to confuse the defenders of the KaTropa as almost every player that Tim Cone fielded contributed in other ways and not just by scoring. 

22

That was the total number of turnovers that Ginebra was able to force on the KaTropa. In fact,  those turnovers by Nash Racela’s wards are one of the many reasons why Castro and company weren’t a serious threat against the Gin Kings in the game as Ginebra was able to take advantage of the mistakes of TNT to score 23 points off those turnovers. Jayson Castro, known as a point guard with steady hands, turned the ball over 6 times while Glen Rice Jr. committed 7 of those 22 turnovers. If TNT doesn’t want an early vacation, they will need to take good care of the ball, make extra smart decisions when they have the possession. 

Otherwise, the Gin Kings will pound in on those costly turnovers. 

12

If you want to see the effectiveness of Ginebra’s defense last night, just take a look at the field goal shooting of KaTropa import, Glen Rice Jr. Of his 20 shot attempts, he missed 12 of those attempts including 4 of his 5 attempts from rainbow country. In effect, Rice Jr.’s struggles to score made life miserable for TNT throughout the entire as the defense of Ginebra also shut down the rest of the KaTropa’s starters Aside from their import, Roger Pogoy was miserably struggling too, missing 9 of his 13 attempts to score 12 points. 

Ginebra Leans on Defense to Take Game 1

The Gin Kings were never truly threatened throughout the game

Joe Devance co-led the balanced offense of Ginebra. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

For the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, slamming down the hopes of the San Miguel Beermen for a Grand Slam during their one-time quarterfinal date is nothing compared to having to face a dangerous team like the Talk N Text KaTropa in a best-of-5 series. 

Against the Beermen, they had a twice-to-beat advantage. Here in the semifinals, they start at 0. No advantages. No bonuses. If they win 3 games against TNT, then their hopes of winning back-to-back Governors’ Cup titles will be very much alive. As for the TNT KaTropa, their road towards getting back to the Finals begins here in Game 1, against the defending champions, a team they defeated early on in their last playing date for the elimination round.

The Ginebra Gin Kings went on multiple scoring runs, defended well and did not rely heavily on their import as the defending champions did everything right for most parts as they prevailed victorious in Game 1 after frustrating the Talk N Text KaTropa, 121-94.

Both teams started off running on offense as the Gin Kings began with a 4-0 spurt and then Jayson Castro scored the TNT’s first 5 points of the night. After a series of mixed made and missed shots by both squads which kept the score close for most parts, a three-point shot by Glen Rice Jr. enabled Talk N Text to take the lead for the first time, at 17-15. In the next possession, Japeth Aguilar was fouled, drained both charities to tie the score at 17 all as both teams endured another scoring slump as they were clanking most of their shots, not allowing any significant scoring run. The lead went up to 5 after a dunk by Justin Brownlee, 24-19 with 2:13 to play and was followed by a basket and a free throw from Greg Slaughter to put Ginebra by up 8. The defense of Ginebra forced TNT players to commit silly turnovers or get the ball stolen away from them as the Gin Kings led, 31-22 after 1 quarter.Joe Devance already had 9 points, on 3 three-pointers.

Jervy Cruz and Slaughter scored the first points of Ginebra in the early minutes of quarter number 2 as the lead reached 12 points off a Jervy Cruz made a basket with barely 3 minutes into the quarter. From that point, Ginebra’s lead never went below 8 points as the Gin Kings’ players off the bench were able to work with Brownlee as they kept the KaTropa clanking on defense. The rest of the second quarter was a sore in the eyes for TNT fans as their team was not only missing a big amount of shot attempts but also turning the ball every now and then. The Gin Kings were up by 12, at 60-48 after LA Tenorio drained a floater to end the first half

Justin Brownlee scored 15 points in the first half to go along with his 6 rebounds, 4 assists plus 3 steals. Joe Devance added 11 while Greg Slaughter had 8 points off the bench. Ginebra’s field goal percentage in the first half was at 52%, a better percentage as to what TNT was able to manage which was at 43%. Ginebra’s 10 steals in the first 24 minutes of the game were proven essential as Ginebra were able to run and score on the other end.

Jayson Castro, on the other side of the fence, led TNT  with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists while Glen Rice Jr. added 12 points but thanks to Ginebra’s defense plus his erratic shot selection, he only made 4 of his 12 shot attempts heading into the halftime break. But what exactly doomed the KaTropa of Coach Nash Racela in the first half? It was their 15 turnovers that were converted into 19 points off those turnovers.

As it turned out, the KaTropa’s struggles continued in the second as the lead ballooned to 16 in during opening minutes of the 3rd canto only to be decreased back to 13 on Glen Rice Jr.’s 3-point play.

Then, Joe Devance another trey to put his team up by 17, at 68-51 with under 9 minutes to play in the quarter, prompting Nash Racela to call another timeout. All of a sudden, the lead went up as high as 22 points only for TNT to bring it down to 16 off a Glen Rice Jr. dunk, bringing Tim Cone up from his seat to call a timeout with under 6 minutes left. But that was the closest TNT would get until Glen Rice Jr. drained two charities to bring down the lead to 15 with under two minutes left in the quarter. Throughout the 3rd, Ginebra went with Greg Slaughter who scored on a wide variety of ways but most of his points were scored on the inside, something he was well-known even during his playing days in Cebu. The crowd darling Gin Kings held a 20-point advantage, at 95-75 heading into the 4th quarter.

The KaTropa were held without a single field goal in the first 3 minutes of the final quarter as Ginebra slowly increased their lead to 27 as Jervy Cruz scored on another mid-range shot to prompt another time from Nash Racela. And finally, at the 7:32 mark of the 4th quarter, Alex Nuyles scored the first points of TNT in the quarter but the lead went up 107-77 after a pair of charities from Mark Caguioa. Soon enough, the rest of the bench players of Ginebra took the floor and delivered the finishing touches to the game.

Justin Brownlee again, led the Gin Kings with his 21 points while converting 10 of his 15 attempts. Joe Devance added 19 while Greg Slaughter contributed 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks while leading Ginebra’s bench. Ginebra’s defense was again, one of the keys that gained Ginebra this win as TNT only made 44% of their attempts, including 30% shooting from downtown. Points scored by bench players was clearly another thing that was dominated by Ginebra as the Gin Kings’ bench players combined for 54 points as compared to only 30 points by TNT’s bench.

For the players of Nash Racela, Glen Rice Jr. had 26 points but missed 12 of his 20 attempts including 4 of his 5 attempts from deep. Jayson Castro had 16 points but turned the ball over 6 times. Roger Pogoy finished with 12 points but only made 4 of his 13 shots. TNT’s inability to score on a more consistent basis throughout the entire game can be contributed to the fact that they never got to hold onto the ball for long as a result of their 22 turnovers.

Scores:

Ginebra – 121

Brownlee 21, Devance 19, Slaughter 16, Caguioa 13, Tenorio 10, J. Aguilar 10, Cruz 10, Thompson 7, Mercado 7, Mariano 4, Taha 4, Helterbrand 0, Jamito 0, R. Aguilar 0

TNT – 94

Rice Jr. 26, Castro 16, Pogoy 12, Tautuaa 7, Carey 6, Nuyles 6, Rosario 5, Williams 5, Semerad 5, Hernandez 3, Reyes 2, Chua 1, Golla 0, Lingganay 0, Seigle 0

Quarter scoring:

31-22, 60-48, 95-75, 121-94

The Bolts’ Game 1 Win: The Good, the Bad and the Worse

Looking at the things that both helped and cost them the victory

Chirs Newsome only had 7 points before fouling out. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

If you happened to be a fan of the Meralco Bolts, then you have all the reasons to be happy after the Bolts took an important Game 1 victory against the Star Hotshots via a 72-66 come-from-behind win to start their best-of-5 semifinal series. However, one cannot simply deny the mere fact that even diehard fans cannot be satisfied with the outcome of the game, with the way Norman Black’s players played the game, to begin with. One may blame the fact that Meralco only had a short period of time to prepare coming into Game 1 as they had to beat the Blackwater Elite during their do-or-die quarterfinal game. One may even blame fatigue factor. There were many things that contributed to the Bolts and there were many things that also ruined them the game and might have allowed Star to win. 

Below are the Good, the Bad and, the Worse:

The Good

Okay. Let’s begin with the good things that enabled Meralco to win Game 1 last night. Allen Durham had another one of his monstrous games as he led the Bolts with 23 points and 23 REBOUNDS. In fact, only Durham had a respectable shooting percentage last night as he made 9 of his 16 attempts, good for 56% field goal shooting.

Another good thing that helped the Bolts especially in the 4th quarter was Jared Dillinger’s 15 points off the bench.In fact, it was Dillinger’s basket approaching the final 60 seconds of the game which gave the Bolts the lead for good as Star failed to score from that point on. Without Dillinger’s timely made three-pointers, the game would have ended differently.

One more thing, Kris Acox’s offensive output was limited to 7 points on 3 of 8 field goal shooting and if you’re Norman Black, you’d be happy with this defensive success by the Bolts’ big men, right?

The Bad

As mentioned above, the Bolts also did tons of things that put them in difficult situations last night. For example, only their import, Allen Durham managed to make the most of his opportunities as the Bolts as a team, only made 35% of their field goal attempts and if you’re Norman Black, you would be disappointed despite the win, right? In addition to this, the usually explosive backcourt tandem of Baser Amer and Chris Newsome only combined for 17 points on a combined horrible 5 of 19 field goal shooting. Another notable bad thing that may have compromised the outcome of the game was the Bolts’ forgettable performance from rainbow country. Sure, Jared Dillinger’s trey late in the 4th was proved to be the turning point but you can’t just make 8 of your 30 ATTEMPTS from downtown and expect to win in the PBA, in the semifinals, against a team like the Star Hotshots. 

The Worse

Okay. Let’s not forget the mere fact that the Meralco Bolts allowed the Star Hotshots to bury them back in the first quarter when the Bolts went 5 minutes without scoring a thing until Cliff Hodge stopped the bleeding with a free throw and Allen Durham finally converted the Bolts’ first field goal in 12 attempts. By the end of the first frame, Meralco had 7 points compared to the Hotshots’ 21 points. As a team, the Bolts only made TWO of their 18 shot attempts in the first quarter alone. 

They may be able to come out with the win on this one but Norman Black knows, as well as his players, that if Meralco wants another shot at the title, they cannot start the game by going scoreless for the first 5 minutes and rely heavily on their import to the heavy lifting because no matter how good Durham is, the Star Hotshots will find other ways to shut him down or shut down the other players.

Bolts Erase 17-Point Lead to Win Game 1

Meralco’s defense frustrated Star’s offense

Kris Acox was limited to 7 points in the game (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Two teams. Two different roads. One semi-final series. Both the Star Hotshots and the Meralco Bolts are also coming off different scenarios in their respective quarterfinal series. While Star only needed to win one game to get here, the Bolts on the hands were pushed to a deciding game but won, eventually. Coming into Game 1 of their best-of-5 semi-final series, a win here would enable the Bolts to get a good start with their aspiration to challenge for the championship, something they missed last season. For the Hotshots on the other hand, a victory against Norman Black and his team will bring them 2 more wins closer to the Finals, a place they haven’t been to in a long time.

They fell behind early in the first quarter where they missed 16 shots. But for the rest of the game, it was the defense of the Meralco Bolts and the efforts of Allen Durham helped the Bolts to a Game 1 victory after scoring a 72-66 victory in Binan, Laguna.

Coming off from their one-game finish of the NLEX Road Warriors, the Star Hotshots got off to a good start and scored 9 unanswered points and forced Norman Black into calling a timeout because his team was clanking every shot they took during the first 3 minutes of the game. In addition to their inability to score and defend on the other end, the Bolts were also turning the ball over as the lead went up 11-0 with under 7 minutes to play in the first quarter. A free throw from Cliff Hodge ended the drought for Meralco and Allen Durham finally scored the Bolts’ field goal in 12 attempts with under 5 minutes to go. Star sustained its scoring start as Jio Jalalon scored on a 3-point play to make 18-3. Marc Pingris added a fadeaway jumper to make it 20-3 with 2:54 remaining in the opening frame. The Hotshots held a 21-7 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Both teams began the second quarter by scoring on their first pairs of charities as Chris Newsome drained a trey to bring the gap down at 23-12 with 2 minutes into the quarter. The lead went down to 7 right after Jared Dillinger drained another three-pointer for Meralco as the Hotshots were able to answer back every Meralco basket. After both teams suffered a dry spell, Allen Durham scored on a lay-up to furthermore push the lead to 5 with under 4 minutes to play, this time forcing Chito Victolero to call for a timeout for Star. By the time halftime came along, the Hotshots were only leading by 4, at 36-32.

Paul Lee led the Hotshots with 9 points in the first half but only made 1 of his 4 attempts from downtown. Ian Sangalang added 7 points while import Kris Acox only managed 4 points.  Star only managed to make 34% of their attempts.

The Bolts were able to recover from their 2 of 18 field goal shooting as they were led by Allen Durham, Chris Newsome and Jared Dillinger who all scored 7 points apiece during the first 24 minutes of play.

Both teams started the 3rd quarter on a much slower pace owing to the fact that both teams struggled to find any consistent rhythm early on. Just when Star began to run away anew, the Bolts surged back to tie the score at 41 apiece with under 7 minutes to play.  Then, after drawing Kris Acox’s 4th personal foul, Baser Amer gave Meralco their first taste of the lead at 43-41 on Baser Amer’s free throws. The lead fell back to the hands of the Hotshots after an Ian Sangalang inside shot only to be answered by a basket by Durham to tie the score at 45 all. The rest of the third quarter became an up-and-down battle as Star, despite making one of their 16 attempts from rainbow country, brought a 53-47 into the final quarter of play.

Marc Pingris opened the final quarter with a pair of charities as PJ Simon scored 4 consecutive points to give the Hotshots a 12-point advantage early on. Durham returned the favor by scoring 6 unanswered points to cut the lead back to 6 with 7:17 to play. Then, after a very miserable scoring drought from deep, Mark Barroca finally nailed Star’s second three-point attempt to put the Hotshots ahead by 11 with  5:23 remaining on the clock.Another Dillinger shot from beyond the arc dropped Star’s lead to 6 in the ensuing possessions.

Another Meralco trey, this time from Ranidel de Ocampo pushed the lead down to 66-63 approaching the final  2-minute mark as Star fumbled towards a risky turnover which led to another Dillinger trey to tie the score, again. Dillinger gave back the lead to Meralco, at 68-66 approaching the final minute as Mark Barroca air-balled a jumper on the previous possession. After forcing Paul Lee into a turnover, Allen Durham scored a difficult shot to increase Meralco’s lead to 4 with 33 ticks remaining. Then, Meralco forced another bad offensive possession for the Hotshots as Star refused to foul immediately after a Meralco inbound pass, allowing the Bolts to waste away before Star fouled eventually and Meralco drained the finishing free throws.

Allen Durham led Meralco’s impressive fight back with 23 points and 23 rebounds while Jared Dillinger scored 15 points to lead Norman Black’s men off the bench. Baser Amer contributed 10 points. Aside from limiting Star’s production from the outside, Meralco had more points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Hotshots 25-13 which allowed the Bolts to come out on top and take Game 1.

Jio Jalalon led Star with his 15 points including 9 of 9 shooting from the free throw line. Both Paul Lee and Mark Barroca scored 11 each as Kris Acox had to be disappointed with his 3 of 8 field goal shooting, only good for his 7 points. Although Star’s overall field goal percentage wasn’t far from what Meralco had, the former’s horribly forgettable outing from rainbow distance was what doomed them even though they had a 17-point lead in the first quarter.

Scores:

Meralco – 72

Durham 23, Dillinger 15, Amer 10, Newsome 7, Hodge 5, de Ocampo 5, Lanete 4, Hugnatan 3, Atkins 0, Yeo 0, Sedurita 0, Caram 0, Nabong 0, Faundo 0, Tolomia 0

Star – 66

Jalalon 15, Lee 11, Barroca 11, Sangalang 9, Acox 7, Simon 6, Pingris 4, Brondial 2, Reavis 1, Melton 0, Mendoza 0, Gamalinda 0, Ramos 0, dela Rosa 0, Abundo 0, Pascual 0

Quarter scoring:

7-21, 32-36, 47-53, 72-66

2 Basic Things TNT SHOULD Avoid Against Ginebra

These things almost cost them a victory last night

TNT must avoid any kind of shooting woes against Ginebra. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

If anything, last night’s game between the Talk N Text KaTropa against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters was indeed, a long one for both teams as neither was certain of the outcome until J’Nathan Bullock threw a bad pass, turning the ball over and fouling out in the dying seconds of the game. That sequence took the life out of the Elasto Painters as they came out short. 

Given how ugly the game was especially in the second half when TNT was struggling to make shots but was able to stick around within striking distance, they cannot simply afford to play exactly the same way especially when you’re up against the defending champions, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, in the semifinals. Sure, TNT unmercifully dismantled the Gin Kings in their final game in the elimination round but that was a long time ago. We are now in the semifinals of the Governors’ Cup. Things here are different compared to the elimination round and the quarterfinals. Here, both teams will have identical paths. The first team to win 3 games, goes on to the Finals. Simple. And not especially for TNT.

For the players of Head Coach Nash Racela, playing against the crowd darlings will be a huge challenge because Racela just took over the coaching job of the KaTropa at the start of the season while Tim Cone is no doubt, a coach whose resume is already filled with multiple championships and Grand Slams. In addition to this, TNT surprisingly traded away some of its longtime players including Larry Fornacier to the NLEX Road Warriors and Ranidel De Ocampo to the Meralco Bolt which is one reason why the chemistry in the team has been shaken off a little bit.  

To have a decent chance to at least, challenge the Gin Kings, the KaTropa must avoid the following things they did in last night’s game because if they are to them again in the semifinals, they are off to an early vacation:

Shooting Woes

Last night, Jayson Castro had 20 points but 12 of those points came from the free throw line. While there’s nothing wrong in scoring most of your points from the charity stripe, you can’t just make 3 of your 11 shots in the field and expect to win against Ginebra. Yep, Jayson Castro’s view was blurry as he only made 3 out of his 11 attempts including 2 of 7 from rainbow country. Roger Pogoy also shot poorly especially beyond the arc where he missed 8 of his 10 attempts in that area.  TNT won last night despite Rain or Shine shooting better in the field. The KaTropa will need everyone on board to have a good field goal percentage and avoid getting themselves buried in shooting slumps.

Rely heavily on the starters

Let’s put it this way: if Glen Rice Jr. wasn’t on the court to pick up Jayson Castro’s missed 3-point attempt during the dying seconds and score on a  putback, it could have altered the outcome. Both players had to log 40 minutes because only Anthony Semerad had a respectable 3 of 4 shooting night, good for his 8 points off the bench before fouling out late in the 4th. TNT must find a way not to force its starters to play heavy minutes because come clutch situations, fatigue will play a critical part and in situations like these especially during the semifinals against the defending champions, the fresher your legs are, the better you can perform. The bench players of TNT will play a vital role because they can help take off some of the offensive load from Castro and Rice Jr. to help them stay fresh come the 4th quarter

Defense Wins it for Ginebra! Spoiled Grand Slam Hope of SMB

Ginebra enters the semifinals after dominance against the Beermen

Greg Slaughter helped contained the Kraken’s offensive output. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

This is the quarterfinal match-up that everyone wanted to see. You see, this match-up will decide which reign will end. On one side, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings want to make it a back-to-back Governors’ Cup titles. For the San Miguel Beermen, a win here will extend their season and keep their chances of winning a rare Grand Slam. There are many things that are at stake in this specific game. And by the way, we got to see another battle between two Cebuano giants in Greg Slaughter and June Mar Fajardo.

Related: Ginebra Keys to victory 

The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings anchored on their defense to frustrate the San Miguel Beermen, leading to a 104-84 victory which saw the Beermen’s hopes for a Grand Slam crumbled down to Earth. In effect, the Gin Kings will now have to wait for the winner of the do-or-die game between the TNT KaTropa and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

Both the Gin Kings and the Beermen immediately went to work on offense right after the tip-off which saw the lead switched hands multiple times before the 1st quarter ended with a tie, at 23 apiece. Justin Brownlee scored the first points of the Gin Kings in the second quarter on a three-pointer as Ginebra opted to throw double teams on Fajardo every time he had the ball on offense which resulted in contested shots or turnovers. Brownlee added another trey to put the Gin Kings up by 9, at 34-25 with under 9 minutes to play in the quarter. Nothing went well on the Beermen’s offense as they were either blocked by Ginebra’s big men, forced into difficult shots or turnovers. San Miguel went without scoring a single point during the 5-minute span that Ginebra went on an 8-0 run until Terrence Watson scored on a jumper to end the dry spell with under 5 minutes before the halftime break.

At the half, the Gin Kings were up, 45-32 and part of that success can be associated with Brownlee’s performance which produced 20 points while making all 4 three-point attempts. But, it was Ginebra’s defense in the second quarter which made life miserable for the Beermen who were only limited to 9 points during the entire quarter. Fajardo on the other side, had 9 points on 4 of 8 field goal shooting although he had 11 rebounds to his name. No bench players from Leo Austria’s team has scored during the first 24 minutes of action as compared to the 6 bench points of Ginebra.

Just like they did in the second quarter, the Gin Kings opened the second half with another three-pointer, this time from LA Tenorio.  Unlike in the second quarter where they struggled to score, the Beermen were able to cut down a double-digit deficit to 9 after June Mar Fajardo added another 2-point field goal, forcing Tim Cone to yell for a timeout with 7:02 to go in the quarter. The Beermen’s’s incapability to sustain a scoring was what one of the many things which kept them behind as Ginebra found a wide variety of ways to score which included a dunk by Brownlee in the dying seconds of the 3rd as the Gin Kings entered the final quarter with the lead, 74-61.

Ginebra, again began a quarter with a pair of treys that increased their lead to 17 during the first few possessions of the 4th quarter.  Scottie Thompson added another lay-up off a steal which increased the lead, 86-65 with under 8 minutes to go and Ginebra went on unthreatened during the rest of quarter. The lead went up as high as 30 after Thompson drained a trey approaching the two-minute mark as Japeth Aguilar added another dunk.

Justin Brownlee had 37 points and 12 rebounds to lead Ginebra as they moved on into the semifinals. Joe Devance added 17 points while the twin tower of Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter finished with 13 points each.  Scottie Thompson only had 7 points on 3 of 13 shooting but was a monster in the rebounding battle as he tallied 13 rebounds, 8 of them are offensive rebounds. As a team, Ginebra made 49% of their shot attempts including 50% from the three-point territory.  Bench scoring also helped the Gin Kings as they outscored their counterparts, 22-9.

Unfortunately for the San Miguel Beermen, nothing clearly went their way. They turned the ball over 20 times which the Gin Kings converted into 22 points off those turnovers. San Miguel shot poorly from beyond the arc as they only made 9 of their 20 attempts from that area.  Terrence Watson finished his tenure with the Beermen with 30 points and 22 rebounds. Fajardo, the leading MVP candidate this season, finished with 19 points while Marcio Lassiter added 13.

Scores:

Ginebra – 104
Brownlee 37, Devance 17, J. Aguilar 13, Slaughter 13, Marcelo 9 Tenorio 8, Thompson 7, Helterbrand 0, Ferrer 0, Jamito 0, Cruz, Mariano 0, Caguioa 0, R. Aguilar 0, Taha 0

San Miguel – 84
Watson 30, Fajardo 19, Lassiter 13, Cabagnot 8, Santos 6, Ross 5, Espinas 3, Heruela 0, McCarthy 0, Pessumal 0, Reyes 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Agovida 0, Semerad 0, Tubid 0, de Ocampo 0

Quarterscores:

23-23, 45-32, 74-61, 104-84