The Argentines: Powerhouse of Group B

FIBA Men’s Basketball Ranking	3rd
Notable Players	Scola, Luis [F/C, 6’9, 18.8 PPG (2013 FiAm)]
	Prigioni, Pablo [G, 6’3, 4.2 PPG, 6.5 APG (2012 LoOl)]
	Nocioni, Andres [F, 6’7, 10.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG (2011 FiAm)]
	Campazzo, Facundo [PG, 5’10, 13.5 PPG, 6.2 APG (2013 FiAm)]
	Mata, Marcos (F, 6’7, 7.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG (2013 FiAm)]

Argentina is, frankly, the team to beat in Group B. Even without their main weapon, San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, the roster is completely solid. Though lacking in NBA talent (Nocioni, Prigioni, and Scola are the only NBA players), the remaining team members are able to compete against other NBA-caliber players. Most notable of them is  Facundo Campazzo, who at 5-foot-10 is small compared to other team members. However, his exemplary passing skill, accompanied by a steady three-point shot, to the tune of 41.9 percent from beyond the arc, makes him stand out against the rest of his teammates.

However, if one thing may trip this mighty team, it is their free-throw shooting. Contrary to the popular belief, free throws are of utmost importance to any team, most especially during the end-game. During the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, where they clinched the 3rd spot, the Argentines shot a measly 68.1% from the charity stripe. This immense free-throw problem may prove to be a wrench in the Argentinian dream for glory.

Notable Player

Pablo Prigioni (PG, 6-foot-3, 185 lbs)

 

Plays for: New York Knicks (NBA)

Prigioni, though not well-known like his teammates Ginobili and Scola, has been an effective contributor to his team, the New York Knicks. Though often seen sitting on the bench, he is already proven to be an effective contributor for his team. He is an effective ball-handler like Campazzo, however, he has a deadlier outside stroke (46.4 percent, mind you), making him the probable scoring leader of this team. Of course, there’s also a chance Scola outwits Father Time and revert to his more lethal form. But until that thought comes to life, the Argentine fans should pray that Prigioni plays his best game every day.

Rain or Shine forces rubber match, delays Grand Slam

PBA/Nuki Sabio | Paul Lee takes on three blue shirts yesterday

No Grand Slam celebration is happening just yet.

Rain or Shine, showing their real form in tough defense and balanced scoring attack, foiled San Mig Coffee's one of two Grand Slam shots, 88-79, to set-up a winner-take-all, rubber match come Wednesday night. Rain or Shine will gun for just its second championship despite its strong line-up, while San Mig Coffee is seeking the eluded "triple crown".

It was a tightly contested first quarter, with the score tied at 21-all. But seldom-used third-stringer Jonathan Uyloan brought the spark that Rain or Shine badly needed, scoring eight points with two three-pointers, a steal and a block off Peter June Simon.

After a 12-0 outburst, followed by trading of a couple of baskets, it was Norwood's turn to shine. The Gilas stalwart had a pair of and-one's - one off a fast break stretch lay-up and the other on a putback - and added a triple and an assist to an Arizona Reid triple for good measure. The gap ballooned to 20 points before settling for a 53-38 lead at half time.

The Mixers, though, had the last five points of the half, and continued on a 9-0 blast at the onset of the third to reduce the E-Painters lead to a mere six points.

A trey from Paul Lee stopped the bleeding, and San Mig Coffee found itself at the receiving end of a 6-0 finishing kick to head into the final canto with a 69-55 advantage.

Once again, the Mixers, now led by Philippine Cup Finals MVP Mark Barroca, defiantly shook the Elasto Painters, going into an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter.

But Rain or Shine quickly recovered, this time with nine consecutive points, to finish San Mig Coffee off. Coach Tim Cone waved the white flag by benching his starters 87-69 with approximately two minutes left.

Reid contributed 22 points -a far cry from his 31.7 output - but this time, he had backup. Lee and Norwood each had 14 points. Gilas bruiser Beau Belga also had 13 points, while hot shot Ryan Arana had 10 points. (GS)

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE (88) – Reid 22, Lee 14, Norwood 14, Belga 11, Arana 10, Uyloan 8, Almazan 3, Cruz 2, Tiu 2, Chan 2, Ibanes 0, Rodriguez 0.

SAN MIG COFFEE (79) – Blakely 21, Yap 12, Devance 9, Sangalang 8, Simon 8, Barroca 7, Maliksi 6, Pingris 4, Taha 2, Melton 2, Mallari 0, Reavis 0.

Quarterscores: 21-21, 53-38, 69-55, 88-79.

GlobalPort fends off Alaska for first W

Last game, GlobalPort's locals, save for Alex Cabagnot failed to contribute for the team, which ultimately led to their demise.

This time though, they went on a tear.

Despite dropping a 17-point lead on the final canto, the Batang Pier held on to beat the Aces 95-91, to win their first game in the PBA Home TVolution Governor's Cup.

Cabagnot and returning import LeRoy Hickerson once again led the parade for GlobalPort, but the help was there. Come-backing rookie Terrence Romeo exploded for 18 points, while Jay Washington added 13 for good measure.

After trailing by 14 after the half, Alaska slowly but surely chipped away at the lead. After the third canto, the score was 66-62, still in favor of the Batang Pier.

With two minutes left and GlobalPort's lead sitting at 11, all-around import Henry Walker shot the Aces back into the game with four consecutive points. A silence ensued, and GlobalPort seems to have won the game.

But Calvin Abueva had other ideas. With 20.9 seconds left, the Rookie of the Year put the Aces back in striking distance after a tip-in and a quick steal off Jondan Salvador. The lead is at 93-88.

Romeo split his free-throws on the ensuing possession. Walker then nailed a long three-pointer to put the Aces within 3.

Alaska opted to foul Washington with about 12 seconds left, but unexpectedly of the veteran out of Eckerd missed both foul shots, supposedly leaving Alaska a chance to send the game to overtime.

But Hickerson recovered the loose ball to set up Cabagnot for two more free throws. He answers by splitting his charities to seal the game. (GS)

The scores:

GLOBALPORT (95) -- Hickerson 25, Cabagnot 24, Romeo 18, Washington 13, Garcia 8, Ponferada 4, Macapagal 2, Matias 1, Taha 0, Menk 0, Hayes 0, Salvador 0.

ALASKA (91) -- Walker 22, Casio 16, Espinas 14, Abueva 14, Baguio 8, Jazul 6, Hontiveros 5, Manuel 4, Thoss 2.

Quarterscores: 24-22; 48-34; 66-62; 95-91.

[VIDEO] This 11-minute clip of Harden's defense may melt your eyes

Ever seen James Harden defend? Yes? You got to be kidding me.

Well, all he does after all is what Bleacher Report calls the "Harden Shuffle", which invovles stepping to the left and right, and most importantly, the slap.

Want proof of The Beard's awful "defense"? I've found an 11-minute compilation of the infamous Harden Shuffle. Beware: your eyes may hurt from the atrocious guarding from this clip.

Harden's matador-like on-ball defense is worse at itself, but try watching him guard off the ball. It's like he's trying to play D blinded, allowing back cuts to get away so easily, effectively creating a bounce pass clinic for the opponent.

As if a video proof is not enough, I scoured stats.nba.com for statistical evidence of his defense. True enough, statistics back up the claim. Harden has a Defensive Rating of 103.1, which means that the Rockets give up 103 points per 100 possessions while our beloved "The Beard" is on the court. Take note: Serge Ibaka has a DefRtg of 95.9. Also, he (Harden) allows 35.9 points in the paint, as a result of the many backdoor plays he has allowed.

 

As someone would point out, "offense wins games, defense wins championship". And if Harden keeps playing with a red cape in his hands (and doing a back-tap every now and then), that could spell major disaster to Houston's championship run.

Monday Night Hoops: Chism debuts vs. GlobalPort; Talk n' Text stakes unbeaten slate versus San Mig Coffee

Another edition of Monday Night Hoops will ensue today, and the stakes are pretty high for this day.

One aims to keep itself alive, another tries to seal a precious advantage, and one will try to avoid the twice-to-win disadvantage.

Chism debuts vs. GlobalPort

 

 

 

A new import, a new start.

In hope of a better standing, Rain or Shine taps 6-8 import Wayne Chism to replace Alex McLean, who in spite of a solid performance has not produced any wins.

Today, Chism's mettle will be tested against a great reinforcement in GlobalPort's Evan Brock

Brock has been spectacular for the Batang Pier, but has not resulted in a single win. Many people will point out the lackluster performance of the locals, notably point guard Alex Cabagnot. Rookie Terrence Romeo and Jay Washington has also been obviously out of their game.

Both teams need this win, but for different reasons. GlobalPort needs to win three straight, including this one, to keep them in contention of a playoff spot. On the other hand, the E-Painters need to win three of four games to avoid falling into a treacherous twice-to-win disadvantage.

Rain or Shine will bank on Gilas stalwarts Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga, along with Jervy Cruz and Wayne Chism. The Batang Pier will have to hope for a breakout game from Washington, Romeo and Cabagnot, to back up Brock.

Talk n' Text stakes unbeaten slate against San Mig Coffee

 

 

 

After a seven-day break, the Texters are ready to get a crucial advantage.

Talk n' Text will gun for a twice-to-beat advantage as it takes on recent Philippine Cup champions San Mig Coffee. In the tournament format, the #1 and #2 seeded teams get a twice-to-beat advantage over the #7 and #8 seed, respectively.

Talk n' Text has practically been unstoppable, showing the fangs of a championship-caliber team. They have torn apart their opponents, using a combination of great defense and offense under Coach Norman Black. As of the moment, they have a 6-0 card

San Mig Coffee has been on the same road, until Barako Bull came. The Energy overcame a 16-point deficit, but then Willie Miller and Josh Dollard exploded to edge out the Mixers 92-90. Miller had a double-double of 19 and 10, Dollard had 32 and 17 points and rebounds, respectively.

 

The GlobalPort enigma

Lately, we've been seeing trades (and trade rumors) flying all around the league. And one team sticks out.

GlobalPort Batang Pier.

In its debut season, you can see 12 players come to the Mikee Romero-owned franchise and 10 players go. They can't seem to shrug off their trade-happy instincts.

Romero already said that they need to find the right mix in a team of young players. But in retrospect, if you keep on mixing and matching in between conferences, leaving no time for players to jell, then nothing will ever go right for them.

The success of chemistry

If we look into the recent champions, we will see that most of the champions are not trade-happy teams. Talk n' Text, for one, is a great example.

Talk n' Text stuck to its normal lineup that gave them a lot of championships. Their camaraderie makes basketball look easy. The core of veteran stars remains every conference, trading only their back-ups (i.e, Eliud Poligrates and Sean Anthony for KG Canaleta).

Rain or Shine has been another team that has not been on the trading block often, and most of their success is owed to the great passing from their chemistry. Major additions usually come from first-round to early second-round picks. Plus, Coach Yeng Guiao's equal opportunities attitude makes any player an instant contributor for him.

I can't really say that trade-happy teams are not successful, but if players keep on adjusting to new teammates, then a spot on the 8th seed is almost assured.

Stick to one helm

 Another contributor to GlobalPort's woes is the frequent change of coaches. In 5 conferences, they have had 4 different coaches (Glenn Capacio, Junel Baculi, Richie Ticzon, and Pido Jarencio). All these coaches have different systems, that more or less require a change in the team's manpower. And even though the newly-acquired players adjust to the system, will the holdovers adjust.

Take Alaska for example. They also went through this stage, frequently losing like its normal. They changed coaches, but their new coach sort of abandoned the triangle offense Tim Cone employed to his former team. As a result, their downhill slide continued. But when Luigi Trillo, long-time assistant to Cone took helm, and reinstated a modified version of the TO (with a bit of run-and-gun), success went their way.

I'm an avid fan of GlobalPort, and of course I want them to win (because I frequently lose in bets). And for me, If I were Romero, I'd keep this line-up for at least 3 more conferences and see if this will turn out well. (GS)

Ian Sangalang: Gregzilla's rival to the ROY (A player profile)

During the draft, everybody was talking about the likes of Greg Slaughter, Raymond Almazan, Jeric Teng, Terrence Romeo, and others. In the shadows of the draft, however, one big name was seemingly forgotten.

It was Ian Paul Sangalang.

Projected at 2nd overall, the the reigning D-League MVP and King Stag was completely underrated at the draft. And for good reason. After all, in the minds of the people, he couldn't possibly stop Greg. Or even replace Marc Pingris.

Nobody expected him to drop at San Mig Coffee, after he expressed his desire to play for sister team Barangay Ginebra. Many were expecting the short contract, which was seen as the ticket to the crowd favorites. But still, he is playing as solid as concrete.

He, up to now, has no monicker for himself. Slaughter is Gregzilla. Almazan is Rock n' Roll. Romeo is Swaggy T. Even 2nd-rounder and SMC teammate Justin Melton has earned the name "Quickmelt". But he is steady as ever.

At least, since the playoffs began.

Ian attempts a shot over Elmer Espiritu.

During the start of the Philippine Cup, Sangalang was playing miserably. Missing wide-open shots and other things. For me, it was like he had the jitters. He was the complete opposite of what Tim Cone said about him. He seemingly was not PBA-ready.

As time passed by, the jitters slowly but surely disappeared. He started playing in Cone's signature triangle offense. He was slowly getting into the groove of things.

Then came the PBA Finals. By that time, he had established his spot at the San Mig Coffee rotation. After a miserable Game 1 performance, his game went up several notches higher. After a decent performance of 10 points and 6 rebounds in Game 2, Cone was all praises for him.

“Ian has been absolutely huge because we have a tendency to overplay our guys. We overplay Ping, Joe [Devance], and Rafi [Reavis],” the coach said on an interview with Yahoo! Sports. “Ian has been God-sent. Mostly because he does everything quietly.” 

“Even in practice he’s very quiet. I think he’s a combination of Bong Hawkins and Reynel Hugnatan,” Cone added. “He’s that quiet operator that people really don’t notice that much but he’s absolutely killing you. Sometimes teams don’t even realize that Ian is beating them.”

 

Sangalang under the paint against JR Quinahan on Game 4

On Game 3, Sangalang had his best game in terms of PER. He had 12 points on 5-of-6 field goal shooting. He also added 5 boards and one steal for a Player Efficiency Rating of 28.15. If you are new to advanced statistics, a rating of 20 or higher indicates a great season, or in this situation, a game.

But the best was yet to come. He followed up his terrific performance with another great one, where in he co-top-scored for his team with 17 points and also led the team in rebounds (8). He also had an assist and steal for a PER of 25.61. He did this while Pingris left the floor due to a scratch to his eye.

On Game 6, he had 15 points behind eventual Finals MVP Mark Barocca to put the icing on the top of his very first conference, where he left his mark as one of the best rookies in the league.

We could safely say that finally, the Gregzilla has found a worthy rival for the Rookie of the Year. During the Finals he averaged 9.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 21.7 minutes per game. He had a PER of 15.49, roughly the NBA average.

One question remains for Sangalang. Can he replace Pingris once the Pinoy Sakuragi retires? The answer remains to be seen, but the future seems to be bright for Ian Paul Sangalang (GS)