Import Duke Crews appeared to have started a minor celebration after the San Miguel Beermen's two-hour practice session on Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.Minutes earlier, the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League officially announced the Beermen's Leo Avenido as the 2012 Most Valuable Player, becoming the first Filipino cager to win the prestigious honor.
Crews' congratulatory gesture was to pour Avenido with a cup of water. The latter, who tried but failed to avoid the mini-shower, smiled then proceeded to the left side of the three-point arc to hit some jumpers.
While Avenido is glad to win the league's most prestigious award, besting compatriot Al Vergara of the AirAsia Philippine Patriots and Mario Wuysang of the Indonesia Warriors, the ultimate prize remains his lofty goal.
"Siyempre masaya akong makuha yung MVP pero mas pinagtutuunan ko ngayon yung championship. Kasi kung manalo kami, parang lahat kami MVP (Of course, I'm happy to win the MVP but my focus now is to win the championship. Because if we win, it's like all of us are MVPs," Avenido said with the deciding third game of their finals series with Indonesia on the horizon.
For Avenido to help the Beermen win the championship on their first season in the ABL, he will have to redeem himself from a disappearing act in Jakarta last week as the host Warriors rolled to an 81-61 victory to tie the series at a game apiece.
The former PBA cager was hardly felt at the Mahaka Square, scoring just four points in the first half before finishing with 13 points and a strained ankle that bothered him till the early morning flight back to Manila.
Avenido said in a television interview that he's going to be fine by Saturday as he tries to end his two-year odyssey of winning the ABL crown.
He's been with the league since it opened shop in 2009, playing for the struggling Brunei Barracudas that failed to make the semifinals. In 2010, Avenido shifted to the Singapore Slingers where he emerged as the team's ace gunner while falling a game short of making the finals when they bowed to the eventual champion Chang Thailand Slammers.
Parks sees redemption
Sense of urgency and execution.
Those were the things that coach Bobby Parks failed to see during SMB's disappointing Game 2 loss in the Indonesian capital. After a hard week of practice, it seems that the team has heeded his call.
"Very much so," Parks said.
"We've had some good practices, we've been watching some film and everybody now has that sense of urgency knowing the importance of the game."
Back on the friendly confines of Ynares, SMB is hoping to maximize its homecourt advantage as it tries to fend off Indonesia for the coveted ABL title.
"Like they always said, 'there's no place like home'," said the seven-time PBA Best Import. "It's going to be good to get back, guys have their families cheering. There's a tendency that if you play in front of you family, even if you are not playing hard they will let you know it so that adds extra motivation."
San Miguel escaped with an 86-83 win two weeks in the series opener held here. For the Beermen to repeat the feat, Parks said they need to rely more on playing as a team and control the boards. Both aspects were severely missed in Jakarta.
"We just made a few minor adjustments," he said. "We wanted to get to the way we played in the regular season. What stuck out in Game 2 is that we made just 10 assists which means we didn't play together and we were outrebounded, 37-21."
"Those are the two major things and we tweaked our offense and defense a little bit."
Added the dunk-savvy Crews: "(Indonesia) really gave us a beating and they let us know that it's not going to be easy but we made some minor adjustments and we have a full week of practice to get ready for the game."
Warriors confident
A few minutes after San Miguel's practice, the Indonesia Warriors arrived for a quick shootaround.
Those who arrived at the venue early were imports Steve Thomas and Evan Brock, Fil-Am Stanley Pringle and ace local and deposed MVP Mario Wuysang.
Coach Todd Purves, hardly-recognized with his cap on, was also there. He just gave his team the opportunity to hit some shots instead of holding practice since they were coming off a direct flight from Indonesia via Philippine Airlines in the wee hours of the morning.
The Warriors confidence are at all-time high but for Purves, a defining performance will be enough to hoist the crown.
"I think the team is focused and healthy so there's no excuses," Purves said. "It's going to be a great matchup and its going to take our best effort of the year to get a win against this team."
ABL title also eludes Wuysang
Like Avenido, Wuysang is also chasing his first-ever ABL title.Wuysang joined the then-Satria Muda BritAma late in the 2009-2010 season where he was on the losing end of a finals sweep at the expense of the Philippine Patriots.
Last year, he won the MVP award thanks to his splendid individual performance. Unfortunately, the absence of players who decided to suit up in the local league affected Satria Muda's campaign to miss the playoffs.
With the help of some returning locals, Thomas and the late addition of Brock and Pringle, Wuysang is also on the verge of a championship.
"Of course everybody wants to come in and win the championship," Wuysang said. "I know Leo (Avenido) wants to win it, me too as well. I failed in my first year so hopefully I can have a chance to win."
Regarded as a scorer, the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis alumnus became more of a complimentary role for Thomas and Brock while allowing Pringle to take the scoring cudgels at the backcourt.
"With the addition of Stanley Pringle and Evan Brock and for us to become a championship team, I have to become more of a facilitator," he said. "There's one ball out there and we every wants to shoot but for me I'm not a selfish player, it's all about defense and rebounds and scoring is just easy."
(Photos from the ASEAN Basketball League)
