A streak ends in TOP and confusion in the UAAP

Yesterday was another one of those "lagare" days for this writer.

First order of business was to cover the Tournament of the Philippines seventh leg held at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym where the M. Lhuillier Cebu Ninos took on the MP Gensan Warriors.

The Ninos enter the contest with a sense of invincibility with a remarkable 30-game winning streak that catapulted them to the Liga Pilipinas Conference III crown and two TOP leg crowns.

Most of the people who followed this joint tournament of the PBL and Liga expected Cebu to win again. However, the Warriors showed up and surprised everyone.

Center Christian Nicdao, known for his heydays with Far Eastern University in the UAAP in the late-90's and early-2000's, and ex-UE big man Angel Raymundo were able to contain the Cebu big men led by Marlon Basco, Ariel Mepana and Abby Santos, among others.

They led by 13 points on several occasions in the second quarter but as seen in numerous games, kung baga sisiw lang yan sa Ninos. That's because they're used to erasing big leads behind their pressure defense and eventually win those games by lopsided margins.

It looked as though Cebu was on the verge of doing such, erasing an 11-point halftime lead into around five to six points in the third period. But Gensan was just stubborn leaning on Nicdao, Raymundo and a lefty wingman in Jasper Callo and scoring guard John Gonzaga.

Bruce Dacia, who many could recall playing for the San Juan Knights in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, eventually pulled the Ninos to 70-68 with five minutes left to play but a comeback was never to be.

Guard Jonathan Parreno also entered the fray knocked two crucial triples that put the Warriors away and score a knockout victory over the Cebuano cagers.

Gensan won, 77-72, and Cebu's streak came to an end. From the far end, Ninos assistant Willie Generalao gestured this writer like he was saying, "ganun talaga e." On the nearest end are the Warriors jumping for joy after hacking out a breakthrough win.

The Warriors aren't a great team on paper, lots of unknown names who reside from the Gensan-Sarangani area with some living in Davao, but they play tough every game, giving opponents such as Cebu and PBL teams Cobra, Ani-FCA and Ascof Lagundi a hard time.

Then it was off to the Big Dome.

After seeing the end of a remarkable end in the TOP, it was confusion in the UAAP, particularly the UP Fighting Maroons.

Reports say that Aboy Castro is no longer the coach and that ex-Sta Lucia Realty coach Boyet Fernandez, who was hired as consultant over the weekend, was appointed as his successor.

UP lost 87-81 to University of Santo Tomas in overtime no thanks to a late foul by Mike Silungan with three seconds left that enabled Jeric Teng to hit one freethrow that tied the game at 69-all and UP College of Human Kinetics dean Leilani Gonzalo clarified that....

"Coach Aboy Castro informed us two days ago (Wednesday) that he will go on indefinite leave and assistant coach Potit de Vera will be interim coach," said Gonzalo.

Yes, de Vera, according to tweet and fellow sportswriters coached most of the first half but upon arrival, the former FEU-FERN Baby Tams mentor was standing but near the rear end of the Maroons bench.

And near the scorer's table is Fernandez calling most of the plays like he was steering the Realtors to the 2008 PBA Philippine Cup crown with Kelly Williams, Marlou Aquino and Dennis Espino around.

"No comment," Gonzalo said followed by a laugh when asked if Fernandez is part in the selection with regards to appointment of coaches.

If UP officials claim that Fernandez is still the consultant, then it's quite odd to see a consultant acting like he was the coach.

During one timeout, it was visibly seen on television screens that Fernandez mapped out the plays and even called the shots in inserting players like Silungan, Magi Sison (who played well for the Maroons) and Martin Reyes.

And when the horn sounded, Fernandez consoled a dejected Reyes and gave a few words of encouragement and then during the singing of the UST alma matter song, called a team huddle perhaps saying a few good things to say from this loss.

Those events can say that the former PBA guard, who had stints with Sta Lucia, Pop Cola and Purefoods, is truly the lead man for State U.

Assistant coach Jerry Codinera, who spoke to the media (Fernandez refused to comment) and claimed that for now it will be them (the assistant coaches) and Fernandez (consultant) who will handle the team.

"It's us and coach Boyet who will handle the team for now," said Codinera. "Kami naman, we'll just pitch in and give some inputs and since consultant si coach Boyet, he can also say his thoughts."

It's a PR dilemma for the Maroons at this point. More confusion means more speculation, no thanks to conflicting statements and a dubious decision to make at this early part of the UAAP season.

Abangan na lang kung anu susunod na kabanata.

UAAP Game Notes: July 22, 2010

Some interesting trivia from the UAAP games held earlier. Thanks to Imperium Technology's Pong Ducanes for some of the interesting facts posted here.

UST def. UP, 87-81 (OT)

- The Growling Tigers registered their seventh straight win over the Fighting Maroons since the first round of the 2007 season.

- The last time UP won was a 70-67 win on August 31, 2006 in what would coach Joe Lipa's second to last victory in his second tour of duty with the Diliman-based squad. UST would eventually won the championship that season.

- Jeric Fortuna's eight three-pointers was the most since UAAP statistics were computerized in 2003.

- Apparently, it was the most since National University's Jeff Napa uncorked 10 against La Salle in 2001. Napa, who also had a stint as the school's television courtside reporter a year after, is now the team's assistant coach and mentor of the NU Bullpups in the juniors division.

- Fortuna became the first guard to score 29 points since La Salle's JV Casio, now a member of the Smart Gilas-RP team, did it against UST on August 28, 2008. Fortuna was then a rookie for the Tigers.

- It is also by far the highest single-game scoring output by any player this season.

- UST converted 16 threes, tying Adamson for most triples made since the league began to computerize statistics in 2003. The Falcons did that against NU on September 7, 2006.

FEU def. UE, 91-81

- The Tamaraws beat the Red Warriors for just the third time in the last 11 outings or since the first round of the 2006 season.

- The Tamaraws go 3-0 for the first time since winning the championship in 2005. That team was led by current San Miguel Beermen Arwind Santos, that season's eventual Most Valuable Player.

- UE assistant coaches Elmer Espiritu, Val Acuna and Rudy Lingganay arrived late after the trio played for Cobra Energy Drink against Ani-FCA in a Tournament of the Philippines seventh leg game at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym in Manila. The Ironmen won, 82-80, on a game-winning basket by ex-UE teammate Pari Llagas.

- UE's Lawrence Chongson has lost five of his last six games as coach dating back to Game 1 of last year's finals series with Ateneo.

The Cebu Ninos are for real

For those who doubt how good are the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Cebu Ninos outside of the Philippine Basketball Association, well believe the hype.

In extending their remarkable winning streak to 25 games (not counting those tune-up games against the likes of Smart Gilas and PBA clubs), the Cebuano cagers etched their name into the history books as the first-ever leg champion of the Tournament of the Philippines, the joint venture between the Philippine Basketball League and Liga Pilipinas.

The Ninos finally showed what kind of a team they are when they scored a masterful 87-73 victory over the PBL's Ascof Lagundi in the finals of the Manila leg held at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym.

It felt like another title for the M. Lhuillier and coach Yayoy Alcoseba once again showed his stoic but contented smile as his players whooped it up.

For Alcoseba, he felt it was the best game they played since coming over in Manila.

"This was perhaps the best game we played in the leg as seen in the way we played in this finals," said Alcoseba.

Although they swept all three elimination round games, the Ninos showed flashes of rust and sluggishness since playing their last tournament came in the Liga Conference III in November (that completed a rare 21-game sweep).

Still, M. Lhuillier was able to hurdle Ani-FCA (which has its own streak although not everyone would be proud of), Treston Laguna and Ascof Lagundi.

How good are the Ninos even on bad days?

On offense, they move the ball well. The addition of Warren Ybanez (the Finals MVP for the ASEAN Basketball League champion Philippine Patriots and should have made the Barako Coffee roster) solidify the backcourt alongside Stephen Padilla even without wily guard Woodraw Enriquez because of a cervical spine injury he endured after a fall against the Alaska Aces in a tune-up game.

Their big men, Marlon Basco (who is a bit more bulky than his Ginebra days), Abby Santos, Frank Nailon and Nat Cruz, aren't the biggest and athletic Cebu had but they challenge every shot inside on both ends leading to numerous rebounds. As seen against Ascof, they were able to outhustle and forced big men Vic Manuel and Raymond Aguilar to muff inside baskets.

They also have good scorers. Mark Magsumbol is underrated but can hit the jumper and drive inside while Bruce Dacia is a shadow of his former self (high-flying days in the MBA) plus injuries has slowed him down but makes up for it with a decent outside shot.

Perhaps, one key ingredient for this team is the cohesion they have. Cebu isn't as strong this year unlike its Conference III roster (the bench is more deeper back then although the core remains almost the same) has been together even before Liga Pilipinas was formed so almost everyone is familiar with each other.

Back to Padilla, age has somehow slowed down the former pro cager but not his outside shot. He squares up well and shoots consistently. No wonder, he holds the record for the most of threes not only in the MBA and in Liga. And thus far, he carries the TOP record (firing eight against Ani-FCA).

And with the Ninos' huge 19-point deficit reduced to just six entering the fourth quarter, in came Padilla and less than 20 seconds fired a three-pointer from the right elbow.

Later, he made two more from rainbow distance and by then Cebu was ahead by 15 and never looked back.

With this win, are the Ninos the team to beat? There are still teams that are also capable of winning this initial tournament.

Misamis Oriental, Cebu's chief rival, is expected to field a strong lineup (probably with Patrick Cabahug and Khiel Misa there) and Cobra Energy Drink has enlisted three ex-UE Red Warriors who are coming off stints in the ABL (Elmer Espiritu, Val Acuna and Rudy Lingganay) plus bullstrong Pari Llagas and Jorel Canizares.

We'll see. Eight more legs to go.

PBL-Liga: A match made in heaven?

After months of negotiations and planning stages, the seeds of the merger between the Philippine Basketball League and Liga Pilipinas which is dubbed as the Tournament of the Philippines starts tomorrow at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Nine teams will join this tournament, a preparatory for an eventual merger, with three coming from the PBL (Ascof Lagundi, Cobra Energy Drink and Ani-FCA) and six Liga squads (Cebu, Misamis Oriental, Laguna, Taguig, Mandaue and General Santos City).

Debuting in the first leg, since this cagefest will use the traditional Liga format that gives corresponding points based on performance for each leg, are host Ani-FCA, Ascof Lagundi, Cebu and Laguna.

Officials from both leagues expressed optimism with the partnership which they hoped for a full-blown merger come the next conference around October.

But is it going to be a match made in heaven?

This tournament will play a factor in whether an merger would occur. There are a number of issues that both leagues will face such as costs (which PBL teams need to adjust), logistics and personalities involved.

The longevity of the participating squads is also a concern. PBL teams deal with the way their respective companies perform in the economy. They usually lose money on advertising expense to run a basketball team as a way to promote their product.

On the other hand, Liga squads (except for the likes of Cebu) survive on support of the City government. Certain public officials give their thumbs up on fielding teams in also a way not only as part of their local government's sports program but also promote themselves as a good public service person (yeah, that's the harsh reality of it).

So a mix of commercial and provincial teams plus officials of both leagues in one tournament. It's makes the TOP interesting to observe as they hold their first leg. It's either going to be a PBL or Liga-dominated flavor but the idea of later seeing the fancied Cebu Ninos, with an immaculate 21-0 record, against a Cobra team, perhaps with some former UE players and Jai Reyes on its fold, or Ascof with PBL MVP Vic Manuel leading the pack.

Let's see how this PBL-Liga tourney goes.