2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Finals: RoS storms to a 1-0 lead

Manila, Philippines – In its first finals appearance ever, the Rain or Shine Elasto (RoS) Painters played like savvy veterans as they beat the Tim Cone-mentored B-Meg Llamados, 91-90, in Game 1 of the Best of Seven Finals for the 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup title.

It was a highly physical battle from the start as the first half of Game 1 will be remembered for the hard fouls, technical fouls, and the difficulty of both teams to pull away. The Painters held a 2 point lead after 12 minutes by getting a big contribution from rookie Paul Lee who had 8 points coming off the bench. The Llamados was able to grab a 4 point lead at half time after a buzzer-beater 3-point basket by Jonas Villanueva.  JR Quinahan was charge with a technical foul in the first half after giving Marc Pingris a hard foul. Yancy de Ocampo and RoS import Jamelle Cornley were also assessed with technical fouls after a shoving incident in the 2nd quarter.

Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao used a rotation of Cornley, Quinahan, Paul Lee, Jireh Ibanes, Ryan Arana, Gabe Norwood, and Ronjay Buenafe in the third period to take control of the game. The Painters were able to outscore the Llamados by 11 in the crucial quarter to turn a 4-point deficit into a comfortable 7-point lead. It became difficult for the Llamados as their import Marcus Blakely got his 5th foul with still a few minutes left in the quarter.

RoS did not let up in the 4th period as they continued to add on the lead which led to Tim Cone throwing a monoblock chair on the playing court in frustration. Cone was apparently miffed at a no-call on a drive by James Yap.  The Painters held on to double digit leads for the rest of the way to grab the important win in Game 1.

Cornley had 25 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assist, and a steal.  He only missed 3 of his 14 shot attempts.  Lee, Norwood, and Buenafe combined for 34 points. B-Meg was led James Yap’s 19 points, 11 of which were scored in the 3rd period. Marcus Blakely had an anemic 12 points and 7 rebounds as he was limited due to foul trouble.

Game 2 will be played on Wednesday July 25, 2012 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 91 – Cornley 25, Lee 14, Norwood 10, Buenafe 10, Belga 8, Ibanes 8, Chan 7, Arana 4, Quinahan 4, Cruz 1.

B-MEG 80 – Yap 19, Blakely 12, Pingris 12, Simon 9, Gaco 8, Barroca 6, Villanueva 5, Reavis 4, Urbiztondo 3, De Ocampo 2.

Quarters: 18-16, 35-39, 66-59, 91-80

caloycomment: Poise will surely be a big factor in the series …. more

Related articles

• 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Semifinals: Ginebra now 3-0 in the semis (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Semifinals: Quinahan helps Rain or Shine reach finals (cebuislandlive.com)
• 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Semifinals: Rain or Shine eliminates Meralco from contention (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• B-Meg wallops Barangay Ginebra, 82-70 (sports.inquirer.net)
• PBA: Rain or Shine makes history as it defeats B-Meg for finals berth (sports.inquirer.net)
• No finals jitters for Rain or Shine (pba.ph)

2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Semifinals: B-Meg gains finals playoff berth

 

 

The B-Meg Llamados ended Barangay Ginebra‘s semifinal winning run by beating their sister team, 82-70, in the main game last Sunday.  The win moved B-Meg to nine wins and just needs just one more victory for an automatic spot in the finals.

B-Meg was able to limit Ginebra’s main scorer, Mark Caguioa to an anemic 3 points. Coach Tim Cone made Peter June Simon Caguioa’s primary defender and his moved proved effective. B-Meg’s big men took over the second half to help the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup Champions move closer to shot for back to back titles.

Marc Pingris led all scorers with 24 points. Marcis Blakely and Rafi Reavis had double-doubles while James Yap finished with 11 markers.  Cedric Bozeman had 22 points for the Gin Kings who will still be able to earn a playoff for the 2nd finals slot if they win their last semifinals assignment against Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters.

 

The scores:

B-MEG 82 - Pingris 24, Blakely 17, Yap 11, Reavis 11, Urbiztondo 9, Simon 4, De Ocampo 4, Villanueva
2, Barroca 0.

GINEBRA 70 - Bozeman 22, Helterbrand 16, Raymundo 14, Mamaril 4, Cortez 4, Caguioa 3, Maierhofer 2,
W. Wilson 2, Hatfield 2, Villanueva 1, Maliksi 0, Ababou 0, Canaleta 0, Menk 0.Quarters: 19-16, 32-25, 62-51, 82-70

Related articles

• B-Meg wallops Barangay Ginebra, 82-70 (sports.inquirer.net)
• 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Semifinals: Meralco suprises B-Meg (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Meralco loses to Ginebra again as PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal games get underway (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Semifinals: “Never-say-die” Ginebra pulls off signature comeback in Jaworski’s retirement night (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup Semifinals: Rain or Shine eliminates Meralco from contention (caloysports.wordpress.com)

2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Game 7: B-Meg “Bowles” over TNT

Filipino basketball fans cannot ask for a better ending of the 2011-12 Philippine Basketball Association‘s second conference.  The game 7 of the Commissioner’s Cup finals needed five minutes more to finish. It seems that one of the best conferences ever in the history of the PBA did not want to end.  In the overtime period, the Best Import awardee Denzel Bowles took over and handed Tim Cone his first title outside of Alaska Aces.

The B-Meg Llamados won 90-84 over the vaunted Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters. It was a heart breaker for the MVP franchise as they led most of the game and was leading by two with Bowles at the line with 1.2 seconds left. Bowles made the biggest free throws of his basketball career to bring the game to overtime. He continued his superb play in the extra period by scoring 11 of the 14 points of B-Meg.  He capped his first season for B-Meg with 39 points, 21 caroms, and 3 blocks. Jimmy Alapag led TNTs valiant stand with 29 points, his best scoring performance in the series. The loss spoiled TNT’s attempt to win its 4th title in 5 conferences.  James Yap was chosen as the finals MVP.

The scores:

B-MEG 90 – Bowles 39, Simon 14, Yap 12, Urbiztondo 11, Villanueva 5, De Ocampo 4, Devance 2, Pingris 2, Barroca 1, Intal 0, Reavis 0

Talk ‘N Text 84 – Alapag 29, Harvey 16, Fonacier 11, Peek 10, Dillinger 8, Castro 5, De Ocampo 3, Reyes 2, Gamalinda 0, Williams 0, Carey 0

Quarters: 21-18, 34-35, 56-61, 76-76, 90-84

caloycomment: This game and series will be remembered for the call made with 1.2 seconds left… MORE

Related articles

• 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Game 6: Balanced scoring beats 2-man show (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Game 5: Yap explodes to tow B-Meg to a 3-2 lead (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup: Championship down to 6 teams (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Talk ‘N Text, B-Meg dispute Commissioner’s Cup title today (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• B-meg Eyes Title (newsinfo.inquirer.net)

2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Game 5: Yap explodes to tow B-Meg to a 3-2 lead

James Yap at the BMEG Llamados game VS Talk N' Text Tropang Texters last October 21, 2011 at Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Former MVP James Yap scored 30 big points to lead the B-Meg Llamados to an 82-66 victory over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in Game 5 of the best of seven finals of the 2012 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup. The  Tim Cone-coached Llamados just need one more win in the series to grab the title.

Game 5 was a stark contrast to Game 4 as the Llamados grabbed the lead in the first quarter and held on despite several attempted rallies by the Texters. Yap made all 4 of his 3-point attempts en route to a conference high in scoring. “Big Game” James also grabbed 9 rebounds for his best performance in the finals.  Import Denzel Bowles had  a monstrous 28 points, 18 rebounds, and 4 blocks output to prove once a gain that he is indeed the best import of the Commissioner’s Cup. Bowles dominated Talk ‘N Text import Donnell Harvey who was limited to 13 points and 16 rebounds. Jared Dillinger and Jason Castro led the Texters with 18 and 16 points respectively. B-Meg held a 49-40 rebound advantage while limiting the high scoring Texters to a 37% shooting clip.

Related articles

• PBA Commissioner’s Cup: TNT eliminates RoS in Lapu-Lapu City (cebulive.wordpress.com)
• 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup: Final 4 starts tomorrow (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup: Championship down to 6 teams (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Llamados, Texters eye 3-2 lead (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• PBA Cup: Castro’s clutch basket helps Talk ‘N Text grab Game 2 of finals (sports.inquirer.net)
• B-meg Barges Into Finals (dominicolaude.wordpress.com)

PBA Results November 2, 2011: Cone and Alaska win in the same night

November 2, 2011 will be remembered as the date when Alaska won its first game in the post-Tim Cone era. The Cone-less Alaska Aces brought back to earth the streaking Barako Bull Energy, 93-72. In the main game, ex-Alaska coach Tim Cone steered his new team B-Meg Llamados to a 76-65 when over Shopinas.com Clickers.

Alaska 93 – 73 Barako Bull

A few days after Barako Bull coach Junel Baculi declared that his team is for real and a big title threat, the winless Alaska Aces showed that it is too early to declare any team as a title contender. The losing streak of the Aces now coached by Joel Banal ends at 5. Center Sonny Thoss led a fiery second half barrage to humble the Barako Bull Energy who were seeking to tie league leaders Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. From being outscored at the first half, 36-40, the Aces turned the tables and routed the Energy 57-32 in the final 2 quarters.

Thoss finished with a career-high 27 markers and towed 3 other Aces players in double figures. Rookie Mac Baracael, point-guard L.A. Tenorio, and swingman Cyrus Baguio combined for 41 points. Rookie Dylan Ababou led Barako Bull in scoring with 19 points while veterans Don Allado and Sunday Salvacion added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

B-Meg 76 – 65 Shopinas.com

Not to be outdone by his former team, Tim Cone made sure that they will win against the winless Shopinas.com. The Llamados relied on a big fourth quarter run to deny Franz Pumaren and the Shopinas.com Clickers their first victory. The win was the third for the Llamados in 7 games while the Clickers fell to 0-6.

The game was pretty tight in the first 3 periods as the Llamados only had 3 point lead at the end of the third period, 51-48. Rookie Mark Barroca starred in an anti-climactic 22-8 run in the first half of the final period to pull away from the Clickers. With a 72-56 lead, B-Meg just coasted to get the victory. Barroca finished with 13 points. Peter June Simon topped the scoring for B-Meg with 18. James Yap had 12 markers in the game. Elmer Espiritu was the lone Clicker in double figures with 13.

The scores:

ALASKA 93 – Thoss 27, Baracael 16, Tenorio 15, Baguio 10, Dela Cruz 9, Reyes 8, Cablay 8, Custodio 0, Eman 0.

BARAKO 72 – Ababou 19, Allado 11, Salvacion 10, Seigle 9, Artadi 6, Miller 5, Salvador 4, Pena 4, Pennisi 2, Arboleda 2, Sorongon 0, Avenido 0.

Quarters: 18-17, 36-40, 61-54, 93-72

B-MEG 76 – Simon 18, Barroca 13, Yap J. 12, De Vance 9, Raymundo 7, Pingris 5, Urbiztondo 4, Reavis 3, Yap R. 3, Maierhofer 2, Acuna 0.

SHOPINAS.COM 65 – Espiritu 13, Sena 9, Jazul 9, Hubalde 8, Duncil 6, Canlas 5, Mirza 5, Ritualo 5, Menor 4, Aquino 1, Sison 0, Hermida 0, Daa 0, Se 0.

Related articles

• 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup: Rallies fall short for 2 MVP teams (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Green Lancers in the PBA: Quinahan scores 19 in RoS victory; Mepana 0 in debut (cebulive.wordpress.com)
• 37th PBA Season Preview Part 2 (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• PBA 37: Meralco notches first win minus 4 key players (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• PBA 37: Shopinas losses in debut (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• PBA Draft Results and draft day trades (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Lapu-Lapu City to host PBA game (caloysports.wordpress.com)

PBA 37: Cone gets first win with new team

After losing his first game with the B-Meg Llamados, Coach Tim Cone won his second game against a very special opponent. Tim Cone got his first with B-Meg by beating the Alaska Aces, the team that he serve for 22 years.  For longtime PBA diehards, it was odd to see Tim Cone in the other side of an Aces defeat.

B-Meg actually started slow, maybe, feeling the pressure that their new coach is facing. Alaska led at the end of the first quarter by 12, 21-9.  The Llamados found their rhythm in the 2^nd canto as they outscored the Aces, 26-16, to cut down the deficit to 35-37 by halftime.

The Llamados finally tied the game at 48-all. With score at 52-52, Peter Jun Simon hit a 3-pointer to give B-Meg the lead for good. B-Meg lead for the rest of the game but needed some timely hits by point guard Josh Urbiztondo from long distance to quell the last ditch rally of the Alaska Aces.

Former MVP James Yap led B-Meg in scoring with 20 points. Urbiztondo and Raymundo added 12 apiece while De Vance and Simon also finishing in double figures with 10 and 11 markers respectively. Sonny Thoss paced the Aces against their former coach with 18 points.

 

The scores:

 

B-Meg 81 – Yap J. 20, Urbiztondo 12, Raymundo 12, Simon 11, De vance 10, Reavis 8, Pingris 6, Ferriols 2, Barroca 0, Acuna 0, Maierhofer 0, Yap R. 0.

Alaska 75 – Thoss 18, Reyes 15, Tenorio 11, Baguio 10, Dela Cruz 9, Baracael 4, Custodio 4, Eman3, Bugia 1, Cablay 0.

Quarterscores: 9-21, 35-37, 61-56, 81-75

PBA 37: Cone loses first game as B-Meg coach

Rookie Chris Lutz, Alex Cabagnot, and Arwind Santos combined for 47 points to give Tim Cone a loss in his first PBA coaching stint outside the Alaske Aces. The Petron Blaze Boosters won against the preseason favorite B-Meg Llamados, 73-69, in the main PBA Wednesday game at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The B-Meg Llamados were actually out to impress their new coach as they led 22-13 in the first 12 minutes of the game. They held twin digit leads before Petron rallied in the 2nd period to cut the deficit to just a single basket at the half. The Boosters opened the final half with a  9-0 blast to seize the lead from B-Meg and took a 58-54 lead going to the payoff period.

It was an exciting 4th quarter, as Tim Cone’s wards rallied to lead 67-66. National team member Chris Lutz then, got a 3-point play off ex-Gilas teammate Mark Barroca. The Llamados could not buy a basket in the 3-point area as Alex Cabagnot sealed the win with four free throws as B-Meg were forced to foul.

Peter June Simon scored 21 points to lead the Llamados while James Yap and Kerby Raymundo were held to 10 points each.

Injury Notes: Dondon Hontiveros left the game in the first quarter in an apparent foot injury.

Scores:

PETRON 73—Lutz 19, Cabagnot 17, Santos 11, Miranda 8, Sharma 6, Ildefonso 5, Guevarra 3, Agustin 2, Yeo 2, Baclao 0, Hontiveros 0.
B-MEG 69—Simon 21, Yap J. 10, Raymundo 10, Devance 9, Yap R. 9, Ferriols 4, Barroca 2, Reavis 2, Maierhofer 1, Pingris 1, Urbiztondo 0.
Quarters: 13-22, 36-38, 58-54, 73-69, 73-69

Related articles

• 37th PBA Season Preview Part 1 (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Tim Cone Leaves Alaska (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• PBA Draft Results and draft day trades (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• 37th PBA: Lee leads RoS to an opening game victory over Ginebra (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Petron spoils TNT’s Grand Slam dreams (caloysports.wordpress.com)

PBA offseason updates

Here are some of the latest developments in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA):

1. Tim Cone official joins B-MEG – Multi-titled coach Tim Cone has decided to continue his basketball coaching career in San Miguel-owned B-Meg team. After spending 22 years and winning 13 titles with the Alaska francise, coach Tim is bringing the formidable triangle offense to a team bannered by veterans James Yap, Roger Yap, Joe DeVance, and Kerby Raymundo. His assistants in his new team will be Johnny Abarrientos, Jeffrey Cariaso, Koy Banal, and Richard del Rosario. Abarrientos is set to train Smart Gilas and fellow FEU alum Mark Barroca. Cone’s move to B-Meg has been a subject of speculation for weeks and many PBA watchers were expecting him to end up in B-Meg.
2. PBA Board increases salary cap– The team salary cap is increased to 42 million this season. The new maximum salary for players will be 420,000 pesos a month, a 20% increase from the current maximum rate of 350,000. It has been 10 years since the PBA last changed the salary pay scale of the PBA teams. The team salary cap used to be 36 million only. The bonuses for basketball players for won games were also adjusted from the maximum P4,000 to P6,000 in eliminations and quarterfinals, from P6,000 to P8,000 in the semis, and from P8,000 to P10,000 on won games in the Finals. Bonuses on team rankings were also increased.
3. Barroca traded to B-Meg – A 3-way trade involving marquee rookie Marc Barroca was initated recently. B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados got Mark Barroca (from Shopinas), Red Bull got Don Allado, and Shopinas got Elmer Espiritu and Brian Ilad.

 

Related articles

• 2011 PBA Caloy’s Mock Draft (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Tim Cone Leaves Alaska (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• B-Meg welcomes Cone (philstar)
• PBA board OKs salary increase (mb.com.ph)
• B-Meg snares Barroca (pba.ph)

Tim Cone Leaves Alaska

After 22 years. Tim Cone bids farewell to the Alaska PBA Franchise.  Cone cited that he wanted to explore new horizons and challenges. The Alaska management headed by Wilfred Steven Uytengsu appointed long-time assistant Joel Banal as Alaska Aces’ coach for the 37^th PBA season.

Tim Cone won 13 titles with Alaska and bagged a grandslam in 1996. The departure was not much of a surprise as rumors have been floating a few days ago about Tim Cone joining another PBA franchise. So far, there are no announcements yet for a Tim Cone hiring. We will find out more about the legendary coach’s future in the next few days.

Related articles

• PBA Draft Results and draft day trades (caloysports.wordpress.com)
• Ex-Green Lancer Mepaña gets drafted in the PBA (cebulive.wordpress.com)
• Alaska releases Cone (abs-cbn)