I had hoped to write about this sooner, but I’ve got a lot of things on my plate so I’m only able to blog during short breaks at work. Anyway, San Miguel took game 2 last Friday, 95-78, after a monster game by Marc Pingris, but the dying seconds of the blowout game proved costly after Danny Ildefonso tried to go after a heckler, with Pingris holding him back. This led to suspensions for both players for the third game, which Ginebra won, 116-103.

First, Pingris: I noted this briefly in last Friday’s update, but Pingris really is the key to the series. He’s actually the key to this whole San Miguel team, a warrior who provides toughness to complement the Beermen’s array of talented but softcake forwards like Jay Washington and, when healthy, Danny Seigle.

He also provides a huge matchup advantage when playing the small forward spot, because he has enough speed to stay in the perimeter with guards, but he’s so big and strong that he can punish small forwards in the block on the other end. In game 2, he heaped plenty of abuse on JC Intal, which is especially cruel considering that Carla Abellana just broke up with Baby Rocket to concentrate on being Rosalinda, and making out with Geoff Eigenmann.

(And I’m contractually obligated to point out that Ryan “The Genius” Gregorio traded away Pingris for Enrico Villanueva, after Pingris’ performance dropped while he was recovering from a bunch of injuries. The press release was that it was because the team needed a center after Rommel Adducul was diagnosed with cancer, but still. Consider this: Pingris was the Finals MVP when Purefoods won the 2006 Philippine Cup, and in his five conferences with Purefoods, the team made the finals three times – he missed significant time in the two other conferences after breaking his ankle. Purefoods has not made it back to the semifinals of any conference since Pingris left.)

After the jump, Danny I. talk, and why his ass deserved to be suspended. Oh, and Carla Abellana as Rosalinda.

The final seconds of game 2 led to an ugly incident with Danny I. trying to go into the stands to get his hands on a Ginebra fan who flashed him a dirty finger and heckled him. I dunno if this was a joke, but apparently, the fan shouted: “Mag-alaga ka na lang ng baboy!” That was actually a funny line; great job by the heckler. Danny I. totally deserved his game 3 ban, if not for anything else but his utter stupidity.

(Now, with apologies to Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler.)

Really, Danny I!?! You’re really going into the stands to chase a fan for a dirty finger and a (funny) heckle? Really!?! Like you haven’t been played high level basketball for the past dozen or so years in the UAAP, in the PBA, and in international competition? Really!?! You can’t let these things go, even if you make hundreds of thousands of pesos a month? Really!?! So the game, which your team won by 17, is not as important making sure that the fan who said bad things about you got his just desserts? Really!?!

It would have been alright if the suspension was limited to Danny I., but Pingris also got involved in the incident. Pingris claims in this interview with Manila Standard-Today that he was only there to stop Danny I., fearful that Ildefonso might lose his basketball license if he got his hands on the fan. We also find out from the same interview that Pingris calls fellow Pangasinan native Ildefonso “lakay”, which is funny because the Ilocano term translates roughly to “old man”.

Anyway, enough of that unpleasantness. Here’s Carla Abellana as Rosalinda.