Cebu has been known traditionally as a hotbed of hoops, and with good reason. Legends such as Mon Fernandez, Dondon Ampalayo, and Jojo Lastimosa first made their marks in Cebuano collegiate leagues, as did more recent stars such as Dondon Hontiveros and Roger Yap.

The University of the Visayas has dominated Cebu’s top collegiate league, the Cesafi, for the last decade, thanks to a program led by a couple of legendary Cebuano hotshots, head coach Boy Cabahug and assistant Al Solis. A few years ago, the Green Lancers scored a coup after signing up 6-11 Fil-Am project Greg Slaughter, and the team is finally reaping the benefits as the behemoth starts to tap his potential. Slaughter, a mainstay of the Smart Gilas Developmental squad coached by Rajko Toroman, is surrounded by the usual bevy of Cebuano shooters who have carried the UV program to eight straight Cesafi titles.

Standing in their way is their archrivals from the University of Cebu. Curiously, the UC Webmasters are also handled by another Cebuano sharpshooter from yesteryears, from Alaska mainstay Roehl Gomez. The Webmasters have been carried this far by 6-9 center June Mar Fajardo, a Smart Gilas prospect who is reportedly the best big man playing outside Metro Manila cage leagues.

The two centers of attraction have had an awesome duel in their best-of-five finals series thus far. UV took the first game, 64-56, behind 16 points from Slaughter, but Fajardo’s 27 points and 14 rebounds powered UC to a narrow 71-70 victory in the second game. UV struck back with an 81-67 win in game 3, behind 22 points and 11 rebounds from Slaughter, his third double-double in the series.

It’s too bad that basketball fans from Metro Manila are missing out on the action between the two behemoths. It would be fun to see if the two big men would be the best pair of big men to come out of the collegiate ranks in the South since Ramon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben, or if they end up being the next iteration of JR Quinahan and Samigue Eman.

So the San Miguel Beermen are the champions of the 2009 PBA Fiesta Conference, hammering Ginebra, 90-79. The Beermen led from start to finish, frustrating every comeback mounted by the Gin Kings.

I know I picked Ginebra to win, but I also offered a caveat that San Miguel would win if Marc Pingris went berserk (in a good way). And go berserk he did, punishing Ginebra’s small forwards on the block and off the offensive boards, so much so that Ginebra coach Jong Uichico was forced to counter with a big lineup. It worked in game 5, when David Noel had a good shooting game, but in game 6 and game 7, it paralyzed the Gin Kings offense. Ginebra’s halfcourt sets were uglier than Dorian Pena and Mick Pennisi.

I was surprised that Uichico refused to make bigger adjustments in game 7, keeping with his game plan of dumping the ball down low to Eric Menk, who looked like he was suffering from arthritis and rheumatism all game long. He played right into Siot Tanquincen’s hands.

I’d also noted how San Miguel’s players are a bunch of frontrunners, guys who play infinitely better when they’re leading all game. Their hot start in game 7, powered by Pingris and Gabe Freeman, was really the key to the whole.

I had neglected to mention the San Miguel backcourt’s performance in the series. Apart from taking advantage of the flat-footed Ginebra guards, who allowed more penetration than Hayden Kho’s girlfriends, Jonas Villanueva, Mike Cortez, and even Dondon Hontiveros also did a great job staying in front of their opponents on the defensive end.

San Miguel deserves all the credit in the world, but the most enjoyable performance of the series has to go to Jayjay Helterbrand, who was out there dragging his leg and willing his team to stay in the game. I know his team finished second, but Helterbrand was every inch the champion.

This marks the end of the 2008-2009 PBA season, but this only marks the beginning of the journey for our country’s best players, as the Powerade Team Pilipinas begins their first big test tomorrow night at the Jones Cup tournament in Taiwan. San Miguel’s Mick Pennisi and Ginebra’s Uichico, Helterbrand, and Cyrus Baguio will be joining the rest of the team. It should be a long flight for those guys to Taipei.

Some random thoughts about game 5, where Ginebra beat San Miguel, 106-98, to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-7 series:

• I thought Ginebra would have had enough to win even without Ato Agustin Jayjay Helterbrand.


• Everyone talks about Willie Wilson, but really, the major adjustment of Jong Uichico has been to play three big guys all the time, to neutralize Marc Pingris and (to a lesser extent) Jay Washington. He always had three bigs all the time, which was why JC Intal and Sunday Salvacion were glued to the bench. The lineup works when Noel is busting his ass on defense and shooting well.


• I loved the Bonbon Custodio hugot by Siot Tanquincen, and I don't understand why he didn't play more in the fourth quarter last night, or why he hadn't played much in the finals, especially with Olsen Racela turning 50 in this series. Did Bonbon pee on Siot Tanquincen's Starbucks or something?


• Speaking of Racela, now that his career is finally winding down, how about this fun fact: Olsen Racela played more seasons in the PBA than legendary point guards Hector Calma, Ronnie Magsanoc, and Dindo Pumaren, as well as contemporaries Johnny Abarrientos, Boyet Fernandez, Richie Ticzon, Boybits Victoria, and Bal David. Amazing, considering that he was pegged as a career backup coming into the PBA. Awesome work for Rah-Rah Racela. I don't even blame him for missing those free throws back in the 2002 Asian Games.


• Most disappointing performance of the Finals so far: the San Miguel Beer crowd. Uhm, the Air 21 fans in last year's Fiesta Conference finals vs. Ginebra had more fight in them. What the hell happened to the SMB crowd that started the ridiculously entertaining trend of booing Mac Cardona last February? Are they afraid of the Barangay? The only time I ever hear fans jeering Ginebra on TV is when Ronald Tubid's involved. And there's a 50 percent chance those are just Gin Kings fans who can't stand his flopping.


• There's a 99.96547821 percent chance that Chico Lanete won't play like that again in game 6.


• I know I keep mentioning this, but how about the crappy month JC Intal has had? Carla Abellana breaks up with him, he gets abused by Pingris in the finals and gets benched the past two games, and last night, his biggest contribution to the team was lending Eric Menk his shoes.


• I don't know how to feel about San Miguel. On one hand they can trot out a lineup composed of Jonas Villanueva, Bonbon Custodio, Dondon Hontiveros, Marc Pingris, and Danny Ildefonso -- one of my favorite non-Purefoods lineups in the league. On the other hand, they could go with the brutal combination of Mike Cortez, Wesley Gonzales, Jay Washington, Mick Pennisi, and Dorian Pena, which is probably my least favorite lineup in the league. I'm confused.


• Can't say I'm too surprised about the boo-birds for Danny I. from the Ginebra fans. I mean, he did literally try beat up one of them.


• Anyone notice Quinito harping on and on about Noel's alma matter? Really, he's from North Carolina? And he won championship there? Wow, I've never fucking heard that before!


• Also, did anyone notice when Quinito ran out of things to talk about, so he brought up Jong Uichico and Siot Tanquincen's relationship, only Sev Sarmenta cut him off, "Yeah, you wrote a column about it." I honestly hope to high heavens that Quinito won't be doing game 6.


• Oh, and I'm just here to remind everyone that I saw Ginebra winning the championship way back in April.

Before tonight's game 4, the PBA will have its annual awards (rechristened the Leo Awards in honor of former PBA commissioner Leo Prieto), where it'll announce selections for the season's Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, and a host of other awards.

Unfortunately, the whole thing has turned into a political exercise, with the biggest culprit being the PBA Press Corps, who decided to vote as a block, leaving the door open to influence-peddling. Yep,this is the same bunch of people who keep writing fluff pieces about their buddies like Ryan “The Genius” Gregorio.

(I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist, I’m only human. Check out this money quote from the Purefoods coach in the latest piece: “Talent alone is not enough to win games. Players must know their roles on the team. Otherwise, we will not succeed.” Gee, you think so, doctor? Wait, isn’t this your job?)

But I digress. The MVP vote is still up in the air, although early indications are that Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand might be the favorite. Although it pains me physically to type this, but Talk N Text’s douchebag guard Mac Cardona is the most deserving candidate for the award. It’s a shame that he’s turned into his generation’s Nelson Asaytono (the most despised player in the league), although Asaytono never won an All-Filipino championship as his team’s best player.

(UPDATE: The Philippine Star's Nelson Beltran expects Helterbrand to walk away with the award. Beltran is the president of the PBA Press Corps.)

Some other thoughts on the awards:

• I hope they don’t overlook the fact that Dondon Hontiveros had the best season of his career. Sure, he still only plays well about twice every three games, but he’s also the biggest reason why San Miguel was the only team to make it to the semifinals in both conferences this year. And while he was beat out by Cyrus Baguio in the Powerade Team Pilipinas lineup, he got Baguio back in a more important category: Valerie Concepcion’s heart.


• I’m surprised that Sonny Thoss is not in the shortlist of centers for the Mythical Team selection. Thoss was the biggest reason why Alaska was so dominant in the Philippine Cup before falling to Talk N Text in seven games, and his injury in the Fiesta Conference submarined the Aces’ campaign.


• Rain or Shine and Talk N Text both each had a pair of rookies play heavy minutes this season. Here’s an interesting question: if Gabe Norwood and Sol Mercado switched places with Jared Dillinger and Jason Castro, (a) would Rain or Shine have been as good?; and (b) would Talk N Text still have won the Philippine Cup?

There's so much to be said for the classic finals match-up between Ginebra and San Miguel, and we'll get to that in a bit, but first, I wanted to write about the semifinal victims: Rain or Shine, which finally ran out of gas against Ginebra, and Burger King, which got beaten from pillar to post by a rampaging Beermen squad, who were probably inspired by their hilarious new commercial.

Rain or Shine had a helluva year, more than doubling their win total from their first two seasons in the league here on their third year. They made a quick but major revamp of the team, anchored on two young studs, rookies Sol Mercado and Gabe Norwood. A third rookie, second-round pick TY Tang, emerged late in the season and looks like a starter in the league, or at the very least, a very good third guard.

This was one of the most well-coached teams in the league. They installed a great spread offense based on dribble penetration (something akin to John Calipari's dribble drive motion offense in Memphis the past couple of years), with their guards penetrating and kicking out to their three-point shooters.

It took a while before the other PBA coaches figured out their offense. Hell, I don't think Ryan "The Genius" Gregorio has figured it out yet, as Purefoods lost six five out of seven games to Rain or Shine this year, with their only victory coming off a questionable bailout call on the last play.

(UPDATE: As James Ty III pointed out in the comments, Purefoods did win an out-of-town game versus RoS early in the Fiesta Conference. Purefoods barely won that game too.)

They certainly busted their ass on defense too; it's a testament to their effort that they never got killed inside even though for most of the year, their power forward rotation consisted of Rob Wainwright and Eddie Laure (or as I like to call it, the MBA star forward pu-pu platter! I guess Max Delantes and Peter Naron weren't available).

Coach Caloy Garcia certainly deserves a lot of credit, after taking over for his mentor Leo Austria and turning the team around. But I'm curious as to who really was the architect behind the brilliant offense. I have no evidence, but I suspect that RoS assistant Alex Compton had a lot to do with it, having played NCAA Division 1 ball and presumably still updated about the coaching trends abroad. If I were running a PBA team and were searching for a new coach, I'd give Compton a very, very serious look.

Burger King had a good run this conference, but watching them get dominated in several games by the much deeper San Miguel squad made me realize how flawed this team was, and that Yeng Guiao's magic can only take a team so far.

For starters, Arwind Santos, who is their top gun on offense, is their only athletic defender. (No, Erick Rodriguez is most definitely not an athletic defender. The reason he ends up smacking people a lot in the face is because when he tries to block an opponent's shot, he's only able to reach up to the opponent's face when he jumps.) Gary David is seriously overrated -- he only plays well every other game, forces bad shots, is allergic to passing, and gets scored on more than Hayden Kho's girlfriends.