If you follow Philippine basketball, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that there was a fight in this afternoon’s game between Burger King and Smart Gilas. Yeng Guiao’s teams, after all, have been known to play a physical brand of basketball, and between the Guiao-Toroman issue and the Japeth Aguilar controversy, there’s enough bad blood between the two teams to know that the air would be combustible.

But who figured that the fight would be between Burger King point guard Wynne Arboleda and a heckler later identified as Alain Katigbak, a fan of Smart Gilas and Ateneo and a friend of Chris Tiu? (UPDATED: Chris's brother Charles left a comment clarifying that the Gilas team captain does not know the person involved, contrary to Fidel Mangonon's earlier tweet.)

(No truth to the rumor that Alain Katigbak is a pseudonym of Rick Olivares.)

PBA lifer Fidel Mangonon tweeted a blow-by-blow account of the action: “Wynne's 4 punches-- left straight (connected), left hook (connected), right hook (grazed the head) & right upper cut (missed). Plus d left kick dat was planted hard on d guy's stomach, narrowly missing his balls.”

A few months ago, Danny Ildefonso was involved in a near-fracas against a fan, and I wrote about how Danny I.’s behavior was inexcusable. This is doubly so for Wynne Arboleda, and I really hope the PBA lowers the boom on him.

(UPDATE: The always-awesome Patricia Hizon following up over on Twitter: “Here's more on the fan that got beat up. Alain us from ayala alabang n has a construction company in bacoor. He's 31.he went for a medical. he's gettn his lawyer n pressing charges. He said d P word a few times n told arboleda "Matanda ka na" + more P words.” Fidel Mangonon also tweeted a picture of the incident.)

The fight almost overshadowed Burger King’s 115-105 win over the young Nationals. The game started roughly with a few flagrant foul calls, but the Whoppers were able to keep Gilas at bay throughout the game. Gilas import CJ Giles battled foul trouble throughout the game, and BK leaned on Extra Rice Incorporated board member Beau Belga’s 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists to carry them through. It was a figurative way of telling the developmental team: “Marami pa kayong kakaining bigas!”

And if you looked at the difference in girth between Belga and Aguilar, you’d agree.

The action will be broadcast tonight on CS/9 at 11:30PM.

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 Tanquingcen, 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 Tanquingcen'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 Tanquingcen'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.

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 classification phase of the PBA Fiesta Conference ended last night with two tiebreaker games: the Coca-Cola Tigers beat the Alaska Aces, 81-74 to gain 8th, while the Barangay Ginebra Kings beat the living crap out of the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 114-71, to get the 2nd seed.

The tiebreakers were important because the 2nd seed gains an automatic spot in the semifinals, while the 3rd seed has to qualify in the wildcards. The 8th place is also a much better spot than the 9th, which comes with a twice-to-win disadvantage against the 4th seed. The bracket below clears things up a little:



After the jump, my playoff predictions and my pick to win the championship.