Welcome the Derby Ace Llamados (?) and other Purefoods-Alaska matters
The buzz is that after winning the Philippine Cup championship, Purefoods will be changing its name to promote the company’s B-Meg line of animal feeds. An NBN Sports report said that the new name will be the ‘Derby Ace Llamados’ after B-Meg’s gamefowl feeds brand. I don’t mind the Derby Ace name, but do they really have to pander so shamefully to the lo-diyes crowd with the Llamados nickname? Why not the Derby Ace Slashers, which is way cooler?
Then again, the team is already currently nicknamed the ‘Tender Juicy Giants’ which has to be one of the most awful (and frankly, kinda gay) nicknames in the history of basketball, so rooting for the Llamados wouldn’t be so bad, right? Also it could’ve been worse, as the team could’ve been named after hog pellets or tilapia feeds. Or chick boosters.
Still, part of me thinks that this is San Miguel Corporation management’s punishment for Purefoods for kicking San Miguel’s ass in the semifinals.
Anyway, a lot of interesting stuff around the Internet after Purefoods’ masterful victory over the Alaska Aces last night.
- You should all start checking out IV Point Play, an impressive new Pinoy sports blog by Polo Bustamante and Carlo Araneta. The guys also produce a pretty entertaining podcast called ‘From the Stands’ (episode 4 was particularly good). Both guys behind the blog are Alaska fans, so I enjoyed their analysis of how Purefoods won: “So the Purefoods TJ Giants are kings of the Philippine Basketball world, and they totally deserve it, while Alaska, for the second straight year, is left searching for what prevents them from taking the next step forward. Funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same.”
- Jude Turcuato attended the game live last night, and raved about the King of the PBA, James Yap: “A smooth operator, he doesn't get too excited or too down. He is like a well oiled machine built to play on the court and get the job done. He is the best offensive player in the PBA right now and it seems his defense is catching up as well. You can tell that although he doesn’t talk much, his teammates rely on him to lead them and James embraces the responsibility. James is a player who has the fans holding their breath in anticipation whenever he has the ball. Very few have that ability.”
There’s also this interesting note on Jude’s discussion with Coach Ryan before the team drafted Yap in 2004: “When Coach Ryan told me that James is the best player in the draft, I thought he was in one of his hyperbolic raves again. I worked with him in the UAAP panel and a little in the PBA and he did have a tendency to get over excited about basketball, which I think is great.” - The last several games of Purefoods are available on Bit Torrent at IP Mart. You can download using the using these credentials – username: tjgiants2010/password: tjgiants. As always, with these things, kindly seed.
- Finally, Ginebra fans taking on Alaska with a little help from the April Boys:
Alaska team owner Fred Uytengsu on Purefoods’ Philippine Cup victory over Alaska
I got another interesting email this afternoon from Alaska team owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu:
Jaemark,
Perhaps my turn to congratulate you as a Purefoods fan (and your blog for the interesting comments that made the series even more dynamic).
Purefoods deserved to win the series. They played harder and smarter and seemed to want it more. As a team owner that is difficult to accept but it is the way I saw it. Our players got out played and our coaching staff got outcoached. I'm disappointed we didn't bring our A game to the Championships. No excuses and completely unacceptable!
Sure there were some questionable calls but you can't let that cloud your game plan and desire. If we hung our heads on every bad call, we would not have won 12 PBA titles in 24 years. So time to give credit where credit is due.
Like I said in my reply to him, I hope the loss doesn’t take away from the excellent conference Alaska had. It was an awesome run, considering the team was at the top of the league for most of the tournament until the Finals. As I noted in my post about last night’s game, it was Purefoods’ excellent play that made Alaska look much worse than it is.
Purefoods sweeps Alaska to win the 2010 Philippine Cup
Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio probably believes in it enough to mention that his team was playing on the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the year, and 33 was coincidentally the number of Eugene Tejada, the former Purefoods forward who was paralyzed in a freak accident during a game four years ago. The players had dedicated the rest of the conference to their fallen comrade, and they won the Philippine Cup championship that year too.
Three championships for Coach Ryan. Three years of reprieve from Fire Quinito.
In his post-game address to the frenzied Araneta Coliseum crowd, James Yap dedicated the game to his late mother-in-law, former President Corazon Aquino, his number one fan who never missed any of his games before she passed away last year. During the series, his teammates joined Yap in wearing yellow armbands to dedicate the rest of the games in her honor. Over the course of the next couple of months, the whole nation will be treated to a debate about the existence or the impact of ‘Cory magic’ in the political arena. Tonight, it would seem that the magic is alive and well at the Araneta Coliseum.
I am not a faithful man; I don’t know if I believe in destiny or magic. But I know I believe in basketball, and I believe that the best team gets to lift up the trophy at the end of the tournament.
Tonight, there’s no question about it: Purefoods is the best team in the land after taking game 4 over Alaska, 86-76, to sweep the 2010 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-7 finals.
Oh, the Aces came to play tonight. At least, their main men Willie Thriller and The Boss did. Alaska may not have looked great this evening – no team that gets swept 0-4 ever does – but this is a great, well-coached team that has been excellent all conference long. It was Purefoods that made them look awful.
There was Roger Yap, the floor general who didn’t shoot well in this series, but controlled the tempo of the games. He was masterful at taking the air out of the ball to make sure that Alaska never had the opportunity to get a few easy baskets in a faster game.
There was Kerby Raymundo, the on-again, off-again superstar, the operative word being superstar. While his performance may have been up-and-down, he was still a constant matchup nightmare for Alaska; the opposing defense ALWAYS had to worry about him, as if it didn’t have enough things to worry about.
There was the sampayan brigade of Marc Pingris, Rico Maierhofer, and Rafi Reavis. Sakuragi, in particular, was an absolute joy to watch; whenever some lazy curmudgeonly asshole sportswriter and/or blogger writes about how PBA players don’t play with any passion anymore unlike the UAAP or the bygone days of fucking Crispa and fucking Toyota, please send him clips of this guy. He rebounds like he’s still playing for ice tubig in the Pangasinan summer heat. He wrestles the big guys in the paint and harasses the guards out in the perimeter, sometimes all in the same sequence. My favorite was when he’d be guarding LA Tenorio and he’d get this look in his face like, “Putangina, sige, mag-penetrate ka, papalamunin kita ng bola.” It’s a testament to Tenorio that he didn’t pee his pants, but he stayed the hell out of the paint when Pingris was on him; his only good game in the series came when he was hitting his three-pointers.
There was the firestarter duo of KG Canaleta and Peter June Simon, neither of whom were born with a conscience. Both of them may be one-dimensional, but it’s a pretty awesome dimension.
There was the rest of the bench, led by Paul Artadi, cheering and clapping and jumping and chest-bumping around, annoying the fuck out of the other team’s fans.
Finally, there was James Yap, the MVP and the face of the franchise. Everyone knows about the killer spin moves and the booming three-pointers with a hand in his face, but only true fans know about the subtle nuances in his game. How he is so patient with the offense and how he is willing to defer, even when he could take his man one-on-one every possession. How he’s murder on the passing lanes when the team is playing zone, often getting steals or tipping the ball. How much he helps out on the boards, and how he never allows any offensive rebounds despite being assigned to a bigger guy. How he’s often the voice of reason on the floor when Kerby and Roger both get too aggressive on offense. How he’s far and away the most gifted offensive player on the floor, but he’s never an asshole about it, because he knows that at the end of the game he’ll be getting that ball and burying that fucking dagger.
Of course, the coaching staff led by Ryan Gregorio put it all together. They just hit all the right buttons in this series. The game plans, the substitutions, the timeouts, the play-calling, all of these were excellent. Ryan Gregorio, much-maligned not just by me but a lot of fellow Purefoods fans, was excellent.
The result on the court was beautiful. Purefoods executed its plays, disrupted the opponent’s offense with a headhunting press, recovered on defense, crashed the offensive boards, hit dagger shots, and battered Alaska from pillar to post. The awarding of the Philippine Cup at the end of the night seemed like mere formality; Purefoods looked every bit the champion long before the final buzzer sounded.
Some would call it destiny. Some would call it magic. I would call it damn great basketball.
Three championships for Coach Ryan. Three years of reprieve from Fire Quinito.
In his post-game address to the frenzied Araneta Coliseum crowd, James Yap dedicated the game to his late mother-in-law, former President Corazon Aquino, his number one fan who never missed any of his games before she passed away last year. During the series, his teammates joined Yap in wearing yellow armbands to dedicate the rest of the games in her honor. Over the course of the next couple of months, the whole nation will be treated to a debate about the existence or the impact of ‘Cory magic’ in the political arena. Tonight, it would seem that the magic is alive and well at the Araneta Coliseum.
I am not a faithful man; I don’t know if I believe in destiny or magic. But I know I believe in basketball, and I believe that the best team gets to lift up the trophy at the end of the tournament.
Tonight, there’s no question about it: Purefoods is the best team in the land after taking game 4 over Alaska, 86-76, to sweep the 2010 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-7 finals.
Oh, the Aces came to play tonight. At least, their main men Willie Thriller and The Boss did. Alaska may not have looked great this evening – no team that gets swept 0-4 ever does – but this is a great, well-coached team that has been excellent all conference long. It was Purefoods that made them look awful.
There was Roger Yap, the floor general who didn’t shoot well in this series, but controlled the tempo of the games. He was masterful at taking the air out of the ball to make sure that Alaska never had the opportunity to get a few easy baskets in a faster game.
There was Kerby Raymundo, the on-again, off-again superstar, the operative word being superstar. While his performance may have been up-and-down, he was still a constant matchup nightmare for Alaska; the opposing defense ALWAYS had to worry about him, as if it didn’t have enough things to worry about.
There was the sampayan brigade of Marc Pingris, Rico Maierhofer, and Rafi Reavis. Sakuragi, in particular, was an absolute joy to watch; whenever some lazy curmudgeonly asshole sportswriter and/or blogger writes about how PBA players don’t play with any passion anymore unlike the UAAP or the bygone days of fucking Crispa and fucking Toyota, please send him clips of this guy. He rebounds like he’s still playing for ice tubig in the Pangasinan summer heat. He wrestles the big guys in the paint and harasses the guards out in the perimeter, sometimes all in the same sequence. My favorite was when he’d be guarding LA Tenorio and he’d get this look in his face like, “Putangina, sige, mag-penetrate ka, papalamunin kita ng bola.” It’s a testament to Tenorio that he didn’t pee his pants, but he stayed the hell out of the paint when Pingris was on him; his only good game in the series came when he was hitting his three-pointers.
There was the firestarter duo of KG Canaleta and Peter June Simon, neither of whom were born with a conscience. Both of them may be one-dimensional, but it’s a pretty awesome dimension.
There was the rest of the bench, led by Paul Artadi, cheering and clapping and jumping and chest-bumping around, annoying the fuck out of the other team’s fans.
Finally, there was James Yap, the MVP and the face of the franchise. Everyone knows about the killer spin moves and the booming three-pointers with a hand in his face, but only true fans know about the subtle nuances in his game. How he is so patient with the offense and how he is willing to defer, even when he could take his man one-on-one every possession. How he’s murder on the passing lanes when the team is playing zone, often getting steals or tipping the ball. How much he helps out on the boards, and how he never allows any offensive rebounds despite being assigned to a bigger guy. How he’s often the voice of reason on the floor when Kerby and Roger both get too aggressive on offense. How he’s far and away the most gifted offensive player on the floor, but he’s never an asshole about it, because he knows that at the end of the game he’ll be getting that ball and burying that fucking dagger.
Of course, the coaching staff led by Ryan Gregorio put it all together. They just hit all the right buttons in this series. The game plans, the substitutions, the timeouts, the play-calling, all of these were excellent. Ryan Gregorio, much-maligned not just by me but a lot of fellow Purefoods fans, was excellent.
The result on the court was beautiful. Purefoods executed its plays, disrupted the opponent’s offense with a headhunting press, recovered on defense, crashed the offensive boards, hit dagger shots, and battered Alaska from pillar to post. The awarding of the Philippine Cup at the end of the night seemed like mere formality; Purefoods looked every bit the champion long before the final buzzer sounded.
Some would call it destiny. Some would call it magic. I would call it damn great basketball.
Fighting Maroons, rewind
Charlie Cuna has an interesting piece catching up with Poch Juinio, whom most fans remember as the starting center for Alaska’s champion teams in the ‘90s. Prior to that, Juinio starred for a woeful UP Fighting Maroons squad a few years removed from the glory years of Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc.
Charlie’s chat with Poch – or as my cousin loved to call him back in Alaska’s grand slam days, Edward ‘The Poch’ Juinio – was interesting enough and I encourage everyone to go and read it, but the best part of his article were a couple of old photos from the big guy’s UP days.
This one features a young Poch hanging out with his teammates, which include my coaching idol and favorite, Ryan Gregorio!
Coach Ryan looks like he’s 12 in this photo. And you all think he looks boyish now. Also, why is he sitting on his teammate’s lap?
In this next photo, The Poch and Coach Ryan are joined by none other than Coca-Cola head coach Bo Perasol!
I just love how the Maroons broke out the classic ‘90s “boxer shorts with topsiders” look. Coach Bo looks like he wants to give Jojo Lastimosa and his sexy legs a run for his money.
Charlie’s chat with Poch – or as my cousin loved to call him back in Alaska’s grand slam days, Edward ‘The Poch’ Juinio – was interesting enough and I encourage everyone to go and read it, but the best part of his article were a couple of old photos from the big guy’s UP days.
This one features a young Poch hanging out with his teammates, which include my coaching idol and favorite, Ryan Gregorio!
Coach Ryan looks like he’s 12 in this photo. And you all think he looks boyish now. Also, why is he sitting on his teammate’s lap?
In this next photo, The Poch and Coach Ryan are joined by none other than Coca-Cola head coach Bo Perasol!
I just love how the Maroons broke out the classic ‘90s “boxer shorts with topsiders” look. Coach Bo looks like he wants to give Jojo Lastimosa and his sexy legs a run for his money.
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