Run for the roses

The PBA staged a version of the Kentucky Derby in Game 1 of the Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series between No. 2 seed Rain Or Shine and No. 3 seed Petron at the Mall of Asia Arena the other night. It was a dizzying “Run for the Roses” as both teams combined for 64 fastbreak points in a game that was decided by turnovers.

Entering the contest, Petron was No. 1 in transition points with 15.5 a game and the Painters No. 2 with 12.5. They outdid themselves in Game 1 as the Blaze Boosters registered 29 fastbreak points and Rain Or Shine, 35. Fueling the Painters’ pace was their suffocating defense that led to 25 Petron turnovers, 10 more than usual. In contrast, Rain Or Shine committed only 15. The difference negated Petron’s advantages in rebounds, 60-55, field goal percentage, .416 to .387 and second chance points, 15-8. Because Petron had 10 more miscues, Rain Or Shine finished with more possessions and more field goal attempts, 93 to 89, despite losing the battle of the boards.

Rain Or Shine coach Yeng Guiao’s gameplan was focused on making 6-10 JuneMar Fajardo bleed for points and challenging his defense to put him in foul trouble. That involved rotating Beau Belga, Larry Rodriguez, Jervy Cruz and Raymond Almazan to shadow Fajardo. The Painters did everything to contain the behemoth – they fronted to deny the entry pass, doubled when he got the ball at the post, zoned to move him out of his sweet spot, trapped to force him to release or put it on the floor and clogged the lane to prevent easy layups.

J. R. Quiñahan would’ve been added to the tormentors list but sat out the contest due to a bruised knee suffered in the Painters’ 106-96 win over Globalport last Wednesday. The word is he’ll play in Game 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena tonight. Without Quinahan, Guiao experimented by playing Belga and Almazan together down the stretch. In the fourth quarter, Fajardo was held to only two points and handicapped by five personals. But to his credit, the Kraken still finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

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While Fajardo got away with 12 points in the third period, he was shackled in the second with only three points, all on free throws, so for the most part, Guiao’s ploy worked like a charm. Belga used his experience, guile and ability to confuse the enemy to rile up Fajardo. Once, he hit a triple when Fajardo gave him space. Twice, he attacked from mid-court and left Fajardo behind in the race to the basket.

As usual, Guiao shuffled his troops like a card shark. No Painter logged 30 minutes or more with Belga soaking in the most with 29. Petron had three players logging at least 32 – Arwind Santos 40, Fajardo 38 and Marco Lassiter 32. In a high-octane, up-and-down game, the team with more depth has a huge edge and Guiao parlayed it into a critical advantage.

Because of Fajardo’s imposing presence on defense, Guiao went to his mid-range shooters for points and Jervy Cruz didn’t disappoint. In a fast-paced game, Fajardo is a liability as he doesn’t sprint quick enough to establish his defense and that’s why Rain Or Shine sped it up. Belga was particularly inspired by the challenge of outdoing Fajardo. He contributed only two boards but his job was mainly to box out the Kraken or any other Blaze Booster jockeying for a rebound. His only assist came from a no-look pass to Jeff Chan after grabbing an offensive rebound off a three-point miss by the Gilas sharpshooter.

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It was evident that Rain Or Shine played with a lot more energy than Petron. The Painters’ rookie trio of Almazan, Alex Nuyles and Jeric Teng turned in a solid performance. Almazan had seven points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Nuyles scored nine and Teng, six. Guiao showed his trust and confidence in Almazan by keeping him in the game for the final push. The Painters’ finishing five was made up of Almazan, Belga, Paul Lee, Chris Tiu and Nuyles.

There were several Rain Or Shine highlight plays that punctuated the Painters’ win. Rodriguez threw a high pass to Norwood who caught it in mid-air and sank a reverse left-handed layup for an alley-oop and-one. Teng faked a jumper, got his defender off his feet and turned to score an unmolested 7-footer to end the third period. Ryan Arana knocked down an impossible bank shot over Fajardo falling away off-balanced. Nuyles broke through with a semi-dunk in transition. Lee drove in and scored twice over taller defenders, once by using his left to soft-touch it inside and the other, suspending himself in mid-air to pump-fake it through.

Petron didn’t play its usual game as Rain Or Shine dictated from the start. The Painters led by as much as 17, 65-48, before the Blaze Boosters trimmed it to five, 100-95, but only 30.1 seconds were left on the clock. Alex Cabagnot and Chris Lutz scored only four points apiece. Chris Ross went crazy with eight points in the first quarter but was blanked the rest of the way.

  For Petron to bounce back, the Blaze Boosters must play as a unit. Coach Gee Abanilla knows that Petron isn’t just about Fajardo, Santos and Lassiter. Everyone must be involved if the Blaze Boosters hope to outplay and out-energize the Painters. A total team effort is the only way to stop the streaking Painters who have now won nine in a row.