Alabi vows fiery finish

MANILA, Philippines - Two games are left in Barako Bull’s schedule in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations and 7-0 1/2 Nigerian import Solomon Alabi has vowed to do what it takes to lead the Energy to wins over Purefoods tomorrow and NLEX on March 24.

“Nobody can stop me one-on-one,” said Alabi who’s averaging 22.5 points, 20 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots in nine games so far. “That’s why teams double or triple team me. I know how important our last two games are. I’ll be out there battling to win. It might come down to either NLEX or us making it to the playoffs so our last game is crucial. You can be sure I’ll be out there to win. I’ve told (NLEX import) Al (Thornton) to watch out and I know he’ll also be out there fighting.”

Alabi and Thornton both played for the Florida State varsity. “I just missed playing with Al at Florida State,” said Alabi. “He was already in the NBA before my freshman season. But we know each other well. We go back to Florida State in the summer and play pick-up games. We both want to win badly every game we play.”

Barako Bull has a 4-5 record, buoyed by a 3-0 start. The Energy is in a tailspin with five losses in its last six outings. Defense was coach Koy Banal’s key in the early surge. In Barako’s four wins, the Energy held opponents to an average of 78.8 points. In its five losses, the team gave up an average of 96.4.

“We’re missing Sol (Mercado) and Willie (Wilson),” said Banal. “Willie went down with an MCL injury after four games. We’re hoping he’ll be ready to play against NLEX. Sol sat out the last game with a bad knee. He’s missed four games in all this conference. It might come down to our last game against NLEX. There will be no playoffs to break ties so every point counts in case we go to the quotient system. It’s possible that we could end up tied with NLEX at the end of the eliminations so our last game is critical.”

Against Meralco last Friday, Alabi was scoreless in the first half as the Bolts went to rugged Reynel Hugnatan as his primary defender and rotated several others, including Danny Ildefonso and Josh Davis, to disrupt his offense behind a stifling double team. “Their focus was to stop Solo,” said Banal. “We didn’t want Solo frustrated. We told him he could do other things for us and act as decoy. We’ll study the tape and figure out how to get Solo the ball in scoring position without allowing the double team to take him out of the flow. We’ll continue to rely on our locals like J. C. (Intal) and Chico (Lanete) to support Solo.”

Alabi said he has played in China and Taiwan and in Asia, the PBA is by far the most physical league. “I’m banged up every game but I don’t mind,” he said. “Playing physical is fun. I know the defense is out to do a job on me. I can take it. It’s fine. That’s part of the game. I just try to play hard and win for my team.”

Alabi, 26, improved his scoring clip at Florida State from 3.9 to 8.4 to 11.7 in three years with the varsity. He was the Dallas Mavericks second round pick in the 2010 NBA draft but went to Toronto to play 26 games in two seasons with the Raptors under coaches Jay Triano and Dwane Casey, earning $1.6 million.

“I had a lot of tough match-ups in the NBA,” said Alabi. “Dwight Howard is so strong. Sometimes, the only thing you can do to stop him is to hold him down. Then, there’s Pau Gasol who’s so skillful. I never got to play against Tim Duncan but he’s one of the best big guys in the league.”

Alabi said he hurt his shoulder and couldn’t play for the Nigerian team at the 2012 London Olympics. He led the Nigerian U18 team to the African championship in 2006 and also played on the U19 squad. Other Nigerians who’ve played in the PBA as imports were Julius Nwosu, Jeff Varem, Champ Oguchi, Reggie Okosa and Gabe Muoneke.

“I would’ve liked my girlfriend Briana to join me in Manila but she’s back in Seattle where she just moved from San Francisco on a job assignment with Nordstrum,” said Alabi. “She’s also six months pregnant with our first child, a baby girl. The Philippines is a great country to play in because Filipinos love the game so much. I didn’t play basketball until I was 15. I grew up playing soccer like every Nigerian. Even Hakeem Olajuwon played soccer before basketball. They told me I was too tall for soccer so I made the adjustment to basketball which was fun. I moved to the US to play high school basketball.”

Alabi said his parents, three brothers and two sisters still live in Nigeria. “I try to visit home every summer,” he said. Alabi’s father, a retired police officer, is 6-1 and his mother, 5-11. Alabi said his father taught him discipline and soccer taught him how to run the floor and move in basketball.