Very seldom that Pinoy basketball fans watch thrilling PBA contests that can be appreciated as real, wholesome, down-the-wire, devil may care Philippine Cup matches such as what was played between Meralco versus Barangay Ginebra and between NLEX against Magnolia last Sunday.
The Bolts survived the Gin Kings furious fourth quarter rally with a narrow 106-104 triumph while the Hotshots overcame a 26 point deficit to take the victory 112-106 in overtime.
A furious LA Tenorio uttered before reporters: “The referee decided the game.”
Because the respective games were the third and last of a best of three, all players of all four teams displayed “suicidal” performances – diving for the ball, aggressively grabbing rebounds, saving loose balls, pushing and shoving the opponent, holding (and at times I thought there were some flip floppings) and sneaking an elbow – which evoked superlatives from audiences inside the MOA and those watching on TV.
No wonder the “kill or be killed” mindset was evident on everyone, either inside the court or on the bench.
LA Tenorio’s post-game comment on that particular drive by Scottie Thompson when the refs called it an offensive foul that nullified the two points somehow dampened the Bolts’ sweet revenge win.
On review, even the TV coverage announcers saw and described how Thompson, the current PBA MVP, rushing downcourt for a lay up, extended his left arm to ward off Cliff Hodge who ably defended.
Before that, Tenorio scored the trey that put Ginebra ahead 104-103 as the Kings pounded inexhaustibly to erase a 21 point deficit.
But Raymond Alnazan responded promptly on the return play after, receiving an assist pass from Chris Newsome with his own three pointer atop the arc to put Meralco back on the driver’s seat.
Thompson however diplomatically waved off the ref’s offensive foul whistle as a “benefit of the doubt” case.
In the first decided match between Magnolia and NLEX, the Hotshots worked steadily hard and erased a 26-point NLEX lead in the 3rd period.
The sweet shooting Paul Lee proved his dependability by tossing the three point basket to extend the game while firebrand Jio Jalalon single handedly fixed what needed fixing in the extra five minutes.
Surprisingly, NLEX appeared dazed and confused by the swarming pressure defense of Magnolia, committing forced errors that allowed Jalalon to score what eventually was to be the dagger that killed the Road Warriors furious attempts to save their skin.
As point guards remain to be the vital cog of every basketball team, Jalalon did what Kevin Alas splendidly did in Game 2 that gave NLEX a much needed reprieve to proceed to Game 3.
Well, you lose some and you win some.
In the end, the PBA fans got their money’s worth. See you in the semis, folks!(Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
