Petron Blaze Boosters Basketball Updates

Photo Credit: Spooks, Ngetstudio forum moderator

There are times when we are not able to watch the game of the San Miguel Beermen and reading what transpired in the news are simply not enough for a diehard fan.

For a lucky person like me who was able to watch the game, I would like to share with you 10 observations I have during the game.

Here they are:

1. Ken Bono Fielded In
Midway in the second quarter, Ken Bono was fielded in to man the shaded lane. The stint was short but he provided quality minutes by producing two points and showing a lot of aggresiveness in rebounding. It was reported that coach Siot Tanquincen has shortened his rotation to 9 players so he was lucky to get some minutes. I hope to see Eman do the same in the next few games.

2. Spread the Wealth
After the first quarter, all the 9 Beermen fielded in were able to score. This is a good sign for the team to make sure that we don’t rely on certain players to provide the points. This is important as the opposition will have a hard time defending SMB as they will not know who to concentrate their defense on.

3. Bonbon “The Bonfire” Custodio
TV anchor Miko Halili baptized Bonbon Custodio with a monicker of “The Bonfire”. Bonbon earned the monicker after being noticed as an exciting rookie to watch after several games. He reminded them of an  exciting player in Samboy Lim less the height and leaping ability. He compensated it though with speed and deadly shooting. In one play, he left defender Renren Ritualo with a fast move and score on a boarding shot.

4. The Injured Cat
While setting up for a play, Mike Cortez suddenly fell on the floor holding his bended right knee. He had collide his right knee with Macmac Cardona. He was able to stand and walk out to the dugout with Biboy Ravanes assisting him. Is this a bad omen? For me, I don’t think so. It’s more of a blessing in disguise. As we all know, Cortez has become a liability in the court. Whenever he is fielded in, the lead that the team has suddenly evaporates in thin air due to his turnovers and subpar play orchestration. Nevertheless, get well soon Mike!

5. Lording Over the Boards
Half-time stats revealed a big disparity in terms of rebounding between SMB and TNT. SMB has 38 as compared to TNT’s 25. Because of this, TNT has less second chance points and less opportunity to score as shown in the half-time score, 52-41 in favor of SMB.

6. Fastbreak Galore
The entry of Bonbon Custodio and Jay Washington provided San Miguel with another deadly weapon in its arsenal and that is the ability to run for a fastbreak after the opposing teams turnover. Jay Washington and Bonbon Custodio spearheads this department as they have younger legs to run. JWash either provides the feed to a streaking teammate or he himself runs on a fastbreak. On one exciting play, Olsen Racela brings the ball down fast and finds a streaking Bonbon on the right. Bonbon on the other hand spots a trailing Lordy Tugade and passed the ball to him to elude his defender for an easy two points.

7. See this? I’m a Beerman now!
Jay Washington was able to escape his defenders, streak to the basket and score on a slam dunk. As he went back on defense, he was shown holding his upper jersey as if showing that he is with SMB now. Was his message intended for his former team? Hmmm… maybe. On the interview, he was asked what he feels about his trade. At first he said a safe answer but admitted later on that “They shouldn’t have given me up” when asked a mesaage for Talk N Text. Oh well, be greatful man as you have finally found your new home where you can show your A games. By the way, he top-scored with 21 points, 14 rebounds on a 10/18 field goal shooting on his best showing so far.

8. Danding’s Fatherly Love
Somewhere in the third period, Mike Cortez was shown in the dugout and was visited by no less than SMB Chairman Danding Cojuangco to check his status. That just show how concerned he is with his basketball players specially when they are hurt.

9. The Defensive Battle
The San Miguel Beermen realized in the fourth quarter that they will have a greater chance of winning the game if they can contain the Tropang Texters’ scoring. The formula was effective as they limited Talk and Text to just 9 points in the fourth period.

10. Danny Seigle Missing In Action
Throughout the ballgame, I was trying to see if Danny Seigle is on the bench or somewhere in the sidelines wearing civilian clothes. But he was nowhere to be found. I was also awaiting for the courtside reporters to have a report about him but nothing was reported. With what happened, speculations heightened that he is going to be traded to another team. This issue is still unclear.