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Photo Credit: PBA.PH

Diamon Simpson and the rest of the Alaska Aces made sure that the San Miguel Beermen will not be celebrating the whole night after beating them, 89-83, in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series of the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference Finals.

Earlier in the night, Gabe Freeman beat Simpson for the Best Import Award while Jay Washington grabs the Best Player of the Conference Award beating LA Tenorio in the race. The loss gave Simpson and Tenorio enough motivation to prove themselves.

The Beermen started smoking hot in the first quarter behind solid interior defense and a red-hot Gabe Freeman, who already scored 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds at the end of the first quarter. The first quarter ended up with San Miguel leading by 6 points, 25-19.

The second quarter continued Gabe Freeman’s dominance but Alaska slowly chipped into SMB’s lead. The later part of the second quarter saw San Miguel turned over the ball where the Aces capitalized with fast break attacks. The dying seconds of the second quarter also showed several defensive lapses from the San Miguel squad creating openings for Simpson who dominated the paint in that period. He scored 6 straight points on 3 layups in that run. Alaska turned the tide and now leads San Miguel by 6, 48-42.

In the third period, San Miguel staged a mini-run and got the lead once again after Dondon Hontiveros nailed a three point shot. Unfortunately, Gabe Freeman got his fourth personal foul around 7 minutes in the third quarter and then in just a span of 3 minutes, got his fifth personal foul. That left the coaching staff to sit him out and field an all local crew. They were able to keep the game within shouting distance at the end of the third quarter.

Continuing to play All-Filipino early in the fourth quarter, the San Miguel Beermen were able to keep the game close until they tied the game at 72-all behind the daredevil moves and passing of Joseph Yeo and Jay Washington’s inside moves. Alaska fought back after that and established a comfortable lead before Gabe Freeman was fielded back in. The Beermen played catch up after that but the Aces simply would not budge. Alaska took Game 1, 89-83 and now leads the series at 1-0. Diamon Simpson got the Best Player of the Game with 28 points and 21 rebounds.

To add more damage to the injury, Gabe Freeman went to the bench limping. According to the anchormen, his knee might have been hit by someone. Hopefully this is just a minor one.

My Short Game Analysis

Gabe Freeman’s dominance in the first half took its toll on the Beermen’s offensive rhythm. Since he was handling the ball most of the time, the rest of the locals were not able to participate well. When he was pulled out for foul trouble, the locals find it hard to get their game going coupled with a so so orchestrating game from main point guard Alex Cabagnot.

I guess Alaska succeeded on their strategy of letting Freeman take over while cancelling out most of the Beermen’s locals. They also let Freeman shoot the ball from the outside and even gave him open looks from beyond the arc. This negates his rebounding presence underneath and let the Aces took the ball since no one is there to content for the rebounds. Same was the case for Jay Washington who often times took three point attempts and missing most of the time.

To get back into the series, San Miguel should work doubly hard on defense and move the ball well. Freeman and Washington should not take too many outside attempts as it leaves a hole in the middle on rebounding.

Though this has been his main problem all throughtout the conference, Gabe Freeman should somehow control his intensity so as not to get into early foul trouble. The Beermen is a different team when he is inside the hardcourt and his presence is of high importance. Finally, San Miguel’s deep local lineup should always be ready for any Gabe Freeman foul trouble.

It’s still early in the series to press the panic button but the needed adjustments should be made on Sunday to prevent us from getting into a deep hole.