Wohho!!! Brgy. Ginebra Gin Kings drew first blood on last night game at Ynares Center fot the 2008 SMART PBA Fiesta Conference Championship Series. Leaded by Mark "The Spark" Caguioa and Chris Alexander "the great". Winning the first game 106- 96.
CHRIS Alexander may have had some early jitters in his first PBA Finals. But those proved to be short-lived.
And the rest of Barangay Ginebra, especially Mark Caguioa, certainly did not have such attack of the nerves as the Kings tripped the Air21 Express, 105-96, Wednesday at the start of the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference championship series at the jampacked Araneta Coliseum.
Caguioa finished with 22 points, offsetting Alexander's woeful 2-of-8 free throw shooting and leading the predominant favorites of the approximately 17,000 crowd to the blazing start in the best-of-seven series.
It's not that Alexander, normally a 54 percent free throw shooter, let himself be affected by his stints from the stripe. He still wound up with 18 points, a game-high 25 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Five of his seven fourth quarter points came off his three offensive rebounds, each one proving crucial in helping the Kings stymie the Express' comeback bid from as much as a 44-64 third quarter deficit.
“That's what we've been saying about Air21 as a team,” said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico. “We're up by 18 or 16 points and then all of sudden they'll score five straight points. They're really a very streaky team.”
Air21 whittled the deficit to as low as 90-96 on a hook by Steven Thomas, still 2:07 to go.
Then Alexander canned a charity off his offensive rebound and then tipped in a Jayjay Helterbrand miss to make it a nine-point game, only 1:20 to go.
The initial anxious moments over, Uichico finds additional comfort in the win.
“It's very important. It gives the burden on the other team to make the adjustments,” he said. “At least 1-0 ka na. We can also still make adjustments and malaking bagay iyon, when you're up.”
Air21 coach Bo Perasol admitted there are indeed some tweakings needed.
“I think those aspects of the game we knew they were going to beat us with became exactly those,” said Perasol, referring to fastbreak and second chance points, which Ginebra translated into concrete figures of 22-12 and 24-8, respectively.
Perasol also admitted his Express, first-timer in a PBA Finals, failed to overcome their own nerves.
“Nagkaroon ng feeling na eto pala 'yung Finals, kaya parang just going through the motions,” he said. “We had a good start but we failed to sustain it. I think we will be better the next game.”
The fact Alexander outplayed Air21 counterpart Steven Thomas, who had 21 points and 16 rebounds, also gnawed at Perasol. “He has to do a better job,” he stated.
Ranidel de Ocampo's 22 points, to go with seven rebounds, led the Express, who also drew 19 points and 14 rebounds from Arwind Santos but only 14 points from Gary David.
David and Santos chiefly alternated at Caguioa, but with little success.
Air21's defensive rotation was generally thrown into shambles when the likes of Junthy Valenzuela, Helterbrand and Eric Menk each had 12 points, leaving Perasol's charges at a loss on who to concentrate chiefly on.
Menk highlighted his best game in the conference by canning two charities in the first minute of the third period to earn his niche as the 59th member of the league's 5,000-point club and his jumper from the left corner gave Ginebra its biggest lead at 64-44, 6:56 in the period.
Despite its lapses, Air21 still proved to be like a bad dream that won't go away for Uichico.
With De Ocampo leading the way, the Express brought the deficit down to 82-89 before Thomas joined in and helped make it a six-point game.
Ginebra guard Paul Artadi was instrumental in Ginebra's charge from a 15-19 deficit and into a 25-19 lead, but pulled his left hamstring during a fastbreak play in the last five seconds of the first period.
He did not return but Uichico, who already lost Ronald Tubid to a dislocated left ankle in the quarterfinals, prays he will be fit enough for Game 2 Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“Hopefully, he's healthy enough for the next game. Nakagawa na kami ng paraan ng wala si Ronald, then here comes Paul. Baka we have to find another way na naman,” said the soft-spoken Ginebra chief tactician.
The expected ruggedness in the series first surfaced when Air21's Homer Se gave Rafi Reavis a hard foul at the 10:57 mark of the fourth, exacerbating the Express' plight as the adjudged flagrant foul penalty one only led to two free throws that made it a 83-67 Ginebra lead. (NCo)
The scores:
Ginebra 105 – Caguioa 22, Alexander 18, Valenzuela 12, Helterbrand 12, Menk 12, Reavis 8, Artadi 7, Pacana 6, Mamaril 4, Salvacion 4.
Air21 96 – de Ocampo 22, Thomas 21, Santos 10, David 14, Arboleda 9, Se 6, Billones 4, Canaleta 1, Kramer 0, Cruz 0, Sotto 0.
Quarters: 25-19, 50-39, 79-62, 105-96.
Source: http://www.pba.com.ph/
