SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Rain or Shine over Meralco, 94-89
The Best: Beau Belga came to play in this one. The burly Gilas national pool big man delivered the goods, scoring 20 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, handing out 4 assists, getting 2 steals, and blocking 1 shot in a supremely productive effort. He outplayed the bigger Rabeh Al-Hussaini of Meralco, who finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Rain or Shine (ROS) is now 2-0 to start the season.
The Worst: The Bolts didn’t do a good job of taking care of the basketball in this one. Meralco coughed up the rock 19 times, and gave up 19 points-off-turnovers. The chief culprits? Al-Hussaini, Mike Cortez, and Jared Dillinger each had 4 turnovers. That’s understandable in the cases of Cortez and Dillinger, since they’re both ball-handlers, but for a slotman like Rabeh to turn the ball over 4 times? I don’t think there’s any good excuse for that.
On-Target: The Painters have been on-target from long range in their first two games. Against the Aces, ROS connected on 8 triples, while they buried 12 of their 28 in this one. So far, coach Yeng Guiao’s wards are shooting better than 35% from beyond the arc, with Jeff Chan’s 47% clip leading the way. Other guys who are currently norming at least one triple per game are Belga, Paul Lee, Ryan Araña, and Jireh Ibañes.
Alaska over San Mig Coffee, 84-80
The Best: It looks to me that Sonny Thoss is out to prove he is still a top-shelf center despite the influx of newer and younger talented big men. Against the Mixers, Thoss made 8 of his 13 field goals and ended up with 19 points. He also hauled down 8 rebounds to go with his 2 blocks and 1 steal. Clearly, the Gilas national pool slotman is still the Boss.
The Worst: On the other end, coach Tim Cone’s frontline go thoroughly outplayed in this match. Alaska had more second-chance points, 11-4, and outrebounded the Mixers big men, 44-42. Alaska’s starting frontcourt – Thoss and Gabby Espinas – ended up with 20 rebounds, while SMC’s own – Marc Pingris and Yancy De Ocampo – registered just 8 boards total.
Slow Start: Last season’s Rookie-of-the-Year, Calvin Abueva, is having a slow start to his sophomore campaign. His scoring, shooting, steals, and blocks numbers are all down, and the slight increase in his rebounding and assists haven’t really made up the difference.
Right now, the Beast’s efficiency rating is about 7 percentage points lower than what he had for the entire 2012-2013 season. And don’t even get me started on his atrocious free throw shooting ( just 33%). It’s too early to say he’s having a sophomore slump, so, again, I will stick to his having a very slow start. – Rappler.com
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