March Madness!!!!

Its March Madness once again and the number 1 seeds are North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA and Kansas. These four teams are expected to make it to the Final four which will be held in San Antonio. Brackets could be found here

Araneta Coliseum was my home for two weeks!!!

For more than two weeks I was hook with the recently concluded PBA Philippine Cup Finals. I’m an avid Purefoods TJ Giants fan since I can’t remember when and because Purefoods is one of the protagonists in the finals I really made it a point to watch every game of the finals. Well didn’t get to watch game one because I was at Elbi having fun at the yealy feb fair.

So on to Game 2, I was really excited because this will be my first time watching a PBA finals game. Confident that Purefoods would win this or else they would be in a 0-2 hole against Sta. Lucia. The game was very competitive from first quarter through the third quarter. But come the fourth quarter Sta. Lucia’s defense tightened and Kelly Williams putting on a show, the realtors went on to win game 2.

Game 3 would be a different story because the Giants’ back are against the wall and understanding that a 0-3 disadvantage would be an insurmountable task to overcome. Purefoods played like there is no tomorrow. Purefoods offense that was anchored on Kerby and James through their deadly inside and outside sniping finally clicked and adding their defense in stopping Kelly, the giants cruised to their first victory of the series

Game 4 would be the same story as game 3 but with a twist. Learning of his suspension the night before James scored a conference high 32 points and most importantly guarantying that there would be a game 6 when he returns from the one game suspension slapped on him.

Without James in Game 5 as a result of his suspension Sta. Lucia got their 3^rd win in the series. The game was competitive through the first half but it became apparent that without its star gunner the giants just won’t have the tools to stop the rampaging realtors. Coach Ryan put it aptly, saying that without James they are like going to a marathon without one leg.

Game 6 was a classic. With realtors having the lead going into the fourth quarter, James suddenly found his shooting and drained 5 out of 6 tripples and scoring 20 of his game high 30 points, securing a ‘do or die’ game seven.

Game 7 was a nip and tuck affair as no team would have a comfortable lead. But as the last five minutes of the game approach, the realtors’ dreaded defense put the giants into their knees, as they have never recovered.

There are many what ifs, for one, what if commissioner barrios didn’t elevate James fragrant foul from penalty 1 to penalty 2 and did not suspend James? What if James played that game 5 would the result be different knowing that Purefoods had the momentum?

Taking nothing away from Sta. Lucia they deserve the win and have to congratulate them for a great tournament, truly their chemistry as team showed in the finals.

Well I’m disappointed ‘cause Purefoods didn’t get the trophy but for what its worth the finals was really a classic one and I got to witness it live.