Chris Pacana

Last Wednesday, Sta. Lucia Realtors (SLR) battled with the reigning All Filipino Cup Champions, Derby Ace Llamados. For me, this would be hitting two birds with one stone: seeing my favorites [Chris Pacana and Kerby Raymundo] in one game. However, at the back of my head, I am somewhat hearing thoughts from Coach Boyet Fernandez that he won't be utilizing Chris' skills. On top of that, I heard that Kerby won't be playing for he was still nursing a knee injury. Most likely, my stone won't hit any bird at all. With that in mind, I chose to run with my bestfriend at UP Diliman's Academic Oval. Only to find out a day after that Chris actually played, for 2 minutes. Short. But still seeing him play is noteworthy. Good thing I was able to download that game. I will be watching it and hopefully crop the part where he did play and post it here. Which quarter did he play?

Yesterday, while I was still on the hype of my new Personal Record of 01:14:56 in my 10K run [conquering Buendia Flyover twice], I forgot that SLR is battling against Talk N' Text (TNT). And it's already late when I realized that. I, once more, missed SLR game. But the most disappointing of that was, I again failed to see Chris play [this time for 6 minutes].

He played... but I failed to watch. *sigh*

I kinda miss PBA. I got frustrated last time when the Purefoods TJ Giants (PF) were eliminated in their wildcard game against the Air21 Express. I got a little more disappointed that time since Kerby 'The Kid' Raymundo was only able to gain most of his scores only from the free throw line. Anyway, it is the first game of the Quarter Finals Series between the Barangay Ginebra Kings (BGK), my favorite team, and the San Miguel Beermen (SMB).

I was not able to watch the game. Good that I have friends who willingly update me on the happenings as the game goes by. I was kinda sad that time when SMB lead ballooned to 10 big points at the end of the first half (42-32). To my mind, SMB is really an all-star cast. And there's BonBon Custodio (my bet for the Rookie of the Year, ha ha) who really plays so well. But, I still wanted to see BGK winning the game.

I was delighted when BGK come back because of their 3-pt shots. And it was more fascinating since one of the shots from the parking lot came from my favorite player, Chris Pacana. I really hoped that he would be given more playing time by Coach Jong Uichico.

It was a tight ball game in the ending minutes. While still on my way home, I hoped that I could still catch the game and see Pacana throwing the winning shot. Yes, I was able to catch the game. It was about 47 (Mark Caguioa? Where are you?) seconds left, 78-77 in favor of SMB, BGK's ball. Well, as expected, Pacana is no where to be found in the court. Pacana is used by Coach Uichico more on the defensive stop rather on offense. Anyway, what matter here now is to have a basket. But it was heartbreaking when Ronald Tubid failed to chip in his 3 point basket. Nonetheless, he was hailed as the game's 3-point King. Now, it was SMB's ball. They just melted the clock, and was not able to gain a basket. Only 4 seconds left, BGK had another chance of making a win from this one. But, JayJay Helterbrand's 3-point attempt does not even touch the rim. Well, it was a hard shot. He was not given any screen that time. He simply fished for a foul then against Custodio, but the referees were too lazy to call one. (It makes me miss PF, and all their buzzer beaters.)

Sorry loss for BGK. The game could have been for the them -- It Could Have Been For The Kings. But, it was not. Well, the series is a Best of 3, they will surely come back next game. It would be a do or die for them. And I'm sure, they'll do it.

The scores:

San Miguel 78 - Tugade 15, Hontiveros 14, Racela 11, Custodio 10, Seigle 10, Pingris 6, Pena 6, Washington 4, Pennisi 2, Calaguio 0.

Ginebra 77 - Mamaril 22, Tubid 14, Valenzuela 9, Helterbrand 8, Artadi 7, Salvacion 6, Menk 4, Pacana 3, Wilson 2, Crisano 2, Escalona 0, Cabatu 0.

Quarterscores: 21-16, 42-32, 61-54, 78-77.

November 23 is my birthday. One month and one day shy of Chris' birthday. Yes, we're born on same year, year of the Rooster. A month before my birthday, I had planned everything. Fate's on my side that time.

The Plan
Me and my online friends will be watching PBA game at the Araneta Coliseum on November 21. The scheduled game were Game 1: Coca-Cola Tigers vs Purefoods TJ Giants and Game 2: Barangay Ginebra Kings vs Sta. Lucia Realtors. It was perfect, for me at least. Two of my favorite teams would be playing, PF and BGK. Months ago, it was planned. Me, Thania, AM, and Hanna would be watching the game live. It would be special to have Hanna seated beside me. We have lot of things in common. We both love PF and BGK.

My Wish
As a fan, I had this wonderful wish, that Chris Pacana be hailed as the game's Best Player of the Game that night, that he may have double-double figures, 22 big points, 10 big rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, and 1 block shot. There, that'll be great. And it would be greater if Kerby Raymundo will be the BPG of Game 1. And definitely, after the game, I won't let the moment to pass me by without having a picture with Chris, with me wearing a shirt with his jersey number on.

The Reality
Too good to be true. Aside from the initial friends that would be beside me watching the game, Mark, Gwen, and Josephine will also be around. As early as Tuesday, we bought tickets, seven (7) tickets. But to my dismay, PBA just changed schedule. BGK's game was move on November 22 to be held at San Juan Arena. *sigh* I hate PBA. So we had to return the tickets and exchange it for November 22 game instead. Goodbye watching PF live. Well, it was not really a bad news since it allowed me to take a rest from my 8AM-8AM (Thursday - Friday) work. November 22. The date was nice. It was Chris' jersey number. But something went wrong. Hanna and Josephine won't be coming. I felt so sad. I even mentioned to Hanna that it won't be the same without her. And a sudden idea come to me, a worse one -- Chris, nursing an injury, might not show at all tonight's ballgame. And now I can be a fortune teller, there was really no CP#22 on November 22. It's not the usual me. The game was intense, someone from the SLR had been out of the playing court for a flagrant and a technical foul called on him. But I remained silent. I just can't cheer. All I can say was 'Nasaan si Chris?'. Everyone's cheering their hearts out. I had witnessed two (2) buzzer beaters. One was on the 2nd Quarter where JayJay Helterbrand chipped in a 3 pointer at the nick of time. The other one was Willie Wilson's basket, beating the buzzer on the 3rd Quarter. And yes, it was Sunday Salvacion's night. His 3 pointers kept the lead of BGK. SLR just can't get things right. The rebound always ends up to the hands of Billy Mamaril, Eric Menk, or Wilson. The team's great. Never say die attitude, that is. But am I happy? As the seconds are winding down on the pay-off period, I was still hoping that Chris might be there somewhere watching the game. But, no, there won't be CP#22 that night. Oh, sad birthday for me. Well, at least I got the consolation from Chris' teammates, ha ha. They won the ballgame.

The scores:

Ginebra 93 – Salvacion 22, Artadi 18, Tubid 17, Helterbrand 13, Wilson 8, Cabatu 7, Menk 4, Mamaril 2, Crisano 2, Escalona 0, Holper 0, Valenzuela 0.

Sta. Lucia 81 – Espino 19, Miranda 10, Yeo 9, Omolon 9, Williams 8, Gonzales 8, Aquino 7, Gregorio 5, Coronel 3, Mendoza 3.

Quarterscores: 24-15, 56-39, 74-65, 93-81

by john geoffrey dacanay

It was a night of upsets and career games. Ex-Ginebra forward Allan Salangsang scored all but two of his career-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to key the Coca Cola Tigers' breakaway over the defending All-Filipino champs Purefoods Chunkee Giants, 92-77, in the 2006 PBA-Talk N Text Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum. Aside from Salangsang, the Tigers also drew some strong games from Jason Misolas (14 points and 10 boards) and rookie Joseph Yeo (13 points), both career-highs.

Chris Pacana had another brilliant game for the Tigers contributing 8 points and 5 assists as a backup to starter Denok Miranda. The Tigers have now won back-to-back games after losing their first two games of the season. The loss spoiled the career-high 18 points of Purefoods' mercurial point guard Paul Artadi. Artadi also grabbed 5 boards, dished off 5 assists and stole twice.

The Tigers led by as much as 14 points in the first half but couldn't pull away from its visibly out-of-sync opponent. The Chunkee Giants finally found its rhythm in the third quarter to pull even at 49-all but a blistering 13-4 run by the Tigers at the end of the third quarter took the starch out of the Giants.

Ali Peek paced the Tigers with 19 points, 8 of those in the fourth quarter to keep Purefoods at bay. Peek also grabbed 8 boards. John Arigo was not able to finish the game after suffering from cramps in the third quarter and wound up with only 8 points, the lowest in the tournament so far for the league's leading scorer (25.7 ppg).

Kerby Raymundo backstopped Artadi with 15 points. Peter June Simon had another great game, finishing with 14 points for the Giants who played without Jun Limpot and Jondan Salvador. 2006 PBA MVP James Yap struggled all game long and could only chip in 10 points. The loss was the Giants third in four games.

In the nightcap, the Air21 Express leaned on the career games of Ranidel de Ocampo, Gary David and Wynne Arboleda to deal the Talk N Text Phonepals its first loss of the season, 127-110, thereby arresting also its three-game losing skid.

Ranidel de Ocampo and Gary David exploded for a career-high 33 and 30 points, respectively, including a combined 24-point output in the fourth quarter to blow the game wide open. Express point guard Wynne Arboleda dished off a career-best 18 assists. Super rookie Arwind Santos only had 12 points but had two emphatic blocks on Asi Taulava. The Express continued to miss the high-flying Nino Canaleta who suffered a broken nose two games ago.

The Phonepals were led by Taulava's 21 points and Don Allado's 18 points. Fil-Am Anthony Washington couldn't get his game going and contributed only a listless 5 point-effort. The loss leaves the Sta. Lucia Realtors as the only unbeaten team in the tourney.

First Game:
Coca-Cola 92 = Peek 19, Salangsang 16, Misolas 14, Yeo 13, Pacana 8, Miranda 8, Arigo 8, Gavino 2, Caceres 2, Raneses 2, Ferreria 0, Antonio 0.
Purefoods 77 = Artadi 18, Raymundo 15, Simon 14, Yap J. 10, Pingris 7, Yee 4, Castillo 4, Bautista 3, Yap R. 2, Evangelista 0.
Quarterscores: 19-19, 41-38, 62-53, 92-77

Second Game:
Air21 127 = de Ocampo R. 33, David 30, de Ocampo Y. 13, Santos 12, Tubid 10, Telan 9, Arboleda 9, Avenido 7, Se 4, Sotto 0, Dimaunahan 0.
Talk n Text 110 = Taulava 21, Allado 18, Ritualo 15, Alapag 13, Carey 12, Cardona 8, Belano 8, Pablo 6, Washington 5, Andaya 4, Fran 0.
Quarterscores: 29-26, 60-all, 91-85, 127-110