Man, did we see a lot of revelations this past week.
Monday we saw how Generika-Ayala Lifesavers upset the Foton Tornadoes Blue Energy in the PSL Invitationals, thanks to their rejuvenated offense. Their defense were as lethal as ever as everybody is still mopping the floor with their bodies and jerseys, but the spring in the jump of Patty Orendain was surreal. If you think it's just a somehow exaggerated comparison on a person who jumps really, really high, then you got to see that woman jump and spike that volleyball really close so we can have that agreement that it is not an overreaction.
But how about Bang Pineda... it only took her like five sets in total this conference to complete the transition from a libero to a full-blown attacker. Although she is now a designated hitter, she never left her past life on the court behind. She and Kath Arado may form a sign on their side of the court that says "BAWAL BUMAGSAK ANG BOLA DITO!" whenever she's on the back row. On the front, her variety of attacks just hurt that Foton team that is suffering from a serious lack of floor defense.
One more thing before I move past the PSL... I have no idea how we are going to crown a Rookie of the Year or Rookie of the Conference or whatever, but the front-runner on that rookie award thing as of today must be Gyra Barroga. On her very first PSL match, she carried Cocolife's offense just when they were about to blow another set against UE. Defense paid high premium on her on their second match against Sta. Lucia, but she still managed to make some points. Thanks to her and to a bunch of underrated attackers, a lot won't be surprised if the asset managers be able to squeak in to the semifinals.
Since this blog has been my outlet for anything Gilas and FIBA, this post won't be done without something to talk about Gilas. I came home excited to see how Gilas will dismantle Chinese-Taipei (yes, there was no doubt in my mind that we will take home the victory) in their game... and it happened via two notable performances.
1) June Mar Fajardo - don't look now Asia, but PHI is about to release "The Kraken". As the qualifiers progress, his game in the international play progresses as well. Increased point output... increased physical presence down low... increased confidence in his tricks as well, making Tseng Wen Ting victim number two on his fake pass. Keep it up, abai!
2) Terrence Romeo - my tweet after the game said it best... 25 minutes, 14 points, six assists, ZERO turnovers. Jayson Castro might have another FIBA Asia Cup in him (that is on 2021) but it looks like Bro is ready to take over as soon as now.
Of course there all the old reliables... Andray Blatche's skill set, Blur's playmaking, Gabe Norwood's defense, coach Chot Reyes' profanities (sorry coach, the TV camera caught you cursing in tagalog which was pretty obvious when one lip reads it, but still an old reliable way to wake our troops up), and Kuya Bong Tulabot.
I'll see you all in Philippine Arena on Monday!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment