PSL Invitationals 2018 Finals Preview: Place Your MVP Bets!

No doubt about it… this conference’s MVP will come from either F2 Logistics or Petron. Two teams that are starting to make their own epic in Philippine sporting scene. It’s just fitting to talk about the players that would carry them to the promised land this conference.

But let’s start with honorable mentions (unofficial awards) from the other teams that made their mark in this short but intense conference.

To The Rescue Award: Mylene Paat

While Jovelyn Gonzaga is still away, Cignal found one hell of a reinforcement with Mylene Paat. A perfect complement to what Rachel Ann Daquis gave on offense during their unbeaten run in the preliminaries. Count me in to the people who will not complain if they give her the best opposite spiker award. It’s a huge possibility if F2 Logistics wins the title. The reason otherwise will be stated later.

“F*ck it! I Will Play!” Award: MJ Phillips

All were shocked when MJ entered the floor for their quarterfinals match in a sling. Obviously it would be a big blow to the game of Sta. Lucia if she will not play. A bigger blow was when we found out that it was a tear in her spiking shoulder. Damn! F2 Logistics have their jobs cut for them. She wasn’t in the first six, so we all knew what would it mean. But wait… she was in uniform, so that would mean…

Yes, she played in the second set.

I saw her serve and wince in pain afterwards. Everyone in the arena who saw that surely felt the pain too. Same thing goes to her attacks... one spike, one wince. It was pretty excruciating to see but not to her specially when they were winning the second set. After that set win, her next attacks seem to be pain free… no wince, no cringe whatsoever. Of course reality came in that F2 Logistics will win that match. Nevertheless, it was a solid statement that despite of the odds, she will be ready to go.

There are other awards for the other honorable mentions in the other teams, but the winners are from the two finalists. These are the accolades such as “Literally A Spring In Their Jump” award that qualified Patty Orendain, Fiola Ceballos, and Jonah Sabete, but the winner is definitely Sisi Rondina, and “The Diglett” award that qualified Kath Arado and Jheck Dionela, but clearly it would go to either Buding Duremdes or Dawn Macandili.

Since we are now in championship row, it’s now time to make the case for these potential MVPs, in no particular order.

Ara Galang

Hater or not, you would all definitely say that SHE IS BACK!

Many of the observers are in agreement that we would know that she is back if she gets that jump again and spike that ball down hard. True enough she was hitting cross courts, off speeds, through the blockers, like it was UAAP all over again. In addition, she got that backrow attack calibrated so well that it always throws backline defenders off. With that wide range of offensive arsenal, defenders would need some work to check her. Back in their preliminaries match against Petron, Galang was a constant in the offense in that game where everybody else in her team was restrained by the defense. Expect that she’ll go to work early in offense in order to attract the defense of Petron and let her teammates get their groove on offense. That game plan might get her the case for MVP if they win the series.

While we’re here at the Cargo Movers’ side… coach Ramil De Jesus could either start Kim Fajardo or Michelle Cobb at the setter position; Mich Morente is starting to make some impact offensively; and I am going to look forward for more combination plays in the middle. They did that once against Petron and it sure made them look so clueless on what to do on defense.

Now for Petron…

Aiza Maizo-Pontillas

I always say that Petron is the craftiest team offensively, but Aiza is the craftiest of them all. It’s like she time travels three seconds forward to check the net defense given to her, travel back in time and hit the fitting attack to score. Malayo blocker sa net, papaluan kita! Walang coverage sa likod, drop ka lang. Nakataas kamay mo sa block, lalakasan ko na para lumipad palabas yan! The scary part is she is doing it in very consistently. Although she is not the always Rhea’s first option on offense, but when it’s her time to score, she will score. I mentioned this on Twitter; if Ces got foiled on her attack, so as Mika, and so as Bernadeth Pons, and the rally goes on… if all else fails, go to Aiza… and she will score.

For the others… defense will highly rely on the middles; Mika Reyes, Chloe Cortez, and Rem Palma. Once the net defense does it job of at least delaying the spikes of the Cargo Movers, Rhea Dimaculangan will have a field day cherry picking her attackers.

Who will win? I do not know. Let’s just all sit back, relax, then get carried away with the long rallies, and enjoy the series. The rivalry continues!

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Little Amount Of News, Lots And Lots Of Commentaries

When you got too many sporting news on and off the court for the past week, one can’t help but to talk about it. Let’s go!!!

Thursday noontime: PSL files a complaint.

A complaint was filed before the NBI on former PSL officials over alleged embezzlement of league funds. Nothing really to talk about here because everyone inside the PSL isn’t really that much bothered with all the publicity the issue will get. From the vibe of what is going on inside the league while all of these are happening, it’s like a big “wala lang… yun lang.” thing. Something must be done to correct the mistakes that have committed, and that’s it… let’s move on. Analyzing it on a deeper level, it seems that this was a very calculated move and everyone running the league – the board, team owners, sponsors – knew everything about this before they made this public move, and we, the people, able to know it last. The reason? Their responsibility to the fans is to give us the best volleyball competition this country could ever see, and getting us, the public, involved in this issue will not do anything good to that responsibility. They won’t make any move that will ruin that responsibility to us fans, so let’s leave them at that.

Funny thing though… PVL fans who hate the PSL so much found this as a very big deal, where they got one big issue on their own. We’ll get to that later.

Thursday afternoon: FIBA sanctions are served

Suspensions on the 10 players and two coaches of Gilas. Suspensions on the three players of Australia. Fines on Gilas and Australia. I’m pretty sure you have read the full details of the sanctions on both countries elsewhere. I’m just here to tell you that to me, this was a pretty fair sanction. A very reasonable one. My initial reaction when I have read the whole details of the sanction was “it could have been worse.” But to further put some more spices on the recipe, so to speak, here are other things that can be added or further detailed on those sanctions:

1) The SBP can order the host venue, Philippine Arena, to take a share on the fine pie. From what I am aware of, the venue provided the security in that game. So since fans got involved, they have a shared blame on this one.

2) FIBA should give a share of the Boomers’ fine to SBP for the physical damage because of the decal removal. The cost of reprinting that costs something too, and Philippine Arena is claiming that it also permanently damaged the floor because of the errant procedure in removing those decals. So there, Philippine Arena… you lose some, you get some too.

Before I proceed, take note that the referees who worked that game got suspended for a year. They won’t be able to work on international and continental games. Hope they got inter-barangay games on their respective countries to work on their judgment on calls.

One more thing… high five, Allein Maliksi!

Thursday evening: Future plans for the SBP/Gilas

First thing we talked about after scrutinizing the sanction was the venue of the next home game in September against Qatar. Since we are going to play that in a closed door venue – no fans allowed - there’s no reason to use those big-ass venues such as Smart-Araneta Coliseum or Mall of Asia Arena. So, where to?

1) Cuneta Astrodome – also known as Punyeta Astrodome.

2) Ynares Center, Antipolo – favorable for people who are near in Antipolo who will be working that game. One thing though, there are not enough rooms there to house different offices during the game.

3) Filoil-Flying V Center / San Juan Arena – a value-for-money venue. It got kick-ass air-conditioning too.

4) San Andres Gym – if we can’t have it in San Juan, then we could use another “San”, the San Andres Gym. Favorable to me, because I live in Manila. That’s just the plain advantage of it.

5) Meralco Gym – a couple of guys from SBP’s suggestion. Gilas home court.

If you have a venue on your mind where we can play the next home game which is closed door, drop a comment in this post and also tell a reasonable yet quirky reason on why the FIBA game can be played there.

Another glaring topic perhaps are the people who’ll fill in for the suspended players. Our immediate reaction? Ang daming player! It wasn’t a concern to us. For that reason, let’s save that issue for another time.

Another high five, Allein Maliksi!

Saturday: PSL Invitationals Semifinals

Three things about the Saturday matches.

1) If Generika-Ayala played the way how they played Sta. Lucia that day in the quarterfinals against Smart-Army, Petron might have a different opponent in the semis.

2) The match between F2 Logistics and Cignal is much, much closer than what it says in the stats sheet. It was an ultimate defensive showdown between the two teams. Jheck Dionela and Dawn Macandili digging those spikes left and right, middle blockers at work for both teams; rallies lasting for like an hour. Too bad Cignal dropped the first set via a 5-0 F2 Logistics run, and found trouble closing sets since then.

3) Petron and F2 Logistics is now the Manila Clasico of volleyball. “San Juan Clasico” to say the least, but it sounds too forced. People will find a name to this rivalry soon in a natural manner.

Saturday: NU dropping out of PVL CC

The sole reason of me looking forward to this PVL Collegiate Conference is that damn NU team today which I have been covering since their high school days. If anything, coach Babes Castillo just did a coach Ramil De Jesus system, where the seniors coach and coaching staff also handles the high school team in order to aid the transition of the team every time they will lose a player to graduation. See the wonder it did for De La Salle. Babes Castillo have a very strong high school team, they only lost a SINGLE set in the 2017 Rebisco Volleyball League out of the seven matches that they had. How could I not be excited to see them face a tougher competition?

Well, they had that Balipure team in the PVL RC… but it didn’t felt right for me. They got other players and imports in that team. I still wanted that same team I saw back in 2017. As one friend told me, “bali… pure ang gusto mo.” Exactly!

Press release of them dropping out was apparently “they were not ready”. It was pure baloney to me because:

1) Someone else is speaking for them.

2) They have been ready for years.

I would understand Ateneo backing out of this because they got a new coach and understandably, they would need some time to instill a new system before they can get into actual competition. But for this NU team… no way! However, I am not pinning the blame to NU. I know that exact team long enough for me to know that they will not back down from a challenge. Hell, they can be asked to play against Petron for a tune-up game tomorrow and they will play! It’s a golden opportunity specially for their young main gunners to get this experience playing against these seasoned players even for a mere exhibition match.

There, I said it… young main gunners. Reports have it that a rule change disallowed those young main gunners to play for the team this conference. If that is the case, then coach Babes will not really have a team. NU definitely not to blame.

Sayang lang… I was really looking forward to watching them play… that is, if it will be shown… AYOKO NGA PALANG MAGSALITA!

All week long: Ateneo De Manila Gilas Pilipinas

Can we just hand the UAAP Season 81 Men’s Basketball Championship to Ateneo right now? I mean, they raised a lot of hell in the Jones Cup! They scared the hell out of the Korean NT core, came close to the Canadians, gutted the Chinese Taipei’s NT insides that their fans felt ashamed of their own team, and sent a message to the Iranians that their days as an Asian powerhouse are numbered.

The only team that can defeat them in the UAAP are themselves. If they are going to be that pesky in defense… that active and precise in offense… and that enthusiastic yet humble in every game… there is NO WAY those seven other teams can beat them. ­

PBA and PSL finals are coming this week. Plus, I might start seeing some NCAA Basketball action. Have a good week ahead!

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PSL Invitationals 2018 Playoffs Preview: Six-Pack Attack

Can we just start off with WHAT A MATCH THAT WAS between Petron and F2?

That match happened the way it did because it was a result of F2 Logistics having a short stint in Thailand and Petron came from another WHAT A MATCH game against Generika-Ayala, which they lost in five sets with set number four going to extended play.

The Blaze Spikers had some inconsistency issues, specially with their blocking during the match against the Lifesavers. If that indeed was the case, then the middles of Petron made a hell of a response in their match against F2, both on offense and defense. F2’s comebacks are coming up short in the closing moments of those sets except on the third set. As a result, Petron had a good week’s rest, making them able to get ready for the semifinals while F2 has to take the longer road and face Sta. Lucia in the quarterfinals.

Since we’re at it, let us now preview the upcoming matches in the playoffs of the PSL Invitational 2018.

F2 Logistics vs. Sta. Lucia

It is quite unfortunate that we won’t be able to see a full-strength Lady Realtors in this conference. Jho Maraguinot and Chin Basas still nursing injuries and the beach volleyball stars Jacky Estoquia and DM Demontano just starting to find their groove in their libero duties. Good thing MJ Phillips is now playing like a full-blown star and Jonah Sabete’s ever improving athleticism making her attack more dangerous. These factors might give the Lady Realtors a shot against the Cargo Movers.

In F2’s side in the meantime, we only need two things to know about this team: their first six? PSL Champion; and their second six? UAAP Champion.

Smart-Army vs. Generika-Ayala

If championships are won through text votes, I’d max my phone’s credit limit to vote for Generika-Ayala to win it all. I mean… how fun is this team to watch? They throw their bodies around like they have a higher chance of getting hurt physically if the ball hit the floor on their side compared to diving to the floor. They are not the tallest of the teams but their designated blockers are doing just enough to delay the attacks of the opponents and give the floor divers a chance to dig those spikes better. On the offensive side, Patty Orendain and Fiola Ceballos are still jumping out of the building in their attacks while Bang Pineda now contributing consistently in the offensive end while never leaving her old job as a libero. Look, just when I tried to talk about GAL’s offense, it brought me back to their defense. That’s just it!

This quarterfinal match-up might go to five sets (Generika-Ayala have two five-setters already). Smart-Army is just too smart and too experienced to fall for GAL’s vaunted floor defense. Ging Balse-Pabayo, Joanne Bunag, and Nene Bautista for sure have some tricks under their sleeves to try and outmaneuver their opponent’s defense. In addition, GAL’s defense will be assessed anew; a test that is named Dim-Dim Pacres.

Cignal vs. Winner of F2/Sta. Lucia

HD Spikers finally moving on with the temporary loss of Jovelyn Gonzaga and Janine Marciano in their lineup, thanks to Mylene Paat and a healthy Rachel Ann Daquis. In addition, Cignal’s improved net defense will surely take some of the load off Jheck Dionela’s shoulders. They had Sta. Lucia’s number this conference so they have a pretty good idea on what to do in the semis if the Lady Realtors make it. Otherwise – F2 advancing to the semis -, this will be their first true test in their life without their all-injury team members (Jovelyn is a semi-retired all-injury team member by the way… she’s in her Army training right now).

Petron vs. Winner of Smart-Army/Generika-Ayala

Petron never lost a step in their groove since the GP championship. It looks like Lindsay Stalzer, Katherine Bell, and Yuri Fukuda never left the team because Ces Molina and company are able to fill collectively the void that the imports left. Defensively, Buding Duremdes is doing a hell of a job digging attacks, complementing the good work the blockers are doing. Offensively, they are the weirdest… their craftiest attackers are the tallest and their strongest spiker is the smallest. Wait, did I mention that their smallest attacker can hit from the back row like it is a front-liner attacking?

And I have to say this… Shaq Delos Santos will beat Tai Bundit in the Most Animated Volleyball Coach In The Philippines Championship. If you are playing DotA and there’s this one opponent who is so annoying because he knows every move that your teammates are going to do, and he shouts it out loud, and then you got distracted and your team lost the clash… that’s him! He’s the annoying opponent! He’s so noisy, but he reads your team’s every single move, making him really, really good.

Exciting times ahead for the PSL Invitationals 2018!

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