Player of the Week: Big Game James

About a month a half ago, new B-Meg head coach Tim Cone was quoted to have said that James Yap will flourish in the triangle offense that he has long been preaching. It may have taken a while but that certainly is what is already happening right now at the Llamados’ camp.

The two-time MVP lived up to his “Big Game James” monicker, coming up with huge games for B-Meg this past week as the Llamados stretched their winning streak to three in the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup.

As a result, the PBA Press Corps has named him its Accel Player of the Week for the period November 7 to 13.

James Yap first sizzled with 25 points, 11 right in the opening period, as B-Meg exacted revenge on Meralco and former head coach Ryan Gregorio last Friday 95-79 at the Cuneta Astrodome. James added four rebounds, two assists and one shotblock while going 2-of-4 from three-point range as the Llamados got back at the Bolts who won their first meeting 84-78 last Oct. 15.

After just a two-day rest, James Yap followed it up with a 24-point effort last Sunday as the Llamados beat Cone’s former team, Alaska, for the second time in the conference 92-89 in double overtime last Sunday.

James again provided the initial spark with 10 points in the opening period. Then just when everybody thought fatigue had caught up with him as he came with just a combined six points in the final three quarters and in the first overtime, James exploded four eight markers in the second extra period, going 4-for-4 from the field as B-Meg, which was playing minus an injured PJ Simon, finished off the Aces.

“James has that unique ability to put his whole team on his back and carry them to victory. He can score and make tough shots against great defense and that is demoralizing for the opposing team,” said Cone, adding he knows that by heart.

“I know because I use to be against him, and I’m just glad I’m on his side now,” a happy Cone explained.

For his part, James Yap is only too glad the Llamados, who have upped their record to 5-4 from a dismal 2-4 start, are finally clicking and thriving under the new system of Cone.

“Masaya siyempre dahil nagbubunga na yung mga paghihirap namin.  Sana magtuloy-tuloy na,” said James of the team’s current success.

On his winning Player of the Week honors, he said, “Kung ito yung pruweba na makakapag-adjust na nga hindi lang ako kundi ang buong team sa triangle offense ni coach Tim sana mas mag-improve pa kami lalo. Pasalamat talaga ako kay coach Tim sa tiyaga niya sa pagturo sa amin ng triangle.”

James Yap beat teammate Kerby Raymundo and Petron Blaze stalwarts Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot for Player of the Week honors.(pr)

Mark, Willie lead North against James and South

THE explosive Ginebra backcourt tandem of Mark Caguioa and Willie Miller leads the North team against James Yap and the South squad when the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) unveils the 2011 edition of the annual All-Star game next month in the scenic island of Boracay.

Caguioa and Miller accumulated the most number of fan votes among guards from Luzon with 17,037 and 9,603, respectively, in earning the starting guard spots
for the North.

But it was James Yap, as expected, who emerged the runaway fan favorite, receiving the most number of votes among this year’s All-Stars with 31,437.

The Derby Ace top gunner gets to share stellar billing with high-flyer Cyrus Baguio of Alaska, who nosed out Talk `N Text’s Jimmy Alapag for the other backcourt spot by earning 18,342 votes. Alapag got 16,785.

Voting for the May 18-23 mid-season spectacle dubbed ‘Hala Bola Boracay 2011 All Star Weekend’ ended last April 10.

Joining Caguioa and Miller in the starting unit of the North are llamados frontcourt tandem Mark Pingris (22,041) and Kerby Raymundo (15,381), with Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood, last year’s All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, filling up the last North starting spot with 12,744 votes.

Starting up front for the South are Barangay Ginebra’s Eric Menk, who garnered 23,571 votes, San Miguel’s Jay Washington (23,571) and Kelly Williams of Talk `N Text (20,439).

Talk `N Text’s Chot Reyes and Ato Agustin of San Miguel will call the shots for the South and North squads, respectively, after guiding their teams into the Philippine Cup Finals.

The South All Stars are raring to get back against their North counterparts after losing last year’s All-Star game by the skin of their teeth, 133-132, in Puerto Princesa City.PR

James Yap leads All-Star balloting

AS expected, James Yap emerged as the frontrunner in the early
balloting for the coming 2011 PBA All-Star game the island paradise of
Boracay is hosting for the first time.

Yap, the league’s two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) from Derby Ace,
received a total of 7,452 fan votes to lead all candidates comprising
the roster of both North and South teams for the May 18-23 festivities
dubbed `Hala Bola Boracay 2011 All Star weekend’

The former University of the East star is tops among backcourt players
for the South squad that also included Talk `N Text’s Jimmy Alapag
(4,338), Cyrus Baguio of Alaska (3,933), Air21’s Dondon Hontiveros
(3,303) and Ronald Tubid of Barangay Ginebra (2,763).

Among the South big men (center/forwards), San Miguel’s Jay Washington
leads the pack with 4,824 votes followed by Kelly Williams of Talk `N
Text (4,194), Meralco’s Asi Taulava (3,798), Ginebra’s Eric Menk
(3,240) and the Alaska duo of Joe Devance (2,997) and Sonny Thoss
(2,799).

Meanwhile, Yap’s Derby Ace teammate, Mark Pingris received the highest
number of votes so far among players from the North side.

The energetic forward tallied 3,807 votes to lead the list of top
North big men. At second is fellow Llamados Kerby Raymundo with 3,312
and at third is Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood, the 2010 All-Star MVP,
with 2,988.

Likewise getting the nod of the fans are Ginebra’s JC Intal (2,466),
veteran San Miguel center Danny Ildefonso (2,160) and Ginebra’s Rudy
Hatfield (2,124).

The popular Ginebra combo of Mark Caguioa and Willie Miller shows the
way in the guard position with votes of 3,375 and 2,488, respectively.

Rounding out the other top three guard candidates for the North team
are Alaska’s L.A. Tenorio (2,016), San Miguel’s Alex Cabagnot (2,007)
and Paul Artadi of Air21 (1,773).

Voting, which began last Feb. 27, is still ongoing and will only be
held during game days at the PBA playing venue.

Final day of voting is on April 10.

Reserves of both teams will be chosen by the nine PBA coaches, but who
are prohibited from voting their players.

The rest of the participants in the other events will be made on the
first week of April.

Members of Pilipinas-Smart Gilas team were not included in the voting
as the Nationals are set to see action in the 2011 FIBA-Asia Champions
Cup from May 28 to June 5 which the country is hosting.

Last year the North All Stars edged out South, 133-132, during the
All-Star game held in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.PR

YAP, NORWOOD ARTADI SEEK TITLE REPEAT

JAMES Yap and Gabe Norwood spice up the 2010 PBA All-Star festivity as they try to score back-to-back in their respective events in the skills competition side of the three-day mid-season spectacle the city of Puerto Princesa is hosting for the first time.

      

Yap, the former league MVP and top gunner of B-Meg Derby Ace, seeks a second straight three-point shootout title over a strong 10-man field that includes two former champions in Dondon Hontiveros of San Miguel Beer and Air21’s RenRen Ritualo.

      

On the other hand, the high-leaping Norwood, last season’s Rookie of the Year from Rain or Shine, defends his slam dunk crown against a tough cast that boasts of three-time champion KG Canaleta of Derby Ace and former titlist Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia.

      

Set April 23-25, the annual classic will again feature the North vs. South classic, with Yap leading the way for the South after emerging as the player with the most number of fan votes as a starter. Norwood meanwhile, suits up for the North squad as a last minute replacement for the injured Kerby Raymundo.

      

Derby Ace back-up point guard Paul Artadi will also be back to defend the Obstacle Challenge title. Among his toughest competition are Willie Miller of Alaska, Ronjay Buenafe of Air 21 and Solomon Mercado of Rain or Shine.

      

Also entered in the same skills event are Barako Energy Coffee’ s Jojo Duncil,  Chris Ross of Coca-Cola, Jason Castro of Talk `N Text, San Miguel’s Jonas Villanueva, Josh Urbiztondo of Sta. Lucia , White of Alaska and either Peter June Simon or Timberlake for Derby Ace.

       

Challenging Yap in the long distance shootout aside from Ritualo and Hontiveros  are Jimmy Alapag of Talk `N Text, Tenorio, Urbiztondo, Rain or Shine’s Jeff Chan, Mark Macapagal of Coke, Barako Coffee’s Yousif Aljamal and Barangay Ginebra’s Ronald Tubid.

      

Yap beat out Hontiveros in last year’s shootout to win his first three-point contest title in the league.

      

And Norwood?   Other than Canaleta and Williams, the charismatic guard out of George Mason University also has to contend with the likes of Talk `N Text’s Jared Dillinger, rookie Rico Maierhofer of Derby Ace and Barangay Ginebra’s JC Intal.

      

Norwood edged out  Canaleta in their duke out a year ago, with Williams skipping the slam competition after suffering a blood disorder.

      

But the Rain or Shine stalwart lost to Ginebra import and 2000 U.S. NCAA slam dunk champion David Noel in their dunk off.

PUREFOODS vs ALASKA Game 4 Images

PBA IMAGE 1 - James Yap with the KFC officials awarded as KFC PBA Best Player of the Conference
PBA IMAGE 2 - James Yap and Comm Sonny Barrios and with teamates as he receives the KFC PBA Best Player of the Conference
PBA IMAGE 3 - James Yap and Comm Sonny Barrios as he receives the KFC PBA Best Player of the Conference
PBA IMAGE 4 - LA Tenorio with Sonny Barrios and KFC Officials as he was awarded as the KFC Assist Player
PBA IMAGE 5 - LA Tenorio tries to create room for against Refi Reavis and Roger Yap
PBA IMAGE 6 - Willie Miller looks to have control of the ball against Don Allado
PBA IMAGE 7 - Sonny Toss gets sorrounded by Purefoods defense namely Rafi Reavis, Kerby Raymundo and Mar Pingris
PBA IMAGE 8 - Sonny Toss was blocked from behind by Marc Pingris
PBA IMAGE 9 - James Yap dribble drives against Willie MIller

Coke vs Purefoods Images

Powerade-RP sweeps SEABA

Powerade-RP sweeps SEABA
MEDAN – Having conquered the 8th Southeast Asian Basketball Association Men’s Championship, Powerade-Team Pilipinas now confronts two contrasting realities and national coach Yeng Guiao faces one of the most difficult choices in his life.

The Queen’s Freddie Mercury took over from where Nat King Cole left off Tuesday night, belting out the anthemic “We Are The Champions” as Powerade-Team Pilipinas ditched a languid first quarter waltz to rock host Indonesia, 98-68, in the SEABA final at the Angkasapura Lanud Basketball Hall.

“It’s time for the real test and the real thing,” announced Guaio after the game. The win made official the entry of the Philippines and Indonesia as Southeast Asia’s representatives to the FIBA-Asia World Championship qualifier in Tianjin, China in August, and set up the Nationals for what coach Yeng Guiao calls the “real test” and the “real thing.”

Fashioned before a raucous hometown crowd that savored every minute of a riveting first quarter, the victory continued for another SEABA staging the country’s basketball dominance in the region.

The Nationals were held to a 22-all tie in the opening quarter but came out rumbling in the second half – after spending a few minutes with their mercurial mentor in the dugout – applying heavy backcourt pressure in stretching a 46-32 lead at the intermission to 91-54 on a three-point shot by Mick Pennisi with 4:20 left.

“We had our share of nervous moments not just in the championship game but the whole tournament,” said Guiao. “It really was a major experience, not just for the team but for me personally.”

Overwhelmed 103-64 in their elimination round meeting Sunday, Indonesia achieved a measure of respect by standing toe-to-toe with their pro rivals for the first 15 minutes of the final game. They hung on tenaciously, 31-30, with quickness and aggressiveness, five three-point shots and Team RP’s own atrocious outside shooting (4 of 19 from beyond the arc) before unraveling.

The hosts eventually surrendered to the inevitable as Powerade-RP turned serious, going on a 33-11 tear that bridged the third and fourth quarters and posting a 37-point spread. “We couldn’t match their speed in the second half, and we couldn’t handle their pressure on the ball,” said Indonesian coach Raoul Miguel Hidanoto.

Cyrus Baguio and James Yap each had 14 points while Asi Taulava added 11 with 10 rebounds. Jared Dillinger added nine rebounds as Team RP dominated the boards, 65-43. The Nationals didn’t have their way with the Indons early as they did before, but they came together at the appropriate moment before a bad start could turn worse.

Treated to classic hits from one of the ‘50s greatest crooners in their game with Singapore Monday, the Nationals put on their dancing shoes this time and took to the victory stands to the hard-pounding universal sports anthem by the late vocalist of the rock group Queen.

Guiao, who would soon need to cut a 15-man lineup to 12, left much of the celebration during the award ceremony to his players, sitting on one side of the court away from the bedlam going over the game stats with assistant coach Gee Abanilla. “Offensively, our three-point shooting is way below our expectations,” he said.

“We have good shooters in this team but for one reason or another, we’ve not been shooting that well, even during the All-Stars series.” Team RP shot 23.9 percent from rainbow territory in its first three games to the opposition’s combined 31.8 percent.

Their substandard sniping, Guiao said, is something the coaching staff will be working on when practice resumes on June 16, a day before Powerade-RP team manager and Coca-Cola governor JB Baylon flies to Tianjin to attend the draw for groupings to the 25th FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship set Aug. 6-18.

“I’m sure we’ll be encountering a lot of zone defenses in China,” Guiao said. With the “first big step” toward the World Championship qualifier over and done with, the Nationals proceed to embark on the next – the Jones Cup next month in Taipei.

“The Jones Cup is the real test; the FIBA Asia is the real thing,” Guiao said during dinner hosted hosted by Baylon at the Marriott Hotel. “This tournament (SEABA) is just a confidence builder, a way to see the character of these guys. Now we move on to tougher things.”

Scores:

POWERADE-TP 98 – Baguio 14, Yap 14, Taulava 11, Miller 10, Santos 10, Dillinger 8, Raymundo 8, De Ocampo 8, Norwood 8, Pennisi 7.

INDONESIA 68 – Sudiadnyana 14, Wuysang 11, Purwanto 11, Sigar 7, Thoyib 6, Poedjakusuma 5, Agustinus 5, Suro 4, Budianto 3, Fitzgerald 2, Wibawa 0, Sumargo 0. Quarters: 22-22, 46-32, 77-49, 98-68.

Powerade-RP whips Indons

Powerade-RP whips Indons

MEDAN – The torrential jeers from the boisterous hometown crowd and the steady chanting of In-do-ne-sia! rained down on Powerade-Team Pilipinas from the onset late Sunday.

Then James Yap and the rest of the national team decided they had enough of the local abuse heaped on them.

Yap poured 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, drilling in three consecutive triples in one breathtaking run in the second quarter as Powerade-RP clobbered host Indonesia, 103-64, for its second straight win in the 8th Southeast Asian Basketball Association Men’s Championship at the Angkasapura Lanud Basketball Hall.

The PBA-backed national team, bound for the 25th FIBA World Championship qualifier in Tianjin, China in August, was to play winless Singapore Monday night with the intention of moving into the final game Tuesday against the winner of the Indonesia-Malaysia encounter later that evening.

The Nationals blasted the Malaysians, 100-73, Saturday, a game where the Nationals lost point guard Ryan Reyes to a pulled hamstring muscle on his left thigh.

Reyes joined injured teammates Jayjay Helterbrand and Sonny Thoss in serving as utility personnel during the pre-game shootaround, and they sat together at the far-end corner of the bench whopping when the Nationals started ripping the Indons apart.

A different version from the one the Chot Reyes-mentored RP team pummeled in Ratchaburi, Thailand two years ago, took a 5-2 lead as Powerade-RP went blank on its next six possessions after Asi Taulava broke the ice.

But the Nationals got going with an 11-0 run to silence the packed spectators, and the closest the Indons came to an upset was 13-11 before Yap turned hot.

As expected, the opposition got a boost not only from their compatriots.

Yap picked up two quick fouls eight minutes into the game, and Jared Dillinger got whistled for three halfway through the second quarter.

With less than a minute left in the half, Yap was called for his third personal, but not after the Purefoods hotshot had drained three consecutive triples to give the Philippines its first 20-point lead, 42-22.

Indonesia picked up just four fouls in the first 20 minutes.

Just about everybody got into the act from there, with Gabe Norwood and Arwind Santos throwing down vicious dunks one after the other and Willie Miller and slasher Cyrus Baguio turning the Indonesian shaded lane into a freeway.

In the trenches, Kerby Raymundo grabbed 10 rebounds, Mick Pennisi 9 with 2 blocked shots, Ranidel de Ocampo 8, and Dillinger and Taulava 5 each.

The lead was 75-45 after three quarters and 97-56 – a whopping 41 points – by the time the slam-dunk exhibition had reached its peak.

“I feel a lot better. I’m actually relieved,” said national coach Yeng Guiao. “I knew we could play better than we did against Malaysia.

“It was, after all, our first game since the All-Stars plus it’s a new environment. But once they got used to the conditions here, they became what we want them to be – a fast-breaking team with hustling defense. They just pushed themselves."

Meanwhile, PBA commissioner Renauld 'Sonny' Barrios arrived from Manila in time for the second half of the RP-Indonesia game, joining the Nationals at the locker room and taking a seat beside team manager JB Baylon.

Scores:

POWERADE-RP 103 – Yap 21, Santos 18, Miller 12, Norwood 11, Taulava 10, Baguio 8, Raymundo 8, Dillinger 7, Pennisi 5, De Ocampo 3.

INDONESIA 64 – Sumargo 11, Suro 10, Wuysang 9, Poedjakusuma 9, Agustinus 9, Sudiadnyana 6, Wibawa 5, Sigar 2, Thoyib 2, Purwanto 1, Fitzgerald 0, Budianto 0.

Quarters: 20-14, 46-25, 75-45, 103-64