BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Rain or Shine outshines San Miguel


Rain or Shine outshines San Miguel; ends Ato Agustin’s win streak
Rain or Shine 110 vs. San Miguel Beer 107
by rick olivares with pic by tunying p.

November 7, 2010
Araneta Coliseum
In a sport populated by tall and elongated people, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. That is unless you are the James Yaps, Mark Caguioas, or Asi Taulavas of this world. But for Doug Kramer, it’s about getting the opportunity to be with the right team, the right teammates, and the right coaches at the same time.

Kramer scored 19 points with 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter to help Rain or Shine beat erstwhile league-leaders San Miguel Beer 110-107 last night at the Araneta Coliseum.

The 6’6” former Ateneo Blue Eagle, hauled down nine boards with six of them coming from the offensive end including one he beat Danny Ildefonso to after Elasto Painter teammate Ryan Araña missed two free throws with 42.7 ticks left in the match.

“When there was an opportunity to get him from Air21 we had to get him.” related Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia. “We saw his potential and knew he’d be an asset to our team.”

Early in the match, it looked like that the Elasto Painters were headed for loss number five as the Beermen looked sharp. Arwind Santos was knocking down uncontested trey and Alex Cabagnot was getting inside the lane for a bucket.

When the starting unit looked sluggish and out of sorts as center Jay-R Reyes misfired on four consecutive possessions, Garcia sent in his second unit with Kramer, Paolo Bugia, Larry Rodriguez, Tyrone Tang, and Jireh Ibañes. The energy of the second unit got them back in the match 20-19 at the end of the first quarter.

SMB head coach Ato Agustin countered with his second unit and almost immediately, Tang lobbed the ball to Bugia who immediately posted up Danny Seigle. “We wanted to be aggressive against San Miguel,” reasoned out Garcia. “If you’re passive against them they will walk all over you.”

But nine points from Beerman Joseph Yeo in the final four minutes of the second quarter gave Agustin a nine-point lead 54-45 heading into the halftime break.

The Beermen took a 10-point lead in the third quarter after Washington tipped in a three-point miss by Cabagnot, 70-60. When Rain or Shine’s second unit returned to action, Kramer scored back-to-back baskets while Bugia scored inside. And just like that, the Elasto Painters were down by a solitary point 75-76 at the end of the 36 minutes of play.

Later in the fourth, a basket by Kramer and two consecutive triples by Sol Mercado saw Rain or Shine up 99-90 with 4:16 left.

With Cabagnot in the midst of a subpar game, Denok Miranda checked into the match and promptly scored six straight points to bring SMB back into the game, 99-102.

But the Elasto Painters stopped Jay Washington on San Miguel’s next three possessions while making five free throws in the stretch to ice the match for their fourth win in eight games. The loss saw the Beermen tumble to a 6-2 record that is still good enough for first place. But a win by the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in the second game of the Sunday double header allowed them to tie San Miguel. It was also Agustin’s first loss in six matches since he took over early in the Philippine Cup from assistant Gee Abanilla who managed the team while the former wrapped up his stint with San Sebastian in the NCAA.

The game took an added importance as Mercado is to be out for about two weeks as he is joining the Smart Gilas national team in the Asian Games in China. “This is good for us because many players stepped up for us,” said a happy Garcia after the game. “That should give us plenty of confidence.”

Added Kramer, “I’m just happy for this opportunity. I’m not the type of player to be able to create shots for myself so I need to be aggressive and also feed off on my teammates’ games. Sol (Mercado) keeps telling me to be active and he’ll find me. This is a sweet win not just for myself but also for the team because it isn’t easy to beat a team as strong and talented as San Miguel. You really have to earn it.”

Rain or Shine 110Mercado 26, Kramer 19, Norwood 18, Rodriguez 16, Tang 7, Ibañes 6, Bugia 6, Reyes 4, Ferriols 4, Cruz 2, Chan 2, Jazul 0, Araña 0

San Miguel 107Santos 23, Washington 18, Yeo 13, Hontiveros 10, Seigle 10, Miranda 8, Cabagnot 7, Racela 5, Ildefonso 4, Tugade 3, Artadi 2, Pennisi 2, Peña 2 

1 comment:

  1. as I said to Bugia over at twitter, moving out of Ginebra is the best thing that happened to his and Kramer's careers.

    Credit Air21 and RoS for recognizing Kramer's potential too - something that BGK didn't.

    ReplyDelete