One small detail. One big loss.
Alaska 83 vs. Air21 86
by rick olivares with picture by tunying p.
October 22, 2010
Cuneta Astrodome
When Tim Cone jotted down the game plan on the white board of their dugout at the Cuneta Astrodome, he emphasized the trouble the bigs of Air21 gives its opponents. The idea was to challenge the Express’ corps of bigs -- Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao, JR Quiñahan, and Carlo Sharma -- and force them to pass. If the Alaska Aces could rule the boards, the Express would have to play a half court set, something that wasn’t quite their game.
The notes that pretty much filled up 60% of the board were detailed. “Winning is in the details,” the American mentor emphasized. As he was wrapping up the pre-game talk, he suddenly remembered one player. “Oh, we have to trap Ronjay Buenafe. Play him hard. Play him tough and stay above the picks.”
At the 3:11 mark of the fourth quarter, Buenafe launched a triple over the outstretched arms of Alaska counterpart Cyrus Baguio that gave Air21 a four-point lead 80-76. Cone was floored by the basket. “That was the ballgame right there,” he said forlornly after the match.
Alaska knew that Air21 would try to force its uptempo game on them. “The bahala na offense” the way some coaches described the Express’ game. They knew they’d take some licks from the inside and out but if they could hold Yeng Guiao’s boys to a 30% success rate from what they did best then Alaska could grab win #4.
The problem was, Air21 strongly believed they could beat Alaska. A few weeks before the 36th Season of the PBA opened, the two squads scrimmaged at the Reyes Gym where the Express pulled out a one-point win.
Right from the start of the first meeting of the two squads in the Philippine Cup, Cone’s game plan fell into tatters. Air21's Wesley Gonzales drove inside for an and-one on the very first possession while fishing a foul from Joe Devance. Al-Hussaini and Baclao played their old two-man game back during their Ateneo days for a couple of buckets.
During situations like this, the Aces’ staff doesn’t call time outs. The players are well drilled about what to do in situations like this. Then Alaska switched from man-to-man defense to a zone that stopped the Air21 incursions inside.
On the offensive end, Devance took Baclao, who was assigned to shadow him (Guiao borrowed Norman Black’s strategy of having the long-armed shot block artist follow players like UST’s Dylan Ababou or DLSU’s Rico Maierhofer all over the court) out on the perimeter where he’d use his speed to beat the number one over-all draft pick for a lay-up.
That forced Al-Hussaini to extend some help in and around the paint, and if he did so, Devance would pass the ball to an open Tony dela Cruz or to Baguio for an open jump shot. If the ball was thrown inside, Alaska center Sonny Thoss had great position inside versus the over-all number two pick.
With two minutes left to play in the opening quarter, Guiao had sent in his second stringers while Cone had four starters still inside (Devance was in foul trouble).
Air21 was having problems with Alaska’s height and quick passing. The Aces were making the game seem so easy as they hit one effortless jumper after another en route to a 45-34 halftime lead.
“No let up,” urged Cone inside the dugout. “They are not yet on the ropes.”
Over at the Air21 dugout, Guiao chewed out his squad for not hustling for the loose balls, not communicating on the court, and giving the shaded lane to the Aces’ inside operators. “We’re getting outrebounded!” yelled Guiao (the Aces won the battle of the boards in the first half 26-16).
“It was the details; the little things, the hustle and the heart that we really talked about,” recounted Express guard Josh Urbiztondo.
And that one detail that Cone nearly forgot to remind his players – Buenafe – erupted in the third quarter.
The streak shooting swingman scored on a reverse layup then followed with three triples. By the time Buenafe was done (he scored 13 third quarter points), the Express were down by three, 61-64.
The uptempo offense of Air21 was now firing on all cylinders. Urbiztondo plucked down a huge offensive rebound for an extra possession. Baclao blocked Sam Eman on four consecutive shots. And point guard Wynne Arboleda quarterbacked effectively as gave his side the lead at 75-73 with two free throws and followed that up with a re-post to Quiñahan for a bucket.
And all of a sudden the Aces were looking over their shoulders for Cone to call for time. “Guys, you know I am going to call a time out but sometimes I don’t because I expect you to solve things out there.” said a disappointed Cone as the Aces were coming unglued.
Following Buenafe’s dagger (at the 3:11 mark) and a Quiñahan free throw, Alaska caught a break when Air21 was assessed a 24-shot clock violation. On the next play, Baguio hit a three over Buenafe to slice the lead down to 79-81. Al-Hussaini muffed a jumper then Devance rifled in a pass to dela Cruz for an undergoal stab that tied the game with 46 seconds left to play. Or so everybody thought.
With 26 seconds left and following a Ronnie Matias triple that gave Air21 a 84-81 lead, the officials reviewed Baguio’s previous trey and saw that he stepped on the line. Alaska’s tally was moved back to “80 points.” And that changed Alaska's endgame strategy -- instead of going for a quick bucket, the Aces needed to make a three-point basket.
And Baguio, carrying the team as his teammates faltered down the stretch, nailed a real deal triple with Wesley Gonzales all over him. Air21’s lead was down to a solitary point with 16.5 left in the game clock. Al-Hussaini was fouled on the other end and his two free throws and a Baclao rejection on a desperation shot by Devance sealed Air21’s 86-83 victory.
Alaska’s locker room was like a morgue after the game. They were the last undefeated team in the league and in a crucial match like this, the Aces did not take care of business. “I was you to feel bad about this loss,” said Cone to a chaste team. “I want you to feel bad so we will learn from it and come out better next time. We should have won this because our next games are against San Miguel and Talk ‘N’ Text. Remember, we need to do the little things like grabbing those loose balls, hustling on the floor, and attacking all the time. Winning is in the details.”
Next time you can be sure, these Aces will closely mark Buenafe.
Air21 86 – Buenafe 25, Matias 16, Al-Hussaini 15, Gonzales 11, Arboleda 6, Quiñahan 5, Baclao 4, Guevarra 2, Sharma 2, Urbiztondo 0, Arellano 0, Rodriguez 0
Alaska 83 – Baguio 26, Devance 13, Dela Cruz 12, Thoss 11, Eman 6, Borboran 5, Tenorio 5, Hugnatan 5, Custodio 0
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Stat lines:
Ronjay Buenafe - 25 points (7 triples)
Rabeh Al-Hussaini 15 points and 11 rebounds (third double double in four matches)
Nonoy Baclao with a typical stat line of 4 points and 5 rebounds and 6 blocks
Cyrus Baguio - 26 points (3-4 from three-point range)
Sam Eman - 6 points and 12 rebounds (8 offensive boards)
it was an exciting game
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