Deja vu in a good and bad way

Deja vu in a good and bad way

B-Meg’s stirring run and Shopinas’ season of futility continues. And Tim Cone is riding the crest of good fortune that he hopes to parlay into destiny.

by rick olivares

December 8, 2011

Smart Araneta Coliseum

Tim Cone didn’t expect the B-Meg to buy into his system right away. Although he certainly hoped they would. And after 14 games, they are 10-4 after a 2-4 start. Moreover, they are a cinch to clinch any of the top two seeds after the elimination round of the Philippine Cup.

Cone, the 13-time PBA winner downplayed any talk of “genius.”

And he began to reminisce: “When I began to coach Alaska we started out by winning four straight and people were saying that I was a genius. Then we followed that with a six game losing streak and I went from ‘genius’ to ‘idiot’. Some one actually wrote that in a column back then.”

Today, the American mentor’s B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados disposed of the hapless Shopinas Clickers 86-74 for their eighth straight win fuelling talk of how good Cone is as coach. He waves his hand in the air to dismiss such and instead says that he is “fortunate enough to have a veteran team.”

The Llamados waxed hot early on and posted a 17-point lead at the half, 53-36. But the Clickers, fighting to stave off the dubious distinction of owning the worst record ever by any team for any PBA conference, came roaring back to bring a 21-point lead at the 7:32 mark of the fourth period down to 11 after Elmer Espiritu stuck a reverse layup, 83-72.

But B-Meg held fast behind the combined 11 points of Joe Devance and Peter June Simon as they answered the repeated rallies of the Clickers with big stops and shots that doused the fire. Ironically, the Clickers beat B-Meg in offensive rebounding (22-12), assists (21-19), steals (9-2), and turnover points (14-8), but they shot a poor 32.3%. The Llamados on the other hand hit 47.4% of their attempts.

Shopinas thus claimed the worst finish ever by any ballclub in the PBA’s 37^-year history by going 0-14.

Shopinas eclipsed the previous marks of infamy – Ginebra’s 0-10 record in the Governors’ Cup of 1995 and Pop Cola’s 0-8 slate also in same conference but in the 1999 edition.

Coincidentally, this is the third time that Shopinas’ center Magi Sison finished a competition 0-14. As a player for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, his teams went winless in 2007 and 2010.

The pro league’s newest ballclub stayed inside their dugout for over an hour after the match for a bull session. A source within the team said that head coach Franz Pumaren announced that “there will be sweeping changes”.

The victorious Cone admitted that it was a task to keep his wards’ attention knowing they were up against the Clickers. “We played a very good first quarter,” said the American mentor. “And that was our target tonight and it was to get out and make a statement early. We targeted Renren (Ritualo) and (RJ) Jazul and shut them down. But Elmer Espiritu, my ex-player (with Alaska) sent a message to me tonight (by scoring 16 points and pulling down five rebounds) and Pong Escobal played really well tonight. We didn’t want them to get their confidence. We kind of flattened out and exchange baskets out there didn’t play with the same energy in the last two quarters.”

B-Meg 86 – Devance 18,  Urbiztondo 11, Pingris 11, Simon 10, Acuña 6, Barroca 5, Yap James 5, Reavis 5, Raymundo 5, Yap Roger 4, De Ocampo 4, Ferriols 2.

Shopinas 74 – Sena 20, Espiritu 16, Escobal 12, Ritualo 7, Jazul 6, Sison 5, Duncil 4, Aquino 2, Hubalde 2, Canlas 0, Se 0.