Salvacion three-pointer at the buzzer give Meralco win over GlobalPort

Sunday Salvacion capped Meralco’s frenetic endgame fightback by banking in a three-pointer at the buzzer to lead the Bolts to a confidence-building 90-89 victory over Globalport on Sunday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Playing only his first game of the conference, the 6-2 forward repaid coach Ryan Gregorio's faith by scoring 20 points, spiked by 6-for-7 shooting from three-point distance, to help the Bolts snap a three-game losing skein and catch Batang Pier at 2-3 in the standings.

None of those shots were bigger than the desperation three-pointer he banked in without any hesitation after receiving a pass from Mac-mac Cardona, the designated shooter who failed to get off a shot after Globalport import Justin Williams rotated on him.

“It’s definitely a broken play. But that’s why we want veterans on the floor to play. I told Mac-mac (Cardona), if you get into trouble, there’s a safety pass behind you. And somehow, he expected someone to be free,” Gregorio said.

“Sunday has not seen the floor for at least three games but that’s what veterans come in to do. They come in and play. Fantastic shot by Sunday,’” he added.

Unlike in its game against Petron which saw Meralco scale a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit only to lose, 86-88, this time the Bolts had enough to go all the way.

“We need games like these to unite our team. We need situations like these to make us love one another. The script is like a Holywood script. We were down big but somehow we found ways to win,” said the Meralco mentor.

The Bolts fell behind by as many as 17 points, 29-46 as Batang Pier rode on the hot shooting hands of Gary David, Willie Miller and seldom-used JP Belencion, who scored 11 of his career-high 15 points in the first half alone.

But Meralco patiently cut the imposing lead down with its patient execution on offense behind Chris Ross, who finished with a career-best 17 assists, outdueling his best friend and former teammate Solomon Mercado, who had nine assists.

Mercado finished with just six points on 3-of-14 shooting, but the Batang Pier drew 27 points from David and 22 from Miller, who entering the game had only scored a total of 16 points in the team’s first four games.

Import Justin Williams failed to break into double figures after finishing with just eight points, though he still pulled down 13 rebounds and tied his season-high eight blocks in 37 minutes of play.

The scores:

Meralco 90 - Salvacion 20, Dawson 19, Hodge 16, Cardona 15, Hugnatan 7, Manuel 4, Buenafe 4, Guevara 3, Ross 2, Reyes 0, Artadi 0

Globalport 89 - David 27, Miller 22, Belencion 15, Aguilar 12, Mercado 6, Williams 5, Mandani 2, Yee 0, Salvador 0, Crisano 0

Quarterscores: 17-24, 43-48, 66-67, 90-89

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Finals rematch San Mig Coffee vs. Talk n' Text; GlobalPort against Meralco

Talk ‘N Text eyes its third straight win while GlobalPort tries to bounce back from a demoralizing loss as they face separate rivals in the 2013 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Texters face sliding San Mig Coffee in the main game at 6:30 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s Commissioner’s Cup finals. This comes right after the meeting of Batang Pier and Meralco at 4:15 p.m.

After losing to the Bolts at the start of its campaign, Talk ‘N Text now has won its last two games while defending champion San Mig Coffee has yet to win a game after three starts.

This concerns Tropang Texters head coach Norman Black.

“We are expecting a hungry San Mig Coffee team especially in light of their loss to Rain or Shine on Friday,” said Black, referring to the Mixers’ 93-65 defeat to the Elasto Painters.

“We just want to continue to improve on our defense, while keeping the game as uptempo as possible.”

Reigning Commissioner’s Cup Best Import Denzel Bowles returned to the San Mig Coffee lineup and scored just 12 points. He replaced Matt Rogers.

In the opener, GlobalPort hopes to bounce back from a 99-79 defeat at the hands of the Tropang Texters and nails its third win.

“Regroup, bounce back from a blowout loss,” said Batang Pier coach Junel Baculi. “We respect Meralco, they are a good team. We have to work on our defense. We allow too many points in our last four games.”

The Bolts enter the game on a three-game losing streak, including a heart-breaking 88-86 defeat at the hands of Petron Blaze.

“We’re trying. We’ve been competing hard but could not close out games on a high note. We just have to try harder. It is a long conference and a lot of things can happen,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.

“We see a lot of good things despite our early losses, most notable of which is the fact that we simply don’t give up. Down big against Petron and still had a legit crack at winning, then disaster struck, the call by the ref which broke our momentum.”

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San Mig Coffee now with Rogers clash with Petron; Alaska and Meralco seek lead

Meralco and Alaska square off for a share of the lead in the 2013 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

The Bolts and the Aces try to follow up their huge opening wins as they collide in the opener at 5:15 p.m. to be followed by the game of winless squads San Mig Coffee and Petron Blaze in the second offering at 7:30 p.m.

Last Saturday, Alaska came from behind and beat Rain or Shine in its first assignment, 83-81, on Cyrus Baguio’s buzzer-beating lay-up, while Meralco beat Talk ‘N Text, 99-92, on Eric Dawson’s monster performance.

“If there is one team that I think is underrated it is Meralco. They have in my mind a Best Import candidate,” said Aces coach Luigi Trillo.

Dawson had 37 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks against Tropang Texters to lead the Bolts. He will be pitted against ex-Miami Heat draftee Robert Dozier, who tallied 21 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks in his PBA debut.

The locals of Meralco also contributed enough to snatch the win from the undermanned Talk ‘N Text five.

“They added athletes in (Vic) Manuel and (Rey) Guevarra and they seem to have better chemistry. I am worried for this game,” Trillo added.

Bolts coach Ryan Gregorio said their first win gave them the confidence they needed in facing the challenge especially after trading top player Sol Mercado to Globalport.

“We are upbeat after winning against Talk ‘N Text despite making road major roster changes one week before the tournament,” said Gregorio.

“Team defense is what we have focused on in our preparations. If we come out with the same effort on defense and match the energy of the Aces, then we are in a good match.”

The winner of the Meralco-Alaska encounter joins Barako Bull in the early lead at 2-0.

In the main game, the Mixers will finally have an import when they clash with the Boosters, who will be losing key player Chris Lutz for six weeks because of a rib injury.

Matt Rogers did not play in San Mig Coffee’s 79-75 loss to Barako Bull due to food poisoning. Petron lost to GlobalPort, 94-92, in its opening encounter.

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Eric Dawson carry Meralco over Talk ‘N Text

Eric Dawson has served notice.

The Meralco import scored 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bolts to an impressive 99-92 victory over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in the Commissioner’s Cup Saturday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Dawson added 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Bolts, who squandered an 18-point first half lead before recovering in time to turn back the Tropang Texters.

“We played Talk N Text at the right time. They didn’t have extensive practice together and they have two new guys on their roster,” said Ryan Gregorio.

“We, on the other hand, were practicing a long time. Eric has been practicing for us for the past three weeks.”

Ronjay Buenafe and Mac Cardona added 19 and 16 points, respectively, for the Bolts. Chris Ross, starting at the point guard spot in place of the traded Sol Mercado, scored just two points but had nine rebounds and eight assists for Meralco.

“This is definitely a brand new franchise. It’s nice to win this game against the champs,” added Gregorio.

“I like the unpredictability of our game right now. We can go to the post and we can go off screen.”

Despite the team effort, it was Dawson who sealed the deal for the Bolts, scoring 11 of his team’s final 13 points. He drew the sixth and final foul of Talk ‘N Text import Keith Benson with more than three minutes remaining, taking the fight out of the Tropang Texters.

Benson led Talk ‘N Text with 25 points, while Jimmy Alapag added 18, 14 of which came in the second half. Jayson Castro had 15 of his 17 points in the second quarter, but played sparingly in the second half because of an apparent injury.

The scores:

Meralco 99 – Dawson 37, Buenafe 19, Cardona 16, Manuel 8, HugnaTAN 8, Hodge 4, Borboran 3, Guevarra 2, Timberlake 0, Reyes 0, Artadi 0.

Talk ‘N Text 92 – Benson 25, Alapag 18, Castro17, De Ocampo 9, Fonacier 7, Reyes 6, Dillinger 4, Raymundo 2, Al-Hussaini 2, Carey 2, Aban 0, Ferriols 0.

Quarters: 27-14; 48-41; 68-62; 99-92

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2013 Commissioner’s Cup Imports: Barangay Ginebra, Alaska, Meralco

The big boys are back for the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup! With no height limit and 10 new faces, the action promises to be titanic. Who will stand tallest? Here’s an early look.

Herbert Hill, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

The 6-foot-10 Hill was a former Utah Jazz draft pick that spent a year with the Philadelphia 76ers, although never played because of an injury. He averaged a modest 5.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 11 NBA D-League games with the Bakersfield Jam in 2007-08, but upped those averages to 17.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in a five-game stint with the Tulsa 66ers when given significant minutes. Last year, he wrapped up a season with the Incheon Elephants in the Korean Basketball League where he posted numbers of 21.8 points, 11 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 38 minutes per game.
The former Providence big man hasn’t shown much range, but performs very well inside the paint, with a nice arsenal of shots from within 10 feet. He has a great touch around the basket and should put up impressive numbers here in the PBA. Hill should provide a nice presence on the defensive end as well, but offense is likely where he’ll shine.
The one concern about Hill is his free throw shooting, making just 42.1% of his attempts in 16 games in the D-League. He’s shown improvement of late, hitting 68.1% of his free throws in Incheon. That’s not so bad, though it will probably garner some attention if his struggles resurface.
Hill will be in stepping into a thankless job as the import of Ginebra, the most popular team in the league. Sure, a huge chunk of the fans will be squarely behind him and his team… as long as they keep winning. There will be a lot of pressure on him to lead the team to a deep run this conference, and it will be interesting to see if he can deliver.

Robert Dozier, Alaska Aces

The 6-foot-9 Dozier’s claim to fame was a nice run with the Memphis Tigers in the NCAA where he and his teammates Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Joey Dorsey made it to the national championship game where they fell to Kansas Jayhawks led by Mario Chalmers. Dozier had a pretty solid collegiate career, wrapping up his final season averaging 12.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks.
He was drafted by the Miami Heat with the very last pick of the 2009 NBA draft, but couldn’t crack the lineup. After failing to make it to the NBA, Dozier spent a couple of productive seasons in Europe. He bulked up and earned himself a spot back on the Heat’s Summer League team and an invite to training camp last year.
He’s described as long, athletic, mobile and with the ability to defend multiple positions — all the tools necessary to be a dominant defensive player in the PBA. He has a versatile offensive skill set as well, showing the ability to stretch the floor for his team and a nice first step that gives opposing bigs trouble. In his final year at Memphis, he was comfortable shooting from beyond the arc, taking 1.5 attempts from three per game while making about 38% of them.
He’ll be a nice addition to the Aces. Dozier’s versatility will be let him fit in nicely whether it’s beside or in place of Alaska center Sonny Thoss. His length and athleticism will make him a tough cover for locals and some of the bigger imports and it will be interesting how far he can take the fast-rising Aces this conference.

Eric Dawson, Meralco Bolts

The Bolts’ reinforcement Dawson will be very interesting to follow. He didn’t have a high-profile college basketball stint like some other imports — Dawson played four years of Division II basketball for little-known Midwestern State University. But he has played several years with the San Antonio Spurs’ D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros, and has used that opportunity to really, well, develop.
He played 81 games with the Toros through five seasons and has seen his numbers rise almost every year. And that’s not merely an effect of increased minutes. His production per-minute has risen almost across the board. From an average of 10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks in 24.5 minutes in the 2008-09 season, his first year with a significant number of games, Dawson has raised those numbers up to 17.2, 10.6, 2.3, 1.2 and 1.6 in 29 minutes per game. He was named the D-League’s Impact Player of the Year and was actually called up to play four games for the Spurs after Tiago Splitter went down with an injury last season.
The lengthy, 6-9 Dawson, who has a 7-6 wingspan, should be a great two-way player for Meralco who could be one of the standout performers this conference. More than the numbers, though, he’s a player who knows how to win, having led teams in Japan and South Korea to championships and having spent a little time within the very impressive Spurs organization.
Dawson’s already impressed his coach, Ryan Gregorio. But the Bolts will face an uphill battle in trying to become contenders so soon after starting a rebuilding process — trading cornerstone Sol Mercado for a crop of promising young players and a draft pick. He’ll have to step up in a big way, and it will be interesting to see if Dawson is up to the task.

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