Rain or Shine set up an interesting date with Barangay Ginebra in the next round after beating the ousted Alaska squad, 91-85, Sunday at the end of the elimination phase of the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

Even without head coach Yeng Guiao and top rookie Paul Lee, the Elasto Painters just had enough tools to thwart the upset-conscious Aces and end their elimination stage campaign in back-to-back wins for a 9-5 record.

Beau Belga and Ronjay Buenafe each had 14 points for Rain or Shine to lead the team’s balanced scoring.

Excerpted from “Passing Glory,” a profile of B-MEG Llamados coach Tim Cone for the December 2011 issue of Esquire Philippines, on sale now

ON THE SIDES OF TIM CONE’S FACE are sharp, dark ridges that turn deep into the sockets of his eyes. He looks like he hasn’t had much sleep; his new team, the B-MEG Llamados, had lost three of its first four games in the new season of Philippine Basketball Association. But then it’s hard to imagine Cone getting much sleep over the past 22 years, a period in which he coached – and won – more PBA games than anybody else in league history.

Barangay Ginebra scored a shaky 88-83 win over Barako Bull to secure a spot in the best-of-three quarterfinal round of the 2011 PBA Philippine Cup Thursday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Missed free throws by Mike Cortez and Willy Wilson in the closing seconds gave the Kings a scare, but the Energy could not complete the comeback and were relegated to the No. 7 spot after finishing their elimination round with a 7-7 slate.

It was Ginebra’s fourth straight win to improve their mark to 8-5 and will face defending champion Talk ‘N Text on Sunday in the final day of the eliminations.

B-MEG secured the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal round with just one sizzling first quarter performance.

The Llamados banked on a 28-11 start in the first 12 minutes in booking a spot in the top two with an expected 86-74 win over Shopinas.com in the 2011 PBA Philippine Cup Thursday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

James Yap, Josh Urbiztondo and Marc Pingris were responsible in erecting that huge lead as B-MEG never looked back and stretched its winning run to a season-high eight games and finished the elimination round with a 10-4 slot.

When Talk ‘N Text and Ginebra collide on Sunday, one could argue that the stakes are relatively smaller; whatever the result, the Tropang Texters will have a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, while Ginebra will figure in a best-of-three affair.

Then Talk ‘N Text’s daredevil swingman Jared Dillinger tweeted about Mark Caguioa’s hairdo, and now all bets are off:

After struggling all-game long, Japeth Aguilar found a way to be useful for the limping Talk ‘N Text squad.

The former No. 1 overall pick completed two huge plays in the final 3.7 seconds and helped the Tropang Texters escape with a miraculous 80-78 win over Petron Blaze to clinch a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round of the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup Tuesday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Aguilar was in-and-out of the game due to poor performance and even got a mouthful from coach Chot Reyes on one occasion, but the former Smart Gilas mainstay kept his focus and returned in the closing seconds to bring his team the victory.

Powerade got the win it needed in preparation for a tough assignment in the quarterfinals as it toppled Barako Bull, 99-95, to end its elimination round campaign with a 6-8 mark in the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup Tuesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Already tasked to face one of the top two teams in the quarterfinals, the Tigers showed that they knew how to win in the tight game as they came up with clutch plays in the endgame.

Published on December 5, 2011

JAMES Yap continues to lead the way for B-MEG. 

The two-time Most Valuable Player reiterated the fact anew when he spearheaded the Llamados’ drive to back-to-back wins in the week that was, in the process earning for himself the Accel-PBA Press Corps’ Player of the Week for the period Nov. 28 to Dec. 4.

Los Angeles Galaxy football superstar David Beckham certainly owned the past weekend in Manila, leading the Major League Soccer champions to a 6-1 rout of the Azkals. While the English icon was doing his bending on the pitch, we couldn’t help but think about his past hairstyles — and how they eerily seem to share the same history of the hairstyles of another Pinoy fan favorite, Mark “The Spark” Caguioa of Barangay Ginebra.

So which hairdo looked better on whom? You tell us. See Picture Comparison

Published on December 2, 2011

Mark Caguioa teamed up with Willy Wilson for the winning play in the closing seconds as Barangay Ginebra edged Petron Blaze, 91-89, to formalize its entry into the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday. 

“We wanted set screens for Mark (Caguioa) but he was smart enough to find an open teammate (Wilson),” said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen. 

A defensive breakdown by the Boosters left Wilson open to make the winning basket with 5.5 ticks left to play.