The B-MEG Araneta Coliseum?
The historic venue may currently have a naming rights deal with SMART, but in the ongoing Philippine Cup, the Llamados have made the Big Dome their homecourt.
Believe it or not, B-MEG was a perfect 9-0 during the eliminations at the Cubao, Quezon City venue.
In the Llamados’ current eight-game winning streak, the last seven were carved out at the Big Dome.
With a 10-4 win-loss record, B-MEG only won once outside the coliseum, on November 11 at the Cuneta Astrodome, a 95-79 rout of Meralco.
Despite having the same win-loss record, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao believes his team is the underdog when it begins its best-of-three quarterfinals battle against Barangay Ginebra on Friday.
“They have everything,” Guiao told InterAKTV. “They have the experience, the crowd and even the referees. A borderline call could always work in their favor.”
“These simply make our team an underdog. While Ginebra has been in the playoffs many times, we as a team has just started over.”
University of Cebu Webmasters coach Roehl Gomez has a definite answer when asked if Junmar Fajardo is ready for the Philippine Basketball Association.
“Pwede na,” said Gomez, a former sharpshooter who plied his trade with Alaska and Pop Cola in the professional league.
Fajardo played his last game for the Webmasters on Monday, a loss to the San Bed Red Lions in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League battle for third.
But before entering the draft for Asia’s first play-for-pay basketball organization, the 6-foot-10 standout will be honing his skills with ASEAN Basketball League expansion team San Miguel Beermen Philippines when the team kicks off its campaign in January next year.
Mark Caguioa and Alex Cabagnot are bitter rivals on the court. Off the court, however, they aren’t above sharing a light moment, as caught by AKTV photographer Paolo Papa. What were the two star guards talking about? See Picture Inside...
Barangay Ginebra waxed hot in the final period and pulled off an impressive 96-82 demolition of defending champion Talk ‘N Text in the final game of the eliminations of the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup Sunday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings outscored the Tropang Texters in the final 12 minutes, 32-17, to pull away from a tight contest and end the initial phase of the tournament with a five-game winning streak for a 9-5 win-loss record.
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.
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