What a game!
As can be read from my profile here on Yahoo! Sports PH, I have been doing commentary for the PBA games, either on radio or television, since 2004. I've basically seen it all: close games, last-second shots to tie or to win, multiple overtimes, blowouts, amazing comebacks, record-setting performances, achievements of milestones, fights, near-fights, post-game altercations, blown calls, hard/flagrant fouls, and of course, splendid, as well as horrendous, basketball. The last game I covered, though, could possibly be the most complete game I ever called. It had a little of everything. My partner, Magoo Marjon, described the battle as "cumpletos recados." He was right.
Last Wednesday, 21 November 2012, I was assigned to do my usual play-by-play of the first game of the day's doubleheader. The match-up was between the Rain or Shine Elastopainters and the Meralco Bolts. Just a couple of weeks back, in their first meeting, Rain or Shine clobbered Meralco from start to finish, winning in convincing fashion, 106-91. The Bolts were thoroughly outplayed that game, they were beaten, bruised, outmuscled and, basically, manhandled all game long. Surely, they wanted to make up for that dismal performance in this rematch.
Whenever Rain or Shine plays, fans expect the game to be rough and tumble, physical, chest-to-chest, with each play challenged, no easy baskets, and requiring the opponent to work doubly hard for everything. In the first quarter, however, Rain or Shine just wasn't in sync. Meralco raced out to an early double-figure lead, the Painters could not buy a basket, and the score after one quarter was 21-8 in favor of the Bolts.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, where Meralco continued to pour it on, playing good defense, hustling for loose balls and offensive rebounds, and methodically breaking down Rain or Shine's resistance while constantly finding the open man for baskets. The Painters were being their usual physical selves, bumping, pushing, and holding, yet Meralco, it seemed, could do no wrong. At the half, Meralco led, 40-26.
Amidst all the first half action, there were already several possible flagrant foul calls. This means that the referee would make the gesture for a flagrant foul, but, as is the practice, he would first review the video and verify whether what he saw, which prompted him to whistle, was indeed a flagrant (category 1 or 2, depending on the severity), or merely a regular foul. There were technical fouls called, and warnings issued to a couple of players and even on Coach Yeng Guiao of Rain or Shine. The atmosphere was testy, the players were definitely not friendly to each other, and somehow, we on the coverage panel had a feeling something was bound to give sooner or later.
Early in the second half, Meralco continued to play well and under control. Rain or Shine was more energetic, but the Meralco lead was about 20 points and, frankly, we thought Meralco would just nurse its lead until the end and come away with a convincing victory, payback for having been blown out during the teams' first meeting.
But, despite the big lead of Meralco, the players played as though the game was tight. Cliff Hodge and Ryan Araña got tied up, Hodge was assessed a flagrant foul for shoving Araña, and Hodge would need to sit for three game minutes as a result. Hodge, of course, had bared the brunt of battling the big boys of Rain or Shine in their first meeting, and lost. This time, he was not allowing them to push him without pushing back.
Then, when the lead of Meralco was at its biggest in the middle of the third quarter, (very) big man JR Quiñahan of Rain or Shine challenged a Sol Mercado lay-up, and ended up striking Mercado right on the face. Mercado reacted, other players got into the mix, Meralco rookie Kelly Nabong shoved Quiñahan, referees and other players stepped in to break it up, and all players were sent to their frontcourts while the officials assessed the situation and determined the proper penalties.
After more than a five minute lull, Quiñahan was thrown out of the game for his foul, Mercado was given a technical, and Nabong was assessed a flagrant foul. The necessary free throws were taken, Meralco led by 26 points, and action continued, but things drastically changed from that point.
Jeff Chan, quiet until then, suddenly exploded. Rain or Shine seemed to have been awoken from their temporary slumber after "the Quiñahan incident", quickly becoming more aggressive not just with their defense and fouls like earlier in the game, but with their offense. The Painters started attacking the basket, passing the ball around to find open teammates, finding their way to the free throw line, and of course allowing Chan to do his thing. Chan was simply marvelous. Meralco had lost its edge.
Do you want to fully understand what a "momentum shift" in basketball is? Try to watch a replay of the second half of this game.
At the end of the third quarter, the lead of Meralco had dwindled to only 5 points, 65-60. We could hardly believe it, but as commentators, we were excited for the fourth quarter. It was anybody's ballgame. Nice.
Rain or Shine continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter, and took command of the game. How fortunes had changed! Meralco was firmly in control, but something ignited the Painters, and they were definitely on fire. Gabe Norwood orchestrated splendidly, Beau Belga more than ably filled in for his banished Extra Rice, Inc. brother, Quiñahan, and anyone else Guiao put into the game for his team contributed. Despite Araña's ejection for kicking Hodge where it really hurts on one drive to the basket, Rain or Shine led by as much as 9 points and looked on its way to completing one of the most remarkable comeback wins I've ever seen.
With only a couple of minutes left, however, Sol Mercado refused to let his team just roll over and die. The Meralco guard got hot from three-point land and hit three straight, the last from five feet beyond the arc, to tie the game up at 88 apiece. We were shouting in our seats! Rain or Shine couldn't score in the few seconds remaining, and the game went into overtime. This time, it was the Painters who squandered what seemed to be a sure win in regulation.
We went to a commercial break as the teams prepared for the extra five minutes, and had to catch our breaths. The fans seated around us were smiling, shaking their heads, pleased at what had just happened, and excited for more. Fortunes had changed from one team to the other, and back, in this game.
The overtime was exhilarating. The teams practically traded baskets, the lead changing hands as the minutes ticked by. We said it on the air, the first one to blink could lose the game. That's how close it was. That's how intense the players were.
Late in the OT period, Mark Cardona, who was called for a crucial technical foul earlier, hit a basket to give Meralco a one point lead. Norwood quickly attacked on the other end to get the lead back with a floater in the lane. A Meralco miss led to a Norwood free throw and, without any timeouts left, the Bolts had to rush the ball up court, but Cardona mishandled the ball and lost it to TY Tang. The Bolts had to foul, but there was only one-tenth of a second left on the gameclock. Tang made both free throws for the final count, 102-98 in favor of Rain or Shine. They had come back from the dead to win the game.
Despite the lackluster offensive performance of Rain or Shine in the first half, the hard-hitting action and intensity all game long, combined with the enthralling comeback of the Painters in the third and early fourth quarter, plus the gripping three-point spree of Mercado to force overtime, together with the exciting extra period, guarantee that this game will go down as a classic. When they re-run those "greatest games" many years from now, this should be on the list.
We chose Norwood as the Best Player of the Game and when I asked him how they were able to pull off the win after being so far behind in the second half, he replied by saying something like, "Umm…..I don't really know." Even he was baffled at what just happened.
It was a strange game indeed. As I said, it had practically everything a basketball game could. I walked past Alaska Assistant Coach Alex Compton in the hallway afterwards and he said to me, "That was some game, huh?" Oh yes, it was. I'm privileged to have been there to experience it.
You can follow Charlie Cuna on Twitter @Charlie C.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
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