In Case You Missed It: H-Bomb, #PinoyVino and the Chualay Lugay

In Case You Missed It: H-Bomb, #PinoyVino and the Chualay Lugay




BY Nikko Ramos









16,082.
That’s how many people flocked to the Smart-Araneta Coliseum to witness
Barangay Ginebra notch back-to-back wins, this time against the Talk N
Text Tropang Texters. LA Tenorio poured in 20 points, as well as
delivering beautiful assits, mostly for Vernon Macklin, who put in 24
himself. Chris Ellis grabbed a team-high 12 boards, Kerby had a nice
first half, even Little Robbie Labagala chipped in quality minutes.

But while so many will be said about this statement win, here are the top three things you MUST know, ICYMI:

(BTW, in the first game, Raphy Reyes dunked. Sort of. Not really. Tap-ring. Still impressive. Ok, on with the column)






1. I WANT TO THANK MYSELF!!!!

H-Bomb, baby! Okay, if you don’t get the reference, then you must be forgetting what is easily the best interview in the history of the PBA
(Sorry, Erika Padilla. But you’re in second place). Well, in the case
of this game, Rudy can, and should, thank himself. A lot. Alfrancis Chua
dug deep into the unusual parts of his bench in this game.

Instead of Jayjay Helterbrand, he went with Labagala. Instead of
Elmer Espiritu, he brought Keith Jensen back from the dead. And instead
of going back to Kerby Raymundo, he went to Rudy Hatfield. And what call
it was. Ibang klaseng hugot, as one would say.

From Hatfield’s out-of-control coast to coast attempt that somehow
went in, to his tough, gritty defense on Donnel Harvey, Ranidel De
Ocampo and Kelly Williams, to that beautiful drive and drop pass to
V-Mack for the dagger dunk, it was vintage Rudy. And the massive Ginebra
crowd loved every bit of it.

Sure, Mark Caguioa is the heart and soul of this team, Macklin and
Ellis are the highlight machines and Tenorio the orchestrator. But Rudy
Hatfield will always be Ginebra’s best showman.

H-Bomb 3:16. If you smeeeeeeell, what Rudy’s cookin!



2. #PinoyVino

How good is Mark Caguioa? Seriously. I want to know. How good is this
guy? I was on the panel for this game, calling it for PBA Radio. My
partner Eric Reyes (who fittingly is the man responsible for the
greatest PBA interview ever) and I just constantly lost words and wound
up just looking at each other in disbelief after every Caguioa basket.

Seryoso, sa dalas namin magtinginan, munti na kami magka-developan. The
Spark poured in 28 points. Every single one of which looked smoother
than the other. One dribble, pull-up jumpers. Big threes. Backdoor cuts
to the basket. Fadeaway step-backs from the baseline. Every time Talk N
Text knocked on the door, Caguioa, like a grumpy old man (playing at a
22-year old level), shouted “NO!” and slammed the door again.

When Mico Halili asked him after the game what he thought of being
compared to Kobe and his Vino-ness? Mark responded, “C’mon man. That’s
Kobe. Caguioa lang ‘to”.

For the barangay, that’s more than enough.



3. Lugay-worthy!

First win versus Barako Bull, ponytail stayed on (kinda. Allan Caidic
took it off but Alfrancis quickly put it back on). Big win versus San
Mig Coffee, in Manila Clasico, ponytail stayed firmly wrapped around
hair. First back-to-back win? Against another contender in TNT? No way
those locks would stay caged anymore!

This tiny little tradition, this humorous practice, poetically, says
volumes about the change within Ginebra. LA Tenorio is smiling again,
Rudy is chest-pumping to the crowd again, Caguioa is playing like an MVP
again still, and Alfrancis Chua is finally, doing Alfrancis Chua things. Again.

So Ginebra’s at 3-5 with still so much left to be done. So they’re
still at the bottom half of the standings. So Vernon Macklin still can’t
dribble more than three times straight. So what?

I was never a Ginebra die-hard. But sitting in that coliseum, going
deaf from the Gi-Ne-Bra chants, literally feeling the floor beneath me
vibrate from the sheer insanity of the crowd, I finally understood.
Ginebra basketball should never be bad. Win, lose, sure. That’s
basketball.

But Ginebra basketball, kampi ka man sa kanila o hindi, should always be fun, exciting and lugay-worthy.

Because if not, then what’s the point?

Photos c/o Nuki Sabio, Interaktv, Empire x Fanboy and SLAM’s Migs Rocha



SOURCE

kobe + james = caguiao

wade plus jaworski = idol caguioa ...................

mali pala kobe24 + jordan23 = mc47

Napanood ko din yan nung iniinterview si MC47, kobe & mj dahil pagpinagsama daw 47 ang lalabas!

Galing ni H-bomb, ngayon k lang ulet nakitang sumabog sha

eto ang gusto ko ngayon sa coach natin, hindi nya pinapagod ang players nya during practice, instead ibuhos ang lahat ng energy sa actual game, then priority nya si mark, La, ellis and Baracael sa 1st, 2nd and 3rd position... kaya hindi ko din masisisi si LA, mark and ellis kung bakit napaka consistent na sila ngayon.. then sa mga bigs naman natin last game si big mama ang binabad kasi ang ganda ng pinakita, kagabi naman si hatfield naman ang binabad... eto ang gusto ko nag hahanap sya ng bigs na iinit sa specific game then hahayaan nya to mag laro hanggang end game... masasabi ko talaga unpredictable na ngayon ng ginebra.. at pansin ko din wala na yun mga pick and roll plays nila which is good thing for the team...