The Philippine Basketball Association’s best and brightest stars all came to Cagayan de Oro City for the PBA All Star Week held last April 24 to 29, 2006. The weeklong festivities include barangay and hospital visits, basketball clinic, press conference, street party, various skills competition, Rookies-Sophomores Blitz Game and, of course, the All Star Game. Being a PBA fanatic, I bought my tickets a week earlier. The lower box tickets cost P1,050.00, good for the Friday and Saturday games.
All Star Friday (April 28, 2006)
The All Star Friday events were scheduled to start at 5 PM but we were at the gate of the Xavier University Gymnasium as early as 2 PM. Being among the first to enter the gymnasium we positioned our selves at the courtside seat, just behind a row of monoblock chairs which, we later found out, was actually the commissioner’s row. With plenty of time to kill, we entertained ourselves by reading newspapers. The gymnasium’s atmosphere started to heat up as people started to fill the lower and upper box seats. It was already past 4 PM when I started to spot some familiar faces I have only seen on TV before–ABC 5’s anchormen and former PBA players Norman Black, Richard del Rosario and Jason Webb. Later on ex-pros Samboy Lim, Boybits Victoria, Art dela Cruz, Jojo Latimoosa, Hector Calma and SMB coach Jong Uichico arrived and occupied the chairs in front of us. Fans started to ask for autographs and we wasted no time in posing and taking pictures with the PBA legends. PBA and Misamis Oriental officials also sat in front of us and among those I recognized were PBA Commissioner Noli Eala, Ely Capacio, Air 21’s Lito Alvarez, national team coach Chot Reyes, Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno and Tagoloan Mayor Bambi Emano (a former schoolmate and intrams basketball teammate during my college days).
Excitement filled the air when the All Star Friday participants arrived. The stars
are finally here—Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand, Air 21’s Niño “KG” Canaleta,
Sta. Lucia’s Bitoy Omolon and Alex Cabagnot, Red Bull’s Paolo Bugia and Leo
Najorda and Purefoods’ Marc Pingris were among the first to enter the gym. But the biggest cheers were definitely heard upon the entrance of Purefoods “Big Game” James Yap, considered as today’s most popular player because of his romantic involvement with his celebrity wife Kris Aquino.
The first event of the day was the Obstacle Challenge, wherein the players have to
show their dribbling, passing and shooting skills while passing through the obstacle course. Participants of the events are Air 21’s Ronald Tubid, SMB’s Dondon Hontiveros, Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand, Coco-Cola’s Dennis Miranda, Alaska’s Mike Cortez, Talk and Text’s Willie Miller, Sta. Lucia’s Alex Cabagnot and defending champ Red Bull’s Topex Robinson. In the event’s final round, Miller completed the course in 39. 5 seconds to dethrone Robinson who struggled in the bounce pass section and submitted a time of 48.8 seconds. Later on, Miller would add another trophy to his collection when he beat Tubid, Sta. Lucia’s Jimwel Torion and SMB’s Paolo Hubalde in the Trick Shot challenge. Hubalde won this event last year in Laoag, but this time he ran out of luck and conceded his crown to the wily Talk & Text guard. The Shooting Stars contest, a new skills event, followed next and was won by the troika of Alaska’s Tony dela Cruz, national team coach Chot Reyes and Mayor Bambi Emano. Up next was the 3-Point Shootout participated by the league’s sharp shooters—Air 21’s Renren Ritualo, SMB’s Olsen Racela, Coca-Cola’s William Antonio, Red Bull’s Larry Fonacier, Alaska’s Nic Belasco, Purefoods’ James Yap and defending champion Jimmy Alapag of Talk & Text. Alapag failed to defend his title as Antonio, Racela and Yap topped the first round. In the final round Yap could only score 10 points before Racela got the fans on their feet when he hit 17. Antonio, however, shot the lights out of the XU Gym when he fired 21 points to claim the crown.
The night’s most awaited event, the Slam Dunk contest, followed. What makes this event more exciting was the participation of slam dunk champs of the past three years, SMB’s Brandon Cablay, Red Bull’s Cyrus Baguio and Air 21’s KG Canaleta. Coca-Cola’s John Arigo completed the cast. The crowd went wild with every
thunderous slam made—tomahawk, windmill, reverse and double clutch. Canaleta defended the crown he won last year as he beat Baguio in the event’s final round. After his name was announced as the winner, Canaleta did an encore dunk much to delight of the appreciative crowd—taking off from the free throw line and slamming the ball a la Michael Jordan.
The All Star Friday night was capped by the Rookies vs Sophomores Blitz Game. To spice up the game, the PBA modified some rules to make it faster and more exciting. Shot clock is pegged at 22 seconds, there is no limit on fouls and a slam dunk counts as three points. The Rookies are made up of Cabagnot, Bugia, Miranda, Canaleta, Najorda, Fonacier, Ginebra’s Mike Holper and Talk & Text’s Mac-Mac Cardona. SMB’s Denver Lopez and Wesley Gonzales, Purefoods’ Marc Pingris and Paul Artadi (who did not suit up because of some injury), Sta. Lucia’s Bitoy Omolon, Air 21’s Ranidel de Ocampo, Ginebra’s Erwin Sotto and Alaska’s Joaquin Thoss meanwhile comprised the Sophomores team. As expected the game turned out to be fast and furious with players showcasing their trademark moves. The outside sniping of Fonacier, Cardona’s
patented floaters and semi-hooks and Canaleta’s highlight slams keep the Rookies in the thick of the fight in the early goings. However, the Sophomores started to imposed their might behind the long distance bombs of Lopez, the inside-outside game of de
Ocampo and the unstoppable slashing moves of Omolon. In the end the Sophomores thumped the Rookies, 130-123. Omolon, a native of Talakag, Bukidnon scored a game high 38 points to earn his second straight Blitz Game MVP. Canalita led the Rookies team with 35 points, coming mostly from power dunks which never failed to draw wild applause from the crowd.
All Star Saturday (April 29, 2006)
We again arrived at the XU Gym at 2 PM but it was almost 3 o clock when the gate
opened. Anticipating the affair to last late at night, we bought some Dunkin Donuts’ bunwich and C2 Green Tea to munch on whenever we would feel hungry. This time we took the seat behind the team bench in order to get a closer look of the all star players.
The first game started before 4 PM. It was a match between government officials of Misamis Oriental versus the PBA selection which include Commissioner Noli Eala, TV anchormen Jason Webb and Richard del Rosario and some members of the press. Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno, Tagoloan Mayor Bambi Emano, Claveria MayorRocky Calingin and Impasug-ong Mayor Mario Okinlay fought it out with the PBA
selection in a see-saw battle with fans cheering for occasional flashy moves coming from the government officials. The game ended in an 82 all draw. Commissioner Eala could have won the game for the PBA selection had he not missed his last attempt.
The Legends Shootout followed next, with the top three players (William Antonio,
Olsen Racela and James Yap) of the 3-Point Shootout held on Friday battling
retired PBA players Jojo Lastimosa, Boybits Victoria and Ric-Ric Marata in a team shootfest. Renren Ritual took the place of William Antonio who was nowhere to be found. Cagayan de Oro native Jojo Lastimosa again lived up to his billing as one of the league’s best clutch shooter of all time. Needing 14 points to overhaul the
current players’ lead, the Xavier University alumnus scored as much to lead the Legends to victory.
Wild cheers filled the air when the All Star players entered the court. Since we were seated behind the North Teambench, the players were just within our reach. The players took some time to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Afterwards, the lights went out and a classy introduction was made for each player. The North team was composed of SMB’s Danny Ildefonso and Olsen Racela, Red Bull’s Enrico Villanueva, Alaska’s Nic Belasco, Purefoods’ Kerby Raymundo, Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand, Coca-Cola’s John Arigo and Ali Peek, Air 21’s Renren Ritualo and Talk & Text’s Willie Miller. Meanwhile the South Team was made up of Talk & Text’s Jimmy Alapag and Asi Taulava, SMB’s Danny Siegle, Dondon Hontiveros and Dorina Peña,
Ginebra’s Eric Menk, Coca-Cola’s Raffi Reavies, Alaska’s Reynel Hugnatan, Red Bull’s Cyrus Baguio and Purefoods’ Roger Yap and James Yap.
The game turned to be what one would expect in an All Star game. Fast plays, no-look passes, thunderous jams and long range bombings keep the crowd cheering on almost every play. Jimmy Alapag showed why he is one of today’s best point guard, ably directing the South’s offense and dishing out fancy passes en route to an All Star Game record of 16 assists. Crowd favorite James Yap had the fans screaming with his smooth offensive moves. His back-to-back triple in the second quarter brought the South back to the game just as the Northerners are threatening to pull away. Olsen Racela, probably the oldest player in that game, showed that he still have more playing years left. The veteran point guard orchestrated the North’s offense with matured decision making and played gutsy defense on the opposing end. At one point he dropped on the floor after a head-on collision with Dondon Hontiveros. Racela lied on the floor for a few seconds, got up and received a pass and then hit a booming 3-point shot. Slotmen Danny Ildefonso and Kerby Raymundo delighted the crowd with their graceful low post moves and fade way jumpers,Rico Villanueva had a monster slam, Renren Ritualo buried not a few rainbow shots and Asi Taulava, as always, dominated the paint. The only letdown was the no-show of Mark Caguioa and the injuries of Ali Peek, Rommel Adducul and Eric Menk, which kept them out of the game. In the end, it was the underrated guard Roger Yap who stole the show from the more illustrious players. The lesser known of the Purefoods’ two Yaps, grabbed a defensive rebound, split his free throws for the winning score, then grabbed the offensive rebound to propel the South to a 122-120 win over the hard-fighting North team. Taulava was the game’s MVP as he finished with 30 points and a game record 16 rebounds.
As expected, fans mobbed the center court after the game, hoping to get a closer
look of their basketball idols. We were able to get some autographs and pictures, which are precious mementos for a basketball fanatic like me. Seeing the country’s best players gather in one game and giving their all for the fans is truly an experience I would cherish for life.
