Rookie Hodge quick to make his presence felt By the staff

Rookie Cliff Hodge has averaged 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 1.5 steals in the Meralco Bolts' back-to-back victories in the PBA Philippine Cup. Jerome Ascano

HE'S only in his rookie season, yet Cliff Hodge is already playing like a veteran for Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup.
The No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft, Hodge came up big in the Bolts’ last two games, leading to victories against Alaska and Barangay Ginebra that gave the team a share of second place with two others in the season-opening conference.
Hodge had 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and two steals as the Bolts came from behind to nip Barangay Ginebra, 95-88, in the league’s first road game this season in Digos City on Saturday - a performance that came on the heels of his 20-point, 11-rebound effort in a 93-86 win over Alaska.
Hodge averaged 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 1.5 steals in the two wins in a performance that gave fresh hope to the young franchise and made the Fil-American forward the first rookie this season to be named Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week.
Hodge, from Pensacola, Florida, actually became the first freshman in over a year to earn the distinction in the Philippine Cup. He is also the first rookie winner since Paul Lee won Player of the Week honors twice in the 2012 Governors Cup, according to PBA chief statistician and Spin.ph columnist Fidel Mangonon.
Hodge edged out Rain or Shine’s Jeff Chan for the weekly honor for the period covering October 8 to 14.
Coach Ryan Gregorio naturally has nothing but good words for his hard-working rookie.
“It (citation) speaks volumes of his significant contributions to our team. The tangible contributions are quite obvious: Team leaders in points, rebounds, and blocks,” Gregorio noted.
“But the biggest impact he brings to the table is his limitless energy. His enthusiasm is rubbing off to all the members of our team that is beyond numbers and statistics.”
The 24-year-old Hodge was quick to play down what he has done for the Bolts so far, emphasizing their two straight wins were the result of team work.
“It’s a team game, and I would like to thank my teammates for the hard work in both games because I wouldn’t be getting this award without them,” said Hodge, whose mother is from Cavite.
“Total team effort in both games.”
Hodge debuted with 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal in Meralco’s 110-112 overtime loss against defending champion Talk `N Text.

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source: http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/news/rookie-hodge-quick-to-make-his-presence-felt

Fajardo and Slaughter not yet ready for overseas battle, insists Toroman By Richard Dy

Serbian coach Rajko Toroman believes former Cebu college ball rivals Greg Slaughter and June Mar Fajardo are not ready yet for the tough international meets. 

PETRON rookie June Mar Fajardo and Ateneo center Greg Slaughter, two celebrated big men owing to their size and skill, are not yet ripe for big international events like the Fiba-Asia men’s championships, according to former national coach Rajko Toroman.
While insisting he was not trying to put down Smart Gilas 2.0 coach Chot Reyes’ efforts to beef up the national squad for next year’s Fiba Asia men’s in Beirut, Toroman said he believes Fajardo and Slaughter have a long way to go before they can hold their own against against Asia’s best big men.
The 6-10 Fajardo and Slaughter, 6-11, are two of the big men Reyes hopes to recruit to beef up a Gilas team that won the Jones Cup and finished fourth in the Fiba Asia Cup during the PBA offseason.
“In my opinion, June Mar isn’t ready yet (for Fiba-Asia). Even Greg isn’t ready for that yet,” Toroman, told Spin.ph as he sat on ringside watching a PBA game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Toroman said both big men, though dominant in college because of their size, still have a lot to work on as far as quickness and agility is concerned.
“Both June Mar and Greg have to improve on their quickness. International play is very different. So they really need to work on quickness drills and agility,” added Toroman, currently serving as Petron’s team consultant.
Before becoming this year’s PBA top rookie pick, Fajardo played for the San Miguel Beermen in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) last season.
The Pinamungajan, Cebu native is coming off a big game against San Mig Coffee on Sunday night where his tremendous potential came in full display. He finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and a 4-of-7 clip from the foul line to go with 13 rebounds, three steals, and a block shot.
He also provided the highlight clip of the night, throwing down a two-handed follow-up dunk off a Chris Lutz miss against San Mig big men Rafi Reavis and Yancy de Ocampo.
“He (Fajardo) is slowly picking up the game now. Nakita na ng tao kung ano ang kaya niya," said Petron coach Olsen Racela after the 84-90 loss to San Mig.
"We’d like to build on that. We told him to just be patient. Take your time. And after our Rain or Shine and Barako Bull games, we told him, 'Huwag ka ma-frustrate dahil alam namin ano ang kaya mong gawin'.”
On the other hand, Slaughter, who fought many battles with Fajardo in the Cebu college circuit, marked his final year for the Blue Eagles with a UAAP championship.
Toroman said the upside for Fajardo at this point is his good work ethic.
“He has a very good attitude towards the game. He wants to keep improving. I always tell him to learn from the mistakes he commits during the game so he’ll get better,” added Toroman, who handled the Smart Gilas basketball program from 2009 to 2011.

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source: http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/special-reports/fajardo-and-slaughter-not-yet-ready-for-overseas-battle-insists-toroman

PBA: SAN MIG COFFEE MIXERS VS PETRON BLAZE BOOSTERS Oct 14, 2012

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Mixers lose poise, blend well to win By Olmin Leyba

Source: http://www.philstar.com/sportsarticle.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=69&articleid=859712&keyword=sp_pba

MANILA, Philippines - San Mig Coffee squandered an 18-point lead but hung tough in the end to turn back Petron Blaze, 90-84, and grab a share of the early lead in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Coffee Mixers gained from Rafi Reavis’ split foul throw and a big block by Yancy de Ocampo in the last 21.7 seconds to survive the furious rally of the Boosters and storm to their second straight win, joining Talk N Text at the top.
“We shouldn’t have let it get back that close but that (Petron) is a really good team. Any win is a good win against them,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone, whose wards even enjoyed their  biggest lead at 45-27 in the second quarter.
San Mig Coffee was still ahead, 82-75, going to the last 3:09 but Petron rookie Jun Mar Fajardo imposed his will inside to help Petron get to within 84-87 with 23 seconds left. Reavis then cashed in on the front end of his charities to restore a four-point spread before De Ocampo blocked Jay Washington’s three-point heave, leading to a runaway by James Yap for the win.
“I think everybody got a glimpse of what Jun Mar can do these days. He was doing it against Yancy, 6-10 and Rafi, 6-9; battling boards, doing a lot of stuff. Basically, his energy got them back,” said Cone, of the rookie behemoth, who had 16 markers, 13 boards and three steals to backstop Arwind Santos’ 18 points.
Yap led the way for the Coffee Mixers with 18 points, six boards, and four assists, followed by PJ Simon’s 17and De Ocampo’s 14.
“We  panicked  a little bit in early, fourth, middle fourth, kinda breaking down to too much one on one. (But we) covered it with defense and got some things from our defense and were able to score,” said Cone.
The Boosters fell to 1-2, joining Alaska, Barako Bull and Air21.
In the first game, Alaska drew 20-pointers from three players and got the rest to do the dirty work as the Aces nipped Barako Bull, 102-86, to finally barge into the win column.
JV Casio fired 24 points spiked by four triples while Cyrus Baguio turned in 23 and Mac Baracael netted 21 as the Aces clawed back from a 10-point deficit in the third to snatch the victory. from the Energy Cola.
The Aces, who played with a lot of sick players, are now 1-2 in a tie for seventh with their victims and Air21, handing coach Luigi Trillo his first win in the all-Pinoy tourney.
“We’ve gotten punished in the first two games for not playing good defense. We gave 55 percent fieldgoal and today we had a bit more energy,” said Trillo.

In this game, the Aces held Barako Bull to a 32.1 percent clip (27-of-84) while shooting 48 percent of their own shots (36 of 75).
“We gave them 17 points in the third and 21 in fourth, may not be big to others but for me it’s a stepping stone,” said Trillo.
It was their defense that turned the tables around in the third.
After Barako seized a 62-52 lead and maintained a 64-57 upperhand at the 6:55 mark of the third, the Aces held the Energy Cola scoreless in the next four minutes with Casio and Baracael on the offensive end, to wrest a 72-64 lead.
Barako scored only one point the rest of the period as Alaska opened up an 81-65 lead entering the fourth.
The Energy Cola made a big rally to go to within one at 85-84 but Baracael made some big buckets as the Aces restored a 96-85 lead to put the finishing touches to the win.
The Aces pulled this one off despite the LBM suffered by Sonny Thoss, who was scoreless but grabbed six rebounds and had four shotblocks, and Eddie Laure, who was hospitalized days before the game. Casio himself got hurt, suffering a cut on the left side of his head after colliding with teammate Sam Eman’s teeth during a looseball scramble in the fourth.
“These guys are playing through illness. That’s what makes these guys great. It’s great to see them scratch and claw,” said Trillo.
Enrico Villanueva topscored for Barako with 22 points, his highest output in the last four seasons, plus 17 boards. Ronald Tubid added 16 markers and 11 rebounds.

AIR 21-MARK YEE DUNK vs Kelly Williams

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Mixers return after long break to face Boosters By Richard Dy

Tim Cone and the Mixers are playing only their second game in the two-week old conference. Jerome Ascano

AFTER an eight-day respite, San Mig Coffee wheels back into action against preseason favorite Petron Blaze in Sunday’s PBA Philippine Cup main game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Mixers (1-0) are playing just their second game of the two-week-old PBA 38th season following their smashing 103-83 win over the Alaska Aces on October 5 at the Big Dome. They clash with the souped-up Boosters (1-1) at 6:30 p.m.
The weeklong rest gave San Mig Coffee forwards Jean Marc Pingris and Joe Devance time to get back to game-shape after hurting their ankle and knee, respectively, prior to the start of the season.
Devance hurt his knee four months ago and had been inactive since, but the 6-foot-7 Fil-Am played 11 minutes during the Mixers’ 20-point blowout win against the Aces, logging in two points, one rebound and two assists.
“It’s nice to have Joe back and give him a few minutes since four months ago. He just needs to be in game shape and lose some weight. He’s gonna be a nice weapon for us out there,” noted Cone, who will miss high-leaping JC Intal with a knee injury.
Petron’s rookie coach Olsen Racela said there is nothing much to celebrate following the team’s 98-89 victory over Barako Bull on Wednesday night. For one, Racela said the team’s defense remains a big concern at this point.
“In our last game, we gave up 102 points. That’s just too many points to give up. So isa pang wino-work out namin is defense,” explained Racela.
The Boosters bowed to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 102-86 on opening night on October 3.
But against the Energy Cola, the Boosters were able to improve on their defense, allowing just 89 points while making some big stops during the fourth period after Barako Bull tried to rally behind newly- acquired point guard  Josh Urbiztondo.
Petron’s team consultant Rajko Toroman said San Mig Coffee is a dangerous squad to play because it has the size, the championship spunk and the multi-titled coach in Tim Cone on its side.
“San Mig Coffee has the size, so we need to really get the ball to the open man. We want our players to just follow the system and have more ball movement. We can’t simply rely on our three-point shooting or June Mar (Fajardo),” explained Toroman.
Cone said he’s glad to have the 6’8” center Yancy de Ocampo because his experience and size can easily match up against the 6’10” Fajardo.
De Ocampo, the former St. Francis of Assissi standout, opened the season with a game-high 22 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots in 36 minutes.
In the 4:15 p.m. curtain raiser, the Alaska Aces look to break into the win column after opening the season with back-to-back losses as they take on the Barako Bull Energy Cola.

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source: http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/news/mixers-return-after-long-break-to-face-boosters-v02#.UHkdv5JtLJ4.twitter