ENERGY COLA ON A ROLL

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Starting today and every Tuesday during the season, pba.ph will compile the week’s hits and misses, giving PBA fans a glimpse of who’s hot and who’s not, who performed well and who fizzled the past week.

HITS

Barako Bull Energy Cola – A lot of people were surprised to see the new-look Barako Bull Energy Cola on top of the team standings.

With a new man calling the shots and a new system being implemented, it’s but natural for the Energy Cola to be in a period of adjustment.

But what’s noticeable, too, is that Barako Bull players are playing comfortable with the new system and that’s good news for team owner George Chua.

Rajko Toroman, the team’s new consultant, has brought in a new philosophy that looks a good fit for the squad. Local players such as Josh Urbiztondo, Jonas Villanueva and even veteran Danny Seigle are thriving under Toroman’s system.

Role playing is also a big part in the new scheme of things that even Evan Brock, one of the least productive imports in terms of scoring, is able to keep his job by doing the dirty work – pulling down rebounds, playing defense, setting up screens and providing the intangibles.

And the Energy Cola are winning despite the fact that they’re missing several key players – Sean Anthony, JC Intal, Roger Yap, Celino Cruz and Jojo Duncil.

Josh Urbiztondo – The Fireball started flaming hot in the first two games of the conference.

Yes, Urbiztondo is back in his role running the show for a new team, Barako Bull, and earning the trust of the new man at the helm of the squad.

In the first two games, which his team won in hard-earned fashion, Urbiztondo averaged 20.5 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game.  He capped his brilliant performance with a 24-point output, including six triples, making him the unanimous choice for the Player of the Week award.

Sol Mercado, Gary David, Japeth Aguilar – One of them is the team’s established star. Two of them are prized acquisitions before the start of the Commissioner’s Cup.

Indeed, the troika of Mercado, David and Aguilar appear to be playing beautiful music for the Mikee Romero-owned GlobalPort Batang Pier.

Mercado, the Philippine Cup’s top scorer and assists leader, has brought his all-around skills to the franchise he used to play for in the amateur ranks. His homecoming of sorts is proving to be a warm one. He had a double-double performance in his team’s first two games, averaging 18 points and 13.5 assists.

The stocky guard had 17 points and 11 assists in GlobalPort’s upset win over Petron Blaze, 94-92, on opening day. He continued his Magic Johnson impersonation on Sunday night, finishing with 19 points and a career-high16 assists, but those numbers served as a mere footnote as Barako Bull won in overtime, 98-88.

David, meanwhile, reaffirmed his role as the team’s go-to-guy.

He has averaged 23.5 points per game, looking to be a good beneficiary of those Mercado passes.

Aguilar, the 6-foot-9 forward who was acquired by GlobalPort in a trade with Rabeh Al-Hussaini, got the minutes he had always wanted, resulting into something positive both for the player and the Batang Pier.

Aguilar averaged 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in 38 minutes per game.

Mark Caguioa – The reigning MVP has served notice.

Seeing Caguioa scoring 26 points and hitting big shots in his team’s losing game against Air21 is indication enough that the spitfire guard is dead serious to carry his team.

But Caguioa was the only spark for the Kings, who bowed to the Express, 70-74.

Eric Dawson – Dawson has a winning reputation along with a penchant for playing big in every team he has played for.

In his debut game for the Meralco Bolts, the former San Antonio Spur had monster numbers of 37 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and two steals in an all-around performance leading his team get past three-time defending Philippine Cup champions Talk N Text Tropang Texters, 99-92.

Dawson, who won championships playing for the Austin Toros as well as for clubs he played for in Korea and Japan, had certainly become the yardstick among imports playing in the Commissioner’s Cup.

MISSES

Willie Miller – Sol Mercado, Gary David and Japeth Aguilar, his teammates at GlobalPort, are hot.

Miller, the two-time Most Valuable Player, is not.

The lefty guard struggled in the first two games of the tournament, averaging only 4.5 points and four turnovers. Once the team’s go-to guy, Miller has suddenly found himself lost in the rotation.

Matt Rogers – Rogers missed his first game with San Mig Coffee – literally.

The  Spanish League veteran was hospitalized due to suspected food poisoning. As a result, the Coffee Mixers were forced to play all-Filipino and lost to the Barako Bull Enegry Cola.

Rogers is expected to play in the next game.

LA Tenorio – The cerebral Barangay Ginebra guard wasn’t his usual deadly self during his team’s opening game, missing all his 11 attempts from the field.

Tenorio said a case of bad shot selection as well as pressure in trying to set up his team more were the reasons why he played the worst game of his career.

But the 5-foot-9 guard vowed to bounce back and promised fans to see him back in form in the coming game.

Rain or Shine locals – Sometimes, having the tallest import in the PBA isn’t the biggest help.

In the team’s opening game, none among the Rain or Shine locals was able to score in double figures as they relied heavily on 7-foot-3 import Bruno Sundov, who finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds.

Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan tallied eight markers apiece, but these were not enough to help the team march on to victory.

Petron big men June Mar Fajardo and Jay Washington – The two players combined for only 12 points and eight rebounds, numbers which were not decent for big guys like them.

The 6-foot-10 Fajardo, the top overall pick by the Petron Blaze Boosters last August, had only five points and two rebounds in just 11 minutes of playing time while the 6-foot-7 Washington only had seven markers on 2-for-7 shooting in 19 minutes. (RJ)

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