ELLIS IS NEW SULTAN OF SLAMS; TIU THREE-POINT KING
DIGOS CITY – Barangay Ginebra’s Chris Ellis and Rain or Shine’s Chris Tiu turned the main features of the PBA All-Star Skills Events into a party of the rookies, with the former crowning himself the new sultan of slams and the latter the new three-point king.
Ellis occupied the throne vacated by KG Canaleta while Tiu ended the record three-year reign of Mark Macapagal.
Barako Bull’s Jonas Villanueva saved the day for the veterans, foiling what could have been a twinkill by Ellis.
Villanueva made history as the first four-peat winner of the Obstacle Challenge.
But there’s no stopping Ellis and Tiu in making great marks, titillating the crowd in the All-Star Friday that ushered in the All-Star Sunday to be culminated by the All-Star Game pitting Gilas Pilipinas versus a PBA select team.
Ellis, the 2012 draft fourth pick, wowed them all with his aerial artistry making him the fifth rookie winner of the slam dunk contest after Vergel Meneses in 1998, Joey Mente in 2001, Brandon Cablay in 2003 and Gabe Norwood in 2009.
Everybody in the venue was in agreement Canaleta got a worthy successor to his throne.
Tiu, meanwhile, had a great number to attest his great triumph.
Getting a good feel in a shooting practice after a taping of his “Tiu-torial” show in a gym in Davao City in the morning, Tiu shot solid rounds of 17 (elims) and 21 points (finals) and became the league’s first rookie three-point champ after Jasper Ocampo in 1998 and Jimmy Alapag in 2003.
A good shooter from his grade school days in Xavier up to his varsity years in Ateneo and stint with Gilas Pilipinas I, Tiu outshot the best of them, converting four of five money balls to highlight his final round matching the record previously done by Allan Caidic in 1991, William Antonio in 2006 and James Yap in 2009.
“Maganda ang gising at malaki ang tulong nong practice ko kaninang umaga,” said Tiu.
Settling for first runner-up honors for the second straight year was undefeated five-time slam-dunk champ Canaleta.
Canaleta put himself in a good position to win the crown in firing away 18 points in the final round.
Tiu, however, was far more steadier, beating Canaleta’s mark just in the fourth rack.
Jayvee Casio wound up third with 14.
Macapagal yielded the crown after hitting only 11 in the elims, the same scores submitted by Willie Miller, Marcio Lassiter and Josh Urbiztondo. James Yap, with a sore back, ended up last with just eight.
And then Ellis ran his show.
The 6-foot-4 Ginebra forward drew a pair of perfect 50s in the elims with a jaw-dropping cradle slam and a windmill finish off a floor bounce.
He failed to sustain a perfect run as he completed a 360-degree one-handed throw-down only on his fourth try for 44 points.
Teammate Elmer Espiritu threatened to steal the crown on a high bounce off the floor that he finished with an authoritative two-hander for 45 points.
The 6-foot-3 UE product, however, shot himself on the foot in the second round of the finale, unable to convert a slam inside the one-minute limit.
Still, Ellis provided a great climax on his performance, executing a dunk ala Vince Carter. He drew a 49 as he caught a lob by pal Cliff Hodge near the rim, slammed it in and hung in the cylinder for a few seconds by his forearm.
Failing to progress beyond the elims were Hodge, Calvin Abueva and Arwind Santos.
Asked by the fans for an encore, Ellis did dutifully to end one of the most artistic PBA slam-dunk contests in years. (SB)
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