Why they're winning (In Retrospect 26)

THE Purefoods Chunkee Giants, at least in the classification round of the Philippine Cup, are doing something I didn’t expect them to do…win games.

Through a sweep of their games this week, the Giants are now in second place in the team standings. In both games, Purefoods also did what I didn’t think they were capable of…win ugly games.

So what makes this relatively small, inexperienced and point guard-less squad click? First of all, the Chunkee Giants are clearly the league’s best defensive team. With a system that switches from zone to man-to-man and the signature of assistant coach Koy Banal all over it, the Giants are tops in the league in opponents points per game (80.8 points) and opponents field goal percentage (37.1 percent).

This week, Purefoods also displayed nerves of steel in the endgame. Both their wins were come-from-behind victories. In their 79-75 defeat of Coca Cola, the Chunkee Giants outscored the Tigers 29-13 in the third quarter, while limiting them to a conference-low 32.9 percent team shooting. Against the Alaska Aces, Purefoods’ 2-3 zone forced guys like Nic Belasco and Mike Cortez to shoot from the outside while capitalizing on the offensive end through simple yet effective plays executed by Kerby Raymundo, who canned two baskets in the final two minutes to help seal the game, 69-64.

Despite not having a true point guard, Purefoods is committing the second least number of turnovers a ballgame at 16.9, an indication that even converted off-guards like Roger Yap can orchestrate a more or less simple offense making use of picks at the elbow and post-kickout plays.

So are the Giants for real? The classification round says yes, but the playoffs are, again, another story. But for now, kudos to coach Ryan Gregorio and his wards.

Meanwhile, moving in the opposite direction are the wild and out-of-sorts Air21 Express. The Express lost by a combined 32 points this week. And for the umpteenth time, the reason is defense. Coach Bo Perasol once told me that since his team is an offensive-minded squad, their “defense flows with their offense.” In effect, Air21 will continue to run until they drop in the hope that their opponents drop first, while letting their defense settle in with the transition type of basketball they have a penchant for.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. After absorbing a 103-88 drubbing at the hands of Talk N Text due in part to their lackluster rebounding (-15), fastbreak points, believe it or not (-12) and free throws made (-13), the Express were outgunned by a much older San Miguel quintet, 117-100.

A team surprisingly groping for form is Red Bull. In a battle of pre-season favorites with disappointing records, the Bulls defeated Barangay Ginebra, 83-68. Before that, the Fiesta Conference champions bowed to Alaska in a thriller they themselves could have won, 83-82. Areas of concern for Red Bull lie in their lackluster defense (7th in opponents field goal shooting) and problems moving the ball around (7th in turnovers committed).

In the week’s other game, Talk N Text, which is now on a three-game winning run, thwarted the listless Sta. Lucia Realtors, 98-90. It seems as if the Realtors are even better without their overpaid big three, two of whom returned to competitive play only to combine for 23 points. If they were still reeling from their injuries, they should have been benched. Marlou Aquino, Kenneth Duremdes and to a certain degree, Dennis Espino, only stall the Realtors’ offense.

Stats of the week: Air21 gave up more than 100 points in both games this week, and have allowed opponents to exceed the century mark for the four games running…Coca Cola set a conference-high 17 fastbreak points in their loss to Purefoods…Jayjay Helterbrand and Eric Menk combined for an awful 9 points in their defeat against Red Bull…No team in any of the seven games this week shot beyond 50 percent from the field…San Miguel’s Brandon Cablay registered his highest output in a Beermen uniform, scoring 14 points in their game versus Air21.