PBA D-League: Champions, freak injuries and everything in between

In the second edition of the PBA Developmental League, we saw new teams, new faces, and some not-so-new ones. Straight from the courtside, here are some of the things you should remember about this conference.

 

NLEX goes back-to-back

 

Surprise, surprise. The team everybody else thought was an unstoppable force did prove to be one.

 

Composed of the best college and former professional players, the Road Warriors finished the elimination round at the top of the pack and were granted an automatic semifinals berth.

 

Afterwards, they ran over Freego in the Finals and swept the best-of-three series.

 

It should also be said that they have recruits from the Sinag-Pilipinas team that competed in the Southeast Asian Games. That is how much of a heavyweight this team is.

 

But even Achilles has his heel and for NLEX, that’s Big Chill.

 

Big Chill trips NLEX, twice

 

While everybody thought NLEX was unbeatable, the Big Chill Superchargers proved otherwise – twice.

 

In the elimination round, the Superchargers tripped the defending champions, 85-83. In the absence of go-to guy Alex Mallari, rookie Keith Jensen stepped up with 21 points and eight rebounds.

 

In fairness to the Road Warriors, they were playing with five men down at the time.The Pinatubo trio of Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual and Ian Sangalang skipped the game due to duties for the San Sebastian Stags. Garvo Lanete and Ford Arao also sat out because of injuries.

 

But in game one of the semifinals, Big Chill gave NLEX a brain freeze in a convincing 83-66 victory despite having a complete lineup.

 

Freego enters the Finals

 

Even at the beginning of the conference, the Freego Jeans Makers were considered the dark horse. And now for the first time in a very long time, the Freego-Adamson squad was able to break into the championship round.

 

Under the wings of veterans Lester Alvarez, Alex Nuyles and Eric Camson, Freego stopped Cebuana from staging a rematch against NLEX.

 

Although they were eventually swept in the finals, they did give the Road Warriors a tough fight, especially in game two.

 

“Wala namang pressure sa amin kasi sinasabi nga ng mga tao, sobrang lakas ng NLEX. Kaya ang sabi sa’min ni coach [Leo Austria], basta i-enjoy lang namin yung game,” shared Camson.

 

Of ACLs and freak injuries

 

It is inevitable in every basketball player’s career that he would go down with an injury. Unfortunately, we saw a handful during the Aspirants Cup.

 

Let’s skip the usual sprains and go to the strange injuries. Big Chill’s top gun Alex Mallari got into a freak accident in practice where his teammate poked his left eye. He had to get 10 stitches on his eyeball and sported a red left eye for weeks.

 

Just like last season, Alex Nuyles suffered a shoulder injury at the beginning of the season. If sitting out the first few games wasn’t enough, he also pulled a vein in his wrist during the finals series.

 

But perhaps the biggest loss was Ronald Pascual who tore his ACL. Last conference’s game hero was not able to play at all for the Road Warriors.

 

No Ronald Pascual, no problem

 

Ronald Pascual undoubtedly was the pivotal player for NLEX last year. But due to his injury, other players were forced to step up most notably the Filipino-American tandem of Chris Ellis and Cliff Hodge.

 

Aside from their timely lay-ups and three-pointers, the dunks were what people watched out for the most. Hodge also contributed six blocks in their season ender.

 

RR Garcia also deserves credit for delivering his playmaking duties excellently all-conference long.

 

Cabrera’s buzzer-beating three

 

If last year there was Ronald Pascual, this year Jeans Maker Roider Cabrera hit his own Hail Mary in game two of the semifinals.

 

Freego was down by two points. They had the final possession which of course Lester Alvarez was setting up. But instead of going for a lay-up, Alvarez made a last minute decision to pass the ball to Cabrera.

 

Cabrera hit a three-pointer from the right wing, allowing Freego to sweep the semifinals series against Cebuana, 57-56.

 

Vic Manuel is named Best Player of the Conference

 

Besting the league’s best guards in RR Garcia and Lester Alvarez, big man Vic Manuel was hailed Best Player of the Conference. Manuel, a former PBL player, was crucial in the Gems’ frontline in the Aspirants Cup.

 

Last year, another Cebuana talent grabbed the BPC Award. Allein Maliksi was chosen above the handful of promising players, although his team fell short in the finals. Maliksi wound up becoming the eighth over-all pick by Barako Bull in the 2011 PBA Rookie Draft. — AD/RSJ, GMA News