Year of Upsets in Basketball for 2011

With the year 2011 about to close, I guess it is time to relieve the great basketball moments that happened in the Collegiate, Philippine and National Basketball which proved that 2011 is a year of the upsets for basketball. 

PCCL: San Sebastian Stags (winning over Ateneo Blue Eagles) to become PCCL Champions 

Entering the PCCL 2011 match with a twice-to-beat advantage worked wonders for the San Sebastian Stags as they managed to outdo the Ateneo De Manila Blue Eagles 73-67 at the San Juan Arena. 

Riding on the shoulders of 2 of their Big Three after the injury to Ronald Pascual which sidelined him during PCCL was enough to bring him the championship. During that game, NCAA MVP Calvin Abueva had 20 points and 17 rebounds while Ian Sangalang, adjuged as the 2011 Philippine Collegiate Championship MVP had 19 points along with 15 rebounds - 8 of which in the offensive end. 

This is the first coaching title of Coach Topex Robinson, coming from their defeat against NCAA Champions: San Beda Red Lions. 

2011 PBA Governors Cup Champions: Petron Blaze Boosters
(Photo courtesy of: Nuki Sabio - PBA)

Petron Blaze's Championship Ring (Photo: c/o Alex Cabagnot)

PBA:  2011 Governors Cup Champions, Petron Blaze Boosters 

After getting through the finals with a superior quotient than Ginebra & Alaska, PBA fans believed that the championship between the Talk and Text Tropang Texters and the Petron Blaze Boosters would bring Tropa close to a grand-slam (they've won the first 2 conferences).  The Blaze Boosters, playing without Jay Washington, Rabeh Al Hussaini, Joseph Yeo and Lordy Tugade from that time-being showed that they can win the championship starting from the buzzer-beater of Danny Ildefonso from their import Anthony Grundy. The series went to 7 games, with the Blaze Boosters showing that team defense can win the championship. 

Arwind Santos was adjudged as Best Player of the Conference & Finals MVP.  This was also Coach Ato Agustin's first pro title and a great year for him, leading his wards to the finals 2 out of the 3 conferences for the 2010-2011 season. 

The Race to the PBA 2011-12 Philippine Cup Semifinals:  Powerade beating B-MEG twice 

When David met Goliath (B-Meg), everybody expected that Goliath  would have an upperhand and go straight to the PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals, but they had proven critics wrong as David had beaten Goliath twice to gain a seat in the Semifinals. 

The 2nd game was won in convincing fashion: 131-123 victory with Powerade hitting 22 3 pointers. The team, lead by Gary David and rookies Marcio Lassiter and Jvee Casio would go up against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Jan. 4 (Wednesday) at Cuneta Astrodome. 

The Race to the PBA 2011-2012 Philippine Cup Semifinals: Rain or Shine ousts  crowd-favorite, Ginebra 

I was there during the first game of the ROS-Ginebra series, everytime Ginebra scores, the Big Dome totally rocked, but when Rain or Shine kept going to their threes and their Lethal Weapon, rookie Paul Lee, they were able to shut Ginebra's 6th Man, the crowd and make the momentum ship towards them going to Game 2.

Game 2 was totally a Rain or Shine game: With 41 pts during the first quarter, it seemed like there was no way to stop the ROS juggernaut, everyone has stepped up, from the likes of Paul Lee, Jeff Chan, Ryan Arana, Gabe Norwood even to the tandem of JR Quinahan and Beau Belga who continuously hit from the three-point arc which Ginebra failed to respect. 

With them winning, newcomers are in the other bracket of PBA Semis: ROS versus Powerade. 

NBA: After 31 years, Dallas Mavericks is now NBA Champion 

A team made up of stars and role-players, this is how I described the 2011 NBA Champions, Dallas Mavericks, who after 31 years in the league has won the championship and can call themselves a champion. 

The team lead by Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry (two of the remaining members from the 2006 team that lost to Miami) and Jason Kidd had lead Dallas in conquering Miami's big three, Chris Bosh, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. 

Posted in: NBA,NCAA,PBA,UAAP