Forecast Round 6 Start of Second Round Robin

Petron Blaze (under the San Miguel banner) defeated Talk N Text in their game 7 rubber match. Talk N Text was going for a rare grand slam but came short on the night. Ateneo continues to win in the UAAP with 9 wins and no losses while San Sebastian College is dominating with a 10-0 record. So many other tournaments ongoing it is a challenge to keep up with all of them. Truly, a basketball crazy nation.

Here in Auckland or New Zealand everyone is talking about the WRC 2011 only 2 weeks away. Go the All Blacks! And of course the recent form of the Warriors is truly amazing, considering their coach announced his resignation a couple of months ago, the team went on to win all their games except for one  and are now in the Top 4. So much pressure on coaches, Graham Henry must be feeling it especially when memories of WRC 2007 come flooding in.
 
And just like that the LS Banal Cup 2011 elimination first round robin is over. As we predicted, Manila Motors/CMR is leading everyone else, winning all their games. Defending champion Dimond/Ampelite is running second with 3 wins and 1 loss. New entry JR Panel Beaters is third with 2 wins and 2 losses. LM Money Transfer is fourth and New World at bottom spot for now. Mathematically speaking, all teams still has a chance of making it to the finals as there is a second round of eliminations and then the teams' win loss records are carried over to the top 4 round.

Birthday greetings to our beloved El Presidente Norman Latosa also to our Ate Leng, El Presidente's big boss hehehe who celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago. For sure there are other well wishers to this power couple in the Filipino community. Mabuhay kayo!

Manila Motors/CMR (4-0) vs LM Money Transfers (1-3)
Manila Motors last week faced potential finalist JR Panel in our tournament's first overtime game. They were behind for almost 95% of the game. They were missing 2 key players Richard Galang and Jed Evangelista. No problem, as usual the Eldialde brothers or the Dynamic Duo Bong and Ken carried their team and delivered. These 2 La Sallites are both MVP candidates and proving to be the main cog in CMR's quest for the championship. Along with Kris Patriarca who scored 38 HUGE points, these three players can all score, defend well and are physically fit to outrun other teams.

LM Money Transfer will be on a high after their win last week upsetting inconsistent New World. It wasn't that they won against a team full of young upstarts but rather it was the way they won. Winning by 19 points through experience and determination. The team composed of mostly veteran players showed everyone that they still got it baaaaby. So the other teams all better watch out. 

First time these two teams faced each other the Auto Experts won by 19 points, but that was only because the Money Transferers committed lots of turnovers in the dying minutes. In fact going into the last 5 minutes the difference was only 5 points before West ran away with the game. So what will happen this time around? Well I think Coach John Senfelices will be more prepared and not take their opponents lightly. Coach Rene Onte will surely try his best to mix up his veterans and keep fresh legs on the court. Problem is it may still come short against an explosive team. Fearless Forecast: Manila Motors/CMR  by 8 points.

New World (0-4) vs JR Panel Beaters (2-2)
Both these teams will be reeling from their defeats last week. New World played poorly and definitely missed the services of their key player Mark Santos. But they played terribly on both ends of the court; it was just one of those days. Everything they tried just didn't work. But more telling was their defense and with their heads down this showed their lack of energy and it reflected on the way they played.  

JR Pane Beaters on the other hand should have had the game in the bag ahead by 6 points in the last 5 minutes of regular time. But the Panel Beaters committed crucial turnovers which Manila Motors capitalized on to take the lead going into the last few minutes. However, down 3 points with 15 seconds to go, Dennis Lorenzo was at the post and spotted 3 point Champ Lester Latosa open at the top of the arc. Lorenzo passed the ball and Latosa converted a trey to send the game into overtime. But in overtime Manager Jun Ablanida's boys simply ran out of steam and lost the game. 2 key players Ferdie Manuel and Joshua del Rosario fouled out early in regulation and was sorely missed down the stretch.

Both teams will need to re-group. New World will be fighting for survival while JR Panel needs to stay close with Dimond and Manila Motors to be within striking distance of a finals berth. New World certainly has a chance if they can get their game going and play the way they played against West. But JR Panel may simply be too strong and too big.  Fearless Forecast: JR Panel by 8 points.

Remember guys; see you at the games and bilog ang bola!!!