April 27, 2009 (Part 1); PBA All-Stars proved too much for RP 5

Yesterday, I was there at the Araneta Coliseum for the PBA All-Star Week's culmination.

The Skills competition started at around 4 pm with the Obstacle Challenge. Many players joined the contest, including LA Tenorio, Egay Billones, Warren Ybanez, Bonbon Custodio, Paul Artadi and more, along with defending champion Willie Miller, who set the record on last year's All-Star at 25.4 seconds.

But this year, it's the year of the King. Paul Artadi won the challenge and winning himself P20,000 cash.

Next up was the Three-Point Shootout, where "Big Game" James Yap poured in 21 points in the final round, tying the record set by Will Antonio in the 2006 installment of the All-Star. He beats Dondon Hontiveros and Gary David in the finals, scoring 15 and 8, respectively.

And finally, the dunk contest. This year is different, because there are 2 divisions, the imports and the local. For the Imports, Sta. Lucia's Anthony Johnson, San Miguel's Gabe Freeman and Ginebra's David Noel were picked to be contestants while Talk 'N Text's Jared Dillinger, Purefoods' KG Canaleta and Rain or Shine's Gabe Norwood were for the locals.

David Noel surprised everyone with a cartwheel and backward somersault capping off a 360-degree two-handed dunk to win the import's division, while Gabe Norwood won the locals' division with an imitation of what David Noel did. A mini-cartwheel followed by a toss-up from teammate Sol Mercado.

The main event of the evening was the game between the Powerade Team Pilipinas and the PBA All-Stars backed up by PBA imports Jai Lewis, David Noel, Anthony Johnson and Gabe Freeman.

The PBA All-Stars were made up of the best from the North and South All-Stars. Jimmy Alapag, Paul Artadi, MacMac Cardona, Dondon Hontiveros, Enrico Villanueva, Eric Menk, Jay Washington and Dorian Pena composed the locals for the PBA All-Star selection.

The game was exciting, with points being scored all almost all possession. Arwind Santos was the hot man for the Nationals, scoring back to back three-point baskets in the first quarter, finishing with 18 points.

But the reinforcements of the All-Stars proved to be the difference as they tallied a total of 48 points en route to a 97-89 victory.

David Noel led the selection with 18 points. Jay Washington followed suit with 15. Gabe Freeman had 12, Anthony Johnson made 10 while Jai Lewis capped 8 points.

This marks the first loss in 5 outings for the National team since making its debut against the Australia-Hoopdreamz team.

The All-Stars received a cash prize of P75,000 for their win, while David Noel received a bonus P20,000 for bagging the Best Player honors. He bagged a total of P40,000, after receiving P20,000 more after his Slam Dunk contest victory.

Final Score
Powerade Team Pilipinas 89
PBA All-Stars 97
RP: Santos 18, Yap 13, Pennisi 13, Miller 11, De Ocampo 8, Raymundo 7, Dillinger 5, Norwood 4, Taulava 4, Helterbrand 3, Thoss 2, Baguio 1, Reyes 0.
All-Stars: Noel 18, Washington 15, Freeman 12, Alapag 12, Johnson 10, Lewis 8, Cardona 6, Artadi 5, Pena 4, Menk 4, Villanueva 3, Hontiveros 0.

The Wizard was here... :)