Let's try to push the l<< rewind button and try to relive the highlghts of the past 90-games of the Elimination Phase of '09-'10 PBA's KFC Phil. Cup.

MAIN COURSE: The Teams.

#1 ALASKA ACES - they came out blazing at the 1st round of the El.-Phase defeating one stronger teams after another and got a "STATMENT WIN" against the Barako Bull Energy Boosters in their 1st assignment in the current Cup top-billed by Willie Miller's triple-double stats 19pts, 11rebs & 12asts (whatta game man! that's really cool!).

They bulldozed the Coke in their 1st meeting with a whopping 21pt. win-margin. They posted an impressive win-streak of 6-games. But their streak was shockingly stopped by the ROS (a team who had a 0-6 record before their game) with an "Oh my Dulay Show" who had gone berserk on his team's offensive end at the 4th quarter.

But the ACES proved to be determined and just shook-off the dust they'd inhaled in that loss and bounce back hard against (a well respected rival) Talk N Text and engraved once again a 5-win streak.

That streak emphasized the strength of the ACES' 2nd Unit together with the consistent high-octane games of L.A. Tenorio who even had made one huge shot against (via back-door play) the Talk N Text in 0.5secs of the G-clock.

After those tough games against SMB & TNT, the ACES didn't have the last sweet kiss to the year 2009 when the Coca Cola Tigers defeated them with monster games from Taulava & Macapagal. And that loss had haunted them at their welcoming game in 2010 tasting a bitter loss against the Bgy. Ginebra Kings before the very eyes of the Batangeños.

With their eyes focused to the sweet spot of the Outsright Semis Berth (OSB) the Alaska Aces was able to escape the scare made by the pesky defense of the Sta. Lucia Realtors to inscribe their 12th win in the conference.

But the PF & the BK made the way to the OSB for the Aces much tougher. And even in the ALASKA's last game in the iEl.-Phase had almost gave lead them to complications (in sealing the OSB seat) when Sol Mercado & the Elasto Painters gave a good fight (what a valiant effort indeed) against them.

Rx: The presence of Aces' 2nd Unit should be much stronger felt this coming Semis. They are the true life-blood of this team. Slashing capabilities of its guards & small forwards should be improved that's the way to beat the zone-d. No complacency should went in, other teams are working hard and peaking-up their pace.

#2 SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN - after a slow start (0-2) the Beermen carved a 9-win blast with the win-weaving heroics of the "Spiderman" Arwind Santos and the SMB displayed the renewed chemistry of a more formidable and a much decorated lineup this season.

They loss on their 12th game against Alaska in a heartbreaking fashion but jumped higher & stronger and made a new win-streak once again (vs. PF, ROS, BGK & BB).

But they do failed to end the El.-Phase on a high note, despite the consistent impressive showing of Mike Cortez & the return of Jay Washington.

Rx: They should capitalized the depth of their tall-forwards. Santos, Washington & Seigle in one team is a BIG + to outscore other teams. Increase the playing time of those players who are beginning to wax hot consistently. There is no room to relax too much.

#3 PUREFOODS TJ GIANTS - after their shaky 1st 9-games in the conference with a WIN-LOSS-WIN-LOSS pattern, the Purefoods found its new weapons on their defense. They topped the least pts.-allowed in the league, thanks to the great defense imposed by their bigmen (Pingris, Reavis, Allado & Maierhofer). Defense & Rebounds Dept. have been the team's battle cry in their last 9-games and posted 7-2 record on the 2nd rd. of the El.-Phase.

Rx: Pounce harder to the height disadvantages of other teams. It is only this team and the SMB wherein I could see a perfect mix of one 6'0" and four 6'5+" players, playing at the same time inside the court. Let the defense continuously work wonders.

#4 BGY. GINEBRA KINGS - the team doesn't have an impressive output at the early stages of their campaign in this Cup. Though Tubid had been a great player for them the support he needed from his teammates was not enough to collect more W's at the 1st rd. of the El.-Phase. Until a STAR IS BORN on Christamas Day's Game, on that day JC Intal had made a "Hey I'm Here" kind o' game and from there on he had been a constant part of the winning-equation of the BGK.

The tall & hefty forwards of the BGK had maximized the capability of the zone defense. And they continue to do well despite the absence of the Fast & the Furious with the steady performance from Tubid and the re-emergence of a Cyrus Baguio together with the full support of the cast in the likes of Mamaril, Wilson, Cruz and White the BGK had 1 of the best finish this El.-Phase with a 4-win streak (plus a statement win over BK on their 18th game).

Rx: Intal & Tubid are the real deal of this team now, so it's up to Menk & Villanueva to shift the level of their game to a higher gear. I think they are the best team in playing Zone-D.

#5 TALK N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS - the team was predicted (most of the people around the PBA) to be on the TOP 4 at the end of the El.-Phase due to the depth of their lineup though the team wasn't able to meet the expectations of many, the games they had on this cup is still pretty impressive. Most of their losses are closely fought games (except against BGK) and they'd shown resiliency most of their games though fell short.

Cardona has been the main man of the team, even learned to value the teamwork. But still the team needs the huge lift from its frontliners, specially from Peek & Belasco.

Rx: Just like my Rx with the BGK team, Cardona & Alapag is consistent but how about their biggies, they should also step up. Defense is still a suspect so they had to work double hard on this one.

#6 STA LUCIA REALTORS - 10 wins out of 18 games is not really a bad record but if we can look at it closely most of the losses they had are against the teams ahead of them in the Team Standings. Kelly Williams is playing superb this conference but the team is still missing the spurt of vet smarts & leadership of a Dennis Espino (since he was traded during off-season). And the lack of the ability to close out the game is the Realtor's Achilles' heel right now.

Rx: Espinas, Marlou & Omolon should start to infuse more power on their game and stuffed their stats more & more. Freethrow-shooting drills is a must! And also try to lessen the turnovers.

#7 COCA COLA TIGERS - Taulava is wreaking havoc against his team's opponenents after a long rest nusing an injury he made his presence felt and glued the wounded Tigers to end the elimination round with a huge bang-bang of wins against SMB and ROS and final knockdown against the Barako Bull.

Rx: Chris Ross should be more consistent now that he owns the baton. Gary D. should play 100% on offense & increase his speed & smarts on defense. For the Tigers, they should let the hunger drive them to work harder & win more. 

#8 BURGER KING  WHOPPERS - due to lack of big (tall & hefty) forwards the Buger King Whoppers seemed to have hard time making it against their taller & heftier opponents. Gary D. wasn't making the usual blast in the early goings of the conference (maybe because he was reportedly unhappy with the team) and on the latter part of the elims he was traded to Coke (reunited) for Alex Cabagnot.

Like the SLR team they hardly won contest against tougher opponents.

Rx: Since they wasn't able to hire Japeth, they should look forward to beefed-up their lineup before the next conference. Tall import is a must add next cup. This team can surely score big time but they need to also sharpen their defense.

 #9 RAIN OR SHINE ELASTO PAINTERS - When Sol wasn't able to suit up in the early goings of the conference the ROS team failed to seal W's. The team had been half-body-buried in the conference that's why every game became a more pressured-pack. Though they were able to beat the ACES in their 1st meeting, the Painters still failed to tally string of wins; the best that they can get is a 2-consec. wins.

Rx. Mark Telan & Jervy Cruz addition in he team should help the ROS' cause. The bigmen should work "triple" hard to be at pace with their opponents in the WC-Phase. The players should improve their shooting. They are a run & gun type of team so shooting should be addressed. Be more alert on defense. Maximize the slashing abilities of their guards.

#10 BARAKO BULL ENERGY BOOSTERS - most of the games they had this season was an almost win in the 1st 3qtrs until they eventually foiled at the crucial stretches of the games. Coach Leo was able to squeezed out the best of Alex Crisano this conference but still fell short in gripping out the best from other players. Yousef had good stats in the early goings of the conference but soonly drop down his level of intensity and so thus the Barako Bull. Ogie Menor played tremendous though for most of their 18-games.

Ciao, Barako see you next conference.

Rx: They should change their image of being underdogs, if they want to make things happen for them they have to hammer the nail from start to finish no mentality of "ALMOST" and "JUST" they have to dream more, work more and fight more. And hopefully no disadvantageous trades at all to happen. Must keeps: Crisano, Menor, Aljaamal, Alonzo, Dimaunahan and Najorda.

Hot Players: (players who's stats in their recent games are soaring high)

JC INTAL, Asi Taulava, Sol Mercado, Quinahan, Mike Cortez and Kobe Canaleta (mas kamukha niya si KB24).

BPC Contenders: (their team is in the thick of contention & performing very well this conference)

Kelly Williams, Arwind Santos, WILLIE MILLER, Mac Cardona, LA Tenorio, Ronald Tubid, James Yap and Kerby Raymundo.

Cold Players/Missing Links: (impressive last seasons but not in this cup)

Mark Telan, Enrico Villanueva, Marlou Aquino, Bitoy Omolon and Mark Yee.

SIDE DISH: Game In & Out.

1. Japeth Aguilar #1 pick, leave the PBA for SG; BK rights traded to TNT. 

2. SG joins PBA as a guest team.

3. Lot's of off-season trades.

Arwind & Denok to SMB, Dennis Espino to Coke, E. Villanueva to BGK, Pingris & Artadi back to PF, Aljaamal & Rob Reyes to Barako Bull, Belasco to TNT, Buenafe to Burger King and more.

4. Wynne Arboleda 1-season suspension. 

4. Gary-Alex Trade.

5. The Men of the Moment:

JC INTAL became a BGK's new star (he's a revelation), LA's series of Showtimes, SOL 35pt-game, MAC's hooking BPoW honors for the x-times, Arwind Santos Spiderific Stats, Kelly's Machinegun-tripping in the conference, Asi is back stronger than ever, and Willie's Winning Time is Miller Time who finally put Alaska to the OSB.

6.  BGK's traffic-altercation.

May nalimutan pa ba ako?

WILDCARD GAME coming super soon, 1hr:21mins to go. May the PBA have more interesting stories to tell, come play-offs.

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Sa Alaska sana mas sipagan niyo pa sa practice, wag tayong maging kampante. We want to be in the Finals & be the Champion, nothing less.