Tag Archives: Petron Blaze Boosters

PBA: SMC to re-evaluate participation

11 Mar

Following the Renaldo Balkman saga, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is re-evaluating its participation in the country’s no.1 professional basketball league.  SMC currently has three teams in the PBA; Petron Blaze Boosters, the defending Commissioner’s Cup champ San Mig Coffee Mixers, and the crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra Kings.  SMC is one of the league’s pioneers and if it withdraws from the league, it will leave a big void that could spell the end of Asia’s first play for pay basketball league. Here is a statement from SMC (taken from interaktv):

San Miguel Corporation would like to apologize to basketball fans and the Philippine Basketball Association, for the unsportsmanlike conduct shown by its import, Renaldo Balkman, last Friday, March 8. We accept the decision to ban Mr. Balkman for life from the league.

We do not condone his actions. The mandate of our basketball operations has always been to entertain basketball fans and foster camaraderie and a spirit of healthy competition. We pride ourselves in having great teams who serve as good role models to the youth and community.

Unfortunately, the incident has been blown out of proportion and has damaged our good name. Already, news of the incident has spread throughout the country and overseas through traditional and online media.

Our reputation is of utmost importance to us because we have worked hard to cultivate this good name through the decades. But it takes only one unfortunate incident like this to undo all our efforts.

As such, given the possible long-term effect of this incident to the San Miguel organization’s image, and in consideration of our need to preserve our good reputation, Management has decided to re-evaluate the company’s continuing participation in the PBA.

Moving forward, we believe sports is a pillar of Philippine society and we will continue to support it and Filipino athletes in general in meaningful ways in and out of the PBA.

The Petron Blaze Boosters (PBB) is the team of Cebuano rookie June Mar Fajardo.  Last friday in their match against Alaska Aces, PBB import Renaldo Balkman went bonkers as he pushed an assistant coach and two teammates before ending up choking Arwind Santos in national TV.  The sad incident prompted Commissioner Chito Salud to fine the former NBA first round pick 250,000 pesos and banned him from the PBA for life.  SMC felt that the incident somehow tarnished their name and made them think about their future in the league and as one of the biggest basketball sponsors in the country.

caloycomment: What’s next in the Petronovela?

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Cebuanos to watch in 2013: June Mar Fajardo

3 Jan

June Mar Fajardo was the top pick in the 2012 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie draft.  The 6’9″ giant from Pinamungahan, Cebu has been dubbed as the country’s future premier big man.  The former University of Cebu Webmasters varsity star played first for the San Miguel Beermen in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) after an illustrious career at the CESAFI were he led UC in destroying University of the Visayas Green Lancers dynasty.  After learning that Petron, one of San Miguel Corporation‘s teams in the PBA, had the first pick in the 2012 draft, June Mar immediately decided that it was time to take his skills to the PBA.   As expected, he got drafted by the super loaded Petron team which has stars like Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot,  and Jay Washington, along with super sophomores in Marcio Lassiter, and Chris Lutz.

The expectations were so high far the vaunted Petron Blazer Boosters  (PBB) team with the addition of the highly touted Cebuano. June Mar Fajardo had 9 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks in his season debut against recently crowned Governor’s Cup champs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.  His numbers were good but the Boosters lost by 16, 86-102.  Fellow Cebuano Center and ex-Green Lancer JR Quinahan gave him a rough welcome by torching Fajardo with 13 points while having a perfect 3 for 3 in the 3-point region.  Fajardo somehow was stunned as the center of RoS can hit the trey which forced him to defend the perimeter.  Beau Belga, the tag team partner of Quinahan in RoS’ feared extra combo likewise hit 3 trifectas. It was  big contrast to Fajardo who only made 2 of 7 in his attempts in the field while shooting just 5 of 11 in the 15-foot line.

In the next time game, Fajardo only played for 16 minutes in PBB’s victory over Barako Bull and he managed to grab 7 rebounds in limited action.  June Mar had a monster game against sister team San Mig Coffee finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot. It was a bittersweet performance as Petron lost again.  It became worse as it was discovered after the game they had a bizarre injury in the scrotum after unintentionally hit by Marc Pingris. He was out of action for over a month.  He came back in Petron’s victory over cellar dwellers Global Port by tallying 14 points and 7 rebounds.  He played 3 more games in the eliminations and ended up with averages of 9 points, 8.14, 0.86 steal, 1.14 blocks in 24.6 minutes of action for the 7 games he played.  Petron finished disappointing 6 wins and 8 loses in the eliminations which is only good for the 7th seed.  They faced the second seeded San Mig Coffee Mixers that gets a twice to beat advantage.

In the quarterfinal game, Fajardo was the best Petron player as he finished with 22 points, 15 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 blocks but PBB was eliminated 87-92.  Many fans felt that Coach Olsen Racela did not give him enough touches especially in the final period.  A lot of pundits think that June Mar Fajardo was underutilized.

The next two conferences in the PBA will be import-laced. Fajardo will be up against imports that could be bigger or taller than him in the Commissioner’s Cup.  As he nicknamed the Kraken in the PBA, he expected to sow fear underneath the boards for Petron.  He will be a player to watch as many fans would like to know if indeed he has the potential to dominate the league or he will just end up like the slow and unworthy big men of the past. If we are just looking at his upside, there has been no pure Filipino big man to be blessed with the height, heft, agility, and basketball iq of his caliber.  If he plays to his potential he can average 20 points and 10 rebounds at the minimum even against imports.  It will not happen immediately as he has to get accustomed to the PBA brand of play and he needs to possess intelligence to learn the intricacies of a pro-style offense and defense. If he does not cope, he could be like an EJ Feihl or worse a Samigue Eman.  It will definitely be interesting to see how he pans out.  It will also be exciting to see if how he and Greg Slaughter will match-up in the future.  The two were the main protagonist of some of the most memorable battles in the CESAFI.  If Fajardo and Slaughter end up to be the best big men in their generation, it is fun to know that they both started Cebu, an island known for their explosive guards rather dominating big men.

This blog’s writer will always be a big fan and a believer of June Mar. He could be the Hercules that will carry Petron to many battles ahead. Go, June Mar!!!

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2012 PBA Draft: University of Cebu’s June Mar Fajardo is officially the No.1 Draft pick

19 Aug

The 2012 PBA Draft has been concluded and 39 out of 57 applicants were chosen by team in one of the longest drafts in years.  The draft lasted up to the sixth round.  The first pick over-all for 2012 was University of Cebu ‘s June Mar Fajardo as expected.  He will join a very loaded Petron Blaze squad seeking to bounce back from an underwhelming 2011-12 season where they failed capture a title or even make it to the finals in all 3 conferences.

Here are the complete list of players who were drafted:

First Round (Over-all rank)

  • Pick 1 (1): June Mar Fajardo (Petron Blaze)
  • Pick 2 (2): Calvin Abueva (Alaska Aces)
  • Pick 3 (3): Alex Mallari (Petron)
  • Pick 4 (4): Cliff Hodge (Meralco)
  • Pick 5 (5): Aldrech Ramos (Barako Bull traded to B-Meg)
  • Pick 6 (6): Christopher Ellis (Ginebra)
  • Pick 7 (7): Chris Tiu (Rain or Shine)
  • Pick 8 (8): Charles Jensen (Ginebra)
  • Pick 9 (9): Vic Manuel (Global Port via B-Meg with Val Acuna for Sean Anthony)
  • Pick 10 (10): Jason Deutchman (Global Port)

Second Round

  • Pick 1 (11): Yousef Taha (Air 21)
  • Pick 2 (12): Dave Marcelo (Barako Bull via B-Meg with Sean Anthony for Aldrech Ramos)
  • Pick 3 (13): Jewel Ponferada (B-Meg)
  • Pick 4 (14): Alfred Mandani (Global Port)
  • Pick 5 (15): Lester Alvarez (Barako Bull)
  • Pick 6 (16): Eman Monfort (Barako Bull)
  • Pick 7 (17): Kelly Nabong (Meralco via Rain or Shine for 2015 2nd round pick)
  • Pick 8 (18): Woody Co (Barako Bull)
  • Pick 9 (19): Ralph Reyes (Alaska)
  • Pick 10 (20): Jaypee Belencion (Talk N’ Text)

3rd Round

  • Pick 1 (21): Simon Atkins (Air 21)
  • Pick 2 (22): Karl Dehesa (Alaska)
  • Pick 3 (23): Ryan Boado (Barako)
  • Pick 4 (24): Janus Lozada (Meralco)
  • Pick 5 (25): Mark Sarangay (Petron)
  • Pick 6 (26): Mark Acosta (Global Port)
  • Pick 7 (27): Bacon Austria (Rain or Shine)
  • Pick 8 (28): Jerick Canada (Ginebra)
  • Pick 9 (29): Gian Chiu (B-Meg)
  • Pick 10 (30): Edwin Escueta (Talk ‘N Text)

4th round

  • Pick 1 (31): Joseph Hermosisima (Barako)
  • Pick 2 (32): Erik Suguitan (Meralco)
  • Pick 3 (33): Jan Colina to (Global Port)
  • Pick 4 (34): Jewel Palomique (Rain or Shine)
  • Pick 5 (35): Paul Zamar (Ginebra)
  • Pick 6 (36): Ramon Mabayo (B-Meg)

5th Round

  • Pick 1 (37): Virgilio Serios (Global Port)
  • Pick 2 (38): Virgil Buensuceso (Ginebra)

6th Round

  • Pick 1 (39): Thomas Tan (Ginebra)
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2012 PBA Rookie Draft: Petron gets first pick; Junmar Fajardo could enter draft

23 Jul

The Petron Blaze Boosters got a big consolation from a very disappointing year as they are set to pick this year’s No.1 and No.3 overall in the 2012 PBA Rookie Draft. The final 2 spots were decided at half-time of Game 1 of the 2012 Governor’s Cup Finals between Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and B-Meg Llamados. Actually, the winner of the lottery was Air 21 but apparently the rights for their first round pick in this year’s draft was acquired by Petron in a previous trade. Set to pick 2nd is the Alaska Aces.

Many pundits are now waiting for the next move of the big man from Pinamungahan, Cebu Junmar Fajardo.  The former star of the University of Cebu Webmasters told reporters a month ago that he will only enter the draft if Petron gets the No.1 pick this year.  Well, his prayers were answered last Sunday. After a year of seasoning in the ABL playing for the  San Miguel Beermen that finished runners-up in their inaugural season, Fajardo could be another key player for the Petron team that did not get finals slot in all 3 conferences this year despite of its star-studded line-up.  Fajardo’s ceiling is quiet high and he could be the next dominant big man in the PBA but some quarters also feel that he could just be a shade better than Samigue Eman if he falls to the wrong team.

The 2012 Annual Rookie Draft will be held at the Robinsons Midtown Mall in Manila on August 19.

Here is the 2012 PBA draft order:

1st Round

1. Air21 Express (to Petron Blaze Boosters)
2. Alaska Aces
3. Barako Bull Energy (to Petron Blaze Boosters)
4. Meralco Bolts
5. Petron Blaze Boosters (to Barako Bull Energy)
6. Powerade Tigers (to Barangay Ginebra Kings)
7. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
8. Barangay Ginebra Kings
9. B-MEG Llamados
10. Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters (to Powerade Tigers)

2nd Round

1. Air21 Express
2. Alaska Aces
3. Barako Bull Energy
4. Meralco Bolts
5. Petron Blaze Boosters
6. Powerade Tigers
7. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
8. Barangay Ginebra Kings
9. B-MEG Llamados
10. Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters

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Hontiveros back in San Miguel’s squad

29 Aug

After playing years with San Miguel franchise, Dondon Hontiveros was traded to Air 21 last season in a blockbuster trade that saw Danny Seigle, Paul Artadi, Noy Baclao, and Rabeh Al-Husseini switch teams. The end of the 2011 PBA season brought back Hontiveros to the SMC franchise a sGovernor’s Cup  Petron Blaze Boosters choose to trade Mick Pennisi, Sunday Salvacion, the 8th pick of the draft plus multiple future draft picks for the Cebuano hotshot along with Carlo Sharma and this year’s 3rd pick.

It was a sweet homecoming for Hontiveros after a very hectic season for him. He played 3 conferences and he reinforced the Smart-Gilas in several tournaments. He recently gave up his spot in the Gilas and has decided to take a little vacation before the new season starts. It will be a curios season for him as he will be competing with some younger Petron players who just upset Talk ‘N Text in the Governor’s Cup.

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