Norwood claims PBL slam dunk crown
By Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:35:00 05/04/2008
FILIPINO-AMERICAN HOTSHOT GABE Norwood came to the venue earlier than the others and patiently waited for his turn at the spotlight. He left with the crowd asking for more.
The pre-dunk routine took longer than usual but it hardly mattered for the 6-foot-5 Norwood, who provided highlight reel after highlight reel on the way to emerging as the new dunk king of the PBL at The Arena in San Juan Saturday.
Norwood scored three perfect 50 scores, transforming the four-man contest into a personal exhibition, which he capped with a smooth, yet thunderous, left-handed windmill jam and a two-handed slam off the backboard.
The reed-thin Hapee forward also dominated the first round where he drew maximum points from the judges -- 2007 PBA dunk king KG Canaleta of Air 21, reigning PBA dunk titlist Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia, Roger Yap of Purefoods, former pro Jolly Escobar and singer Bo Cerrudo.
“I did what I wanted to do; I’ll just save some of the things in my mind for next year,” said Norwood, who defeated Harbour Center’s Dylan Ababou, Adrian Celada of Noosa and Bacchus’ Mike Dizon.
Rey Guevarra, the surprise victor last year, skipped the contest after suffering an injury during practice Saturday.
Sharing the limelight with Norwood in the PBL Showcase were San Mig Coffee’s Leomer Losentes and Burger King sharpshooter Nicho Pupos.
Losentes topped a formidable 11-man field that included defending champion Jason Castro of Harbour Center to win the slalom competition.
A guard out of St. Francis of Assisi College, Losentes negotiated the tricky obstacle course in 17 seconds to beat Rob Labagala of Bacchus and Hapee’s Earn Saguindel in the final round.
Castro, the back-to-back defending champion, did not get past the second round, after failing to beat the 16-second limit.
Pupos, showing great form on his jump shot, nailed seven of his last eight attempts to edge heralded teammate Mike Bravo and Hapee guard Reed Juntilla in the shoot-off, after the trio finished the second round at 14 points apiece.
Bravo and Noosa’s Noy Javier entered the finals of the 16-man event as the heavy favorites, after posting 17 points each in the first round. But Javier, along with San Mig’s Kevin Dalafu, faded in the next phase, paving the way for a three-man shootout.
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