Twin reason to celebrate for Petron

THE PETRON Blaze Boosters were whooping it up at the Smart-Araneta dugout after their victory over Globalport last Friday night.

There was much shouting, cheering, applause. It sounded like the team had just achieved a major triumph.

People within earshot wondered what the wild celebration was all about—the win over Globalport after a dry spell or the news that consultant Rajko Toroman  would no longer be returning to the Petron bench.

If you ask me, I think the merrymaking was to celebrate both events, although it could have been a farewell party for the Serbian coach whose coaching style, they say, does not fit the Filipino basketball culture.

“Military rule. Too dictatorial, stressful,” commented a Petron booster.

“The move to relegate the former national coach to the SMC team in the Asean Basketball League was a management decision,” head coach Olsen Racela clarified during the postgame briefing.

“There was no petition from the players or any party to remove him.”

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It was the weirdest game he had ever experienced, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao told the scribes after the match with the San Mig Coffee Mixers last  Wednesday.

Yeng did not expect to be at the press room that night for the usual postgame briefing with the winning coach. He thought it was going to be Tim Cone.

He had practically conceded the game (secretly in his guts) when the San Mig Coffee lead swelled to 18 points and James Yap continued to burn the hoops all night.

To this day Yeng cannot fathom how the Elasto Painters managed to whittle down the San Mig Coffee lead and turn the game around.

“How we did it is beyond me,” Yeng told the sportswriters. “Everything just happened in our favor as we continued to  trim down that 18-point lead. There seemed to be an unseen force helping us”

Yeng said he believes it’s his deceased assistant Roehl Nadurata’s spirit who must have helped the Elasto Painers win that night.

* * *

San Mig Coffee superstar James Yap  was supposed to be a guest in the morning TV show Kris TV hosted by James’ ex and presidential sister Kris Aquino.

The camera-shy James, however, declined the invitation, perhaps after being informed of the episode’s topic which had something to do with reconciliation.

Although James failed to make an appearance in the program, his name was mentioned at some point.

If I remember right, Iza Calzado  teased Kris about a reconciliation, prompting the latter to blurt out: “Oy ha, me bagong girlfriend na yata yun. Bilyonarya!”

Naturally I got very curious.

“Do you know who she is?” I asked a high-ranking team official close to James. The official said he hasn’t the faintest clue.

“He’s usually very open with me, but he has never talked about this girlfriend. Baka nililigawan pa lang,” the official said.”