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Kings stars claim individual awards |
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Source : Staff
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Thursday, 21 August 2008 23:05 |
 ANTIPOLO CITY, Philippines—If the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings say that the Smart-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Cup tournament belongs to them, it is only because nothing suggests otherwise.
Starting point guard Jay-Jay Helterbrand and import Chris Alexander on Friday night walked away with the tournament’s biggest individual accolades just minutes before the Gin Kings were to gun for a 2-0 lead against Air21 in their title series at the Ynares Center here.
Helterbrand, the six-foot-tall firebrand, bagged the Player of the Conference award, while Alexander was the runaway choice for the Best Import citation after winning out in four of five categories over Air21 workhorse Steven Thomas.
Once ditched by the Kings because of a contract dispute, Helterbrand has made a comeback like no other and has firmly established himself as one of the premier point guards, if not the best, in Asia’s first play-for-pay league.
After finishing a very close second to buddy Mark Caguioa in the statistical points race, Helterbrand won out in the voting among media, fellow players, tv coveror and the Commissioner’s Office to total 1,403 points.
That was a good 502 points ahead of Caguioa, the w inner of the BPC when the Kings won a championship for the last time, the Philippine Cup last year.
MVP derby
Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia, the front-runner in the season-ending Most Valuable Player derby, finished third with a 471-point total, while Arwind Santos, Air21’s reedy sophomore, was fourth with 427.
Incidentally, Helterbrand became the fourth Gin King to win the accolade after Marlou Aquino in the last decade, Caguioa, and three by Eric Menk at the turn of the century.
Ginebra has gotten everything to go its way in this tournament of late, winning its last 13 games, including the title series opener, and seemingly looking unbeatable against the Finals greenhorns Express.
Aexander, meanwhile, after topping the statistical points race over Thomas, only lost out in the players’ side of the voting, garnering just 133 points from there compared to the Air21 import’s 169.
But his totals of 409 in the stats race, 420 points from media, 300 from television and 150 from the PBA gave him a grand total of 1413, which was 425 points better than Thomas’ total.
Fifth king for Kings
Alexander, who is actually the third import for the Kings here after Rashaun Turner and Ernest Brown, thus became the fifth Ginebra import to win the award, following such very illustrious names of the past.
Michael Hackett, the lovable, baby-faced rebounding and scoring demon who endeared himself to Ginebra’s throng in the 1980s, first won in 1985 before the gap-toothed Jamie Waller three years later.
Carlos Briggs, the blonde scoring dynamo who failed to lead Ginebra to a title, was also a winner in 1989 before former Los Angeles Laker in the NBA, Wes Matthews, pulled off the same feat in the 1991 season.
The MVP trophy, which Alaska’s Willie Miller currently holds, will be awarded before Game 4 tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
It would also be interesting to note how Williams and Santos have tugged at each other coattails ever since the start of their respective professional careers.
Williams was picked first by the Realtors in the Draft ahead of the former Far Eastern University ace Santos, before winning the Rookie of the Year title, also ahead of Santos.
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