KBBL2 Opening Game Pics

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KBBL Season 2 Opening

Don't worry, Iric. Next time I'll make sure na Team B naman ang kukunan ko ng pics during our game. Lugi na nga tayo sa exposure dito sa Team A eh.

K88 Teams Opening Day Results

The two teams of the Kumbento88 Rigmarolers opened their campaigns for the 2nd season of the Kumbento Boys Basketball League in contrasting fashion.

K88 Team A fell short on its opening day game against Batch 87, the same batch they faced in last season’s Battle for 3rd. It wasn’t the same Batch 87 team, however, that our Team A faced this time as Batch 87 decided to field in just one solid team this season to strengthen their chances with a more solid line-up.

Team A’s lack of cohesiveness proved crucial as they faced a Batch 87 team with a deeper bench rotation and armed with familiarity with each other coming from years of playing with each other on a weekly basis. Rumors of Team A being disgruntled with its self-appointed head coach (should I still make a “Da Who” blind item on this one?) are brewing as the team, which on paper seems to be the more formidable of the two K88 teams, hopes to improve on its fourth place finish last season.

With Batch 87 deciding to unify their teams into one, Kumbento88 becomes the only batch to field in two teams this season. But that is not to say that the basketball talent of the Rigmarolers has been spread too thin with its division into two teams. And it was readily proven with Team B’s win over Batch 90 in the following game.

In a rematch of last year’s finals contest, our Team B faced a reinforced Batch 90 team. With Batch 90 seemingly abandoning their kick-out plays of last season in favor of a more inside-penetration type of ballgame, their shooters were not able to get their groove early on. The Rigmarolers, in contrast, delivered on a variety of inside-outside plays and successfully defended the shaded area on the other side. The first half saw the Rigmarolers build a 7-point lead highlighted by a three-point shot by Cocoy “Robin” Del Prado. (Why Robin? Another possible entry for “Da Who”.)

The second half of action, however, was a totally different story. With the Rigmarolers having finally shaken off the rustiness of the off-season break, and its role players, along with some rookie acquisitions, fitting into the system, the team made a decisive run in the 3rd quarter to establish some double-digit leads going into the final canto. Rebounds collared by Team B’s big men Chunky “You-Can’t- Bring-Me-Down-With-Just-An-Elbow” Ramos and Iric “The Enforcer” Balog anchored the fastbreaks led by last season’s MVP Bimbo “The Black Superman” Bersalona literally running rings around his helpless defenders.

Batch 90 made a few crucial plays in the middle of the fourth but the hustle plays of players like Joey “Mr. Quality Minutes” Bidong continued to frustrate the opponents’ efforts. A minor altercation happened in the fourth when one of the opponents felt he was given a hard foul by our resident enforcer Iric . The initially cool-headed Rod “Vintage” Vagilidad tried to pacify both players who readily accepted the fact that all is part of the game. An unnecessary comment, however, from a player from Batch 90’s bench caused Rod to blow his top (what top?), and in turn had to be pacified by the cooler heads in our team (believe it or not, Chunky was one of the cooler heads in that instance).

Game ended with The Rigmarolers ahead by a comfortable margin (around 10 points, I think. Who cares? As long as we won, right?). And the team celebrated at Jay Ravalo’s newly-constructed bar along Mercedes Ave. (Watch out for a thorough write up about Jay’s bar later in this blog.) Over dinner and a few drinks, and in between some friendly games of billiards (yes, this is a complete hang-out place for those who haven’t been there yet), the team had a few discussions on the present line-up of teams for this season’s KBBL, the adjustments each of our teams need to make, and some plans of an all-boys outing in the beautiful island of Boracay.

Now, aren’t you excited about the events of this season?

Opening of KBBL Season 2

The Kumbento Boys Basketball League opens its second season this Saturday, 26 April 2008 at 3PM.

The Kumbento88 Rigmarolers are the defending champions of this league after last year's successful campaign. And the same as last year, we shall be fielding two competitive teams for the tournament this season.

Our two teams are both seeing action on Saturday against Batch '87 and Batch '90, a re-match of last year's finals (and battle for 3rd) protagonists.

We expect a tougher competition this season as a total of nine batches are competing for the crown. And in line with this, there shall be a final practice session tomorrow (24 April) at 6:30PM (venue TBA) where the composition of the line up for our two teams shall be finalized.

If you are a player, be there at our practice tomorrow. The venue shall be texted to you by Chunky as we would prefer this practice session to be closed-door exclusively for our batch. You'll never know when the other batch's spies are out there to scout our intricately designed plays for this season.

And if you are not a player, but choose to support our teams in this campaign, there shall be a pep rally at the PCC grounds on Saturday right before the opening ceremonies. This shall be led by our playing cheerleader Cocoy Del Prado. Please do not bring your pompoms, balloons and bass drums yet. Since these are just the opening games of the season, we would not want our opponents to surrender into submission this early.

And if you have no interest in basketball whatsoever, and are still waiting for the opening of the first Kumbento Boys Group Games Tournament, just be there. Have fun and join us in our post-game celebration.

Win or lose, it's the booze we choose. (Tama ba yun Wawet?)

Defend the crown! Go Rigmarolers!