Final Battle

The Final Battle for CSS Basketball Championship game will happen this coming Saturday December 18, 2010 at WCC in Pasig City. It will be a one game affair for Team Arsenals and Team Kankunis who will slug it out for Bragging Rights and claim the reputation to be called champions of 3^rd season CSS Tournament.

This will be the last day and last game of the 3^rd season Basketball tournament. The top 2 teams after the elimination round will finally meet again, this time for the championship game. It may be the last game this season, but certainly, the most exciting one. The whole CSS will be watching this game. It’s going to be amazing and will be a classic one.

The last time they met was back in elimination round. It was a close fight and seesaw battle until the end. That game was marred by a lot of fouls. It was a physical one; some players got fouled-out on both teams. Arsenals escaped via a 62-58 win through the heroics of Jerameel “The Volume Shot Maker” Bautista with 19 markers while Ramon “Rookie Sensation” Ocampo dropped 26 points in a losing cost for Kankunis.

This is the 1^st time for both squads to reach the Finals. Team Arsenals finished 1^st after elimination round, met Team Sentinels in the Semi-Finals who were easily taken care of, thanks to the hot shooting of Jerameel “Mr. Volume Shot Maker” Bautista who drilled 23 points and Jefferson “”TTe or Tall and Terrible” Valdepena who netted 18 points. Arsenals destroyed the pesky Sentinels through a 72-59 win.

On the other semifinal matchup, Team Kankunis was pushed to the limit by Team Titans in a do or die game last December 04, 2010. They able to survive the never say die spirit of Team Titans as they clobbered this team through the leadership of their prized rookie Ramon Ocampo. Kankunis won in regulation 69-55.

Battle for 3rd

Meanwhile, we will be initially entertained by a bunch of heartbroken players. Team Sentinels and Team Titans will clash for battle for 3^rd place. This is the first time for Team Titans was denied of their finals’ spot, while for Team Sentinels it was a great season for them as they reached the Final Four for the first time and considered as championship team contender compared to their stint in inaugural season were they have not won any single game.


History:For Arsenals: First time to enter the Promise Land since the CSS league started. Arsenals’ is always one of the team to beat and always end up in the top 2 spots after elimination round on their entire team history. But this team failed to capitalize their advantage for the first 2 seasons as they were destroyed by their arch-nemesis Team Online in semifinals. Arsenals owned Kankunis as they beat this team on their 3 meetings for the last 3 years.

For Kankunis: First time to barge into the Finals and Final Four as well. This team wasn’t able to reach the semifinals in their first 2 seasons as they found themselves at the bottom of the standings. Kankunis /FOX Team have never won any single game against Arsenals dated back since the inaugural season. But this time they have their main gunner rookie sensation that will try to break the curse for them.

Keys to the Championship

For Arsenals

1. Stop the Rookie Sensation – Team Arsenals should find away on how to contain Ramon Ocampos’ offensive juggernaut. Expect Jayson “The Tactician” Lim to lock him up from start to finish. Let him bleed for his points.

2. Control the Glass – Arsenals BIGS, should continue to dominate the rebounding department. This team has the tallest team and should take advantage of that. Expect Grei “The Big Ticket” and Stephen “Tower of Power” Fernandez to handle the boards for the team.

3. Shoot till the end – Jerameel “Volume Shot Maker” Bautista is one of the strongest candidates for MVP this season. His ultimate goal is to shoot like there’s no tomorrow. Once he receives the ball expect him to do his orthodox teardrop shot. Let’s just hope it will count.

4. Attack the basket – Christian “D’ Maestro” Lumanglas and Vitto “Gamer Boi” Padre should continue attacking the paint and racking up some fouls on Kankunis’ towers. If both players takes advantage of those chances and creates contact on their way to the rim, they will, at the very least come away with a pair of free throws on most occasions since the officiating in this series do not allow much physical contact. Expect both players to be in an attack mode as soon as the ball tips off for the final game.

5. Arsenal Legacy – Three years of togetherness… this team will be put to the test; this game will completely recompense all thoughts of believers and nonbelievers. The conclusion of this match will mark a history on the CSS books and the Arsenals’ contract. They have to make sure that the other contender will remember the day they played with the Arsenals.

6. Health Check – Jefferson “TTe or Tall and Terrible” suffered a right ankle injury last Tuesday at Club 650 in preparation for the Finals. He is on a day to day basis and not sure if he will be ready to suit up for the Championship game. This was a big blow for Team Arsenals chances.

7. Pound the ball Inside – Arsenals should run more plays for Lolijim “Mr Cameraman” Gonzales & Eric “D’ Bulldozer” Abellera in the post. It will not just put pressure on the BIG’s of the Kankunis but it will also create double teams that will allow the shooters of the Arsenals to hit an open J.

For Kankunis

1. MVP Performance – League leading scorer Ramon Ocampo should continue to pace this team. He is the heart and soul of Team Kankunis. Without him this team might not be able to enter the Final Four. He might make a history in CSS as first ever to win Rookie of the Year and MVP award at the same time in his first year.

2. Aim for 60PTS – Team Kankunis is known for their high scoring pace game. The team is unbeaten once they score at least 60 points. Score a lot to win the championship.

3. Zone Defense – This team should clog the paint on the defensive end. Arsenals team is not known for their perimeter shooting, expect this team to attack the basket once they find any single opening.

4. X - FACTORS – Peterson "The Beast" Perez and Sir Ryan "D' Versatile" Alberto are 2 of their main gunners that can help this team in scoring. Both players should step-up big as they are well experienced players and ready to play come in crunch time.

5. Crash the boards – Arsenals is the tallest team in the tournament. Kankunis bigs should box out the bigs of Arsenals. Kankunis will be relying on their Frontcourt players Allain Umalin, Frankiln “Hunk” Zapata and Rolfe “El Aparador” Garcia.

6. Swipe the Ball – Kankunis is known for their tough defense. Active hands of Monroe “Mr. Under Pressure” Paulino, Valor Calour, Randy "D Director" Francisco and Rudolf “Kobe Fanatic” Chua will be badly needed to force its opponent to commit turnovers that will create fastbreaks and easy baskets.

Since this is the final game of the season, we can throw all the stats of the previous games away. This season stars were be born and stars were made. Stars will be stars; they will all try to out shine each other. Tomorrow is all or nothing, it is expected that both teams will play all their hearts out. We can all forget what happened in the past. We can ignore all the details from long-ago. This the moment of truth; the judgment day; win or go home, this is history… History is now.

- This is the Finals; this is WAR. -

From Basketball Blogger: To all the readers, my followers, my teammates and my friends I would like to thank you for taking your ample time in reading my articles.. Till our next Basketball journey.