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PBL Showcase: Dunk contest turned into Gabe's playground
By Jonas Terrado
(May 9, 2008)
It wasn't even a competition nor was it
a group event, it was a one-man show.
Hapee Toothpaste star Gabe Norwood wound
up as the convincing winner of the Slam Dunk Contest
to highlight a three-event affair in Saturday's PBL
Showcase at The Arena in San Juan.
The Fil-Am sensation erased his rivals
in dominating fashion, pulling out all the best jams
and showmanship possible that wowed the crowd during
a rainy afternoon at the air-conditioned facility.
Five judges, led by PBA dunk champions
Kelly Williams and KG Canaleta, gave the former George
Mason University a perfect 50 in all three rounds to
receive this year's plum.
Norwood started his performance with
a high bounce before finishing with a reverse dunk from
the right side. In the second round, he threw a windmill
for his first dunk then tossed the ball to the board
for a double pump throwdown that garnered another 50
point mark.
Meanwhile, his counterparts, Dylan Ababou
of Harbour Centre, Andrian Celada of Noosa Shoes, and
Mike Dizon of Bacchus, had a very hard time trying to
equal Norwood's exploits.
Ababou made so-so breakaway game-like
dunks, Celada had promise to do something but his attempts
only went to the iron like it was blocked by an opponent.
And as for Dizon, he did have a decent slam off a tap
from the board before dunking it with the right hand,
but it was enough for a 45.
In his last attempt, Norwood attempted
a difficult two-handed throwdown off the board for yet
another perfect score. After his unanimous victory,
he made a last slam with a one-hand reverse as a send
off for the fans.
'It's a fun time to be out here, I just
tried to have as much fun as possible,' Norwood said
when he received the trophy. 'It's also a great feeling
because you have great dunkers (Canaleta and Williams)
here who are judging the event.'
Despite the absence of defending title-holder
Rey Guevarra of Bacchus and a host of others due to
various reasons, it may have still be a contest made
up for one Gabe Norwood anyway.
Unlikely winner Pupos takes three-point
crown
In the three-point contest, unheralded
Nicho Pupos of Burger King came away as the new long
bomb champion, defeating teammate Mike Bravo and Reed
Juntilla of Hapee Toothpaste in a thrilling 30-second
shootout final.
Although many see this as a surprise,
Pupos actually is known with little fanfare for doing
such, having scored 30 and even 40 points on a few occasions
with his outside shots for collegiate team ACSAT Lightnings.
In his first duty in the PBL though,
he was hardly saw playing, averaging below six minutes
per game in the tournament and made 6-of-13 triples.
But, the side-event made it his '15 minute
of fame' cliché that is usually heard, draining
10 shots in the shootout to best Bravo's seven and Juntilla's
three. Prior to that, all three scored 14 points in
a six-man final to force an extension.
'Ako naman, makuha ko lang rhythm
ko tuloy tuloy lang pagpasok ng bola,' Pupos said,
who throws a high-arching shot with an unorthodox release.
He got a 16-point first round output
that led to a four-way tie for the third-and-final slot
joining Juntilla and the San Mig Coffee duo of Kevin
Dalafu and Eder Saldua. Bravo and Noosa Shoes' Noy Javier
both had 17 to lead the said round.
16 players participated in the event
with reigning winner Patrick Cabahug of Toyota Otis
hoping to made it back-to-back. However, he immediately
got the boot after showing just 13 points in the contest.
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