Observations from SMB vs Barako Bull 11/15/09 at the Araneta Coliseum:

• Final Score San Miguel (6-2) def Barako Bull (2-5), 104-89
• SMB roared to 6th straight win to become hottest team in the PBA
• Best Player: Arwind Santos 33 points (conf high) 8 rebs 6 assists 2 blocks
• Santos set the tone with 11 points in the 1st quarter
• Barako Bull shot just 20% in 1st quarter
• SMB led by as many as 18 points in 1st quarter
• Great to see a star-studded team like San Miguel quickly move ball around
• Why is SMB winning? The key is generosity: Assists - SMB 35 Barako Bull 15
• 5 SMB players had at least 3 assists  (Villanueva 11 Santos 6 Cortez 4)
• Barako Bull rallied back thanks to a 19-7 run in the 2nd quarter
• Halftime score SMB 49 Barako Bull 45
• SMB’s halftime lead should’ve been just 2 points…
• With just seconds remaining in 1st half, Crisano had the basketball at the halfcourt line and could’ve easily passed it to Aries Dimaunahan who was all alone under the basket. Crisano opted to score the buzzer-beater himself. Dimanuahan had his arms spread open the whole time, waiting for the pass that never came. Crisano made the layup. But the referees, upon reviewing the replay, nullified the basket. Crisano, who had 7 rebounds in the first half, never got off the bench in the second half.
• Barako Bull kept it close in the 3rd quarter thanks to Paolo Hubalde and Yousif Aljamal.
• Hubalde scored 9 points and Aljamal added 6 points in a 3rd quarter run
• In the end, SMB simply had too much firepower
• Santos, Dondon Hontiveros & Denok Miranda combined for 71 points
• Rain or Shine scored 69 points in its loss to Purefoods in the 2nd game
• Arwind’s 33, Dondon’s 21 and Denok’s 17 were all personal conference-high performances
• Ogie Menor was ejected in the 3rd quarter (2:11) for a flagrant foul penalty 2 on a San Miguel 3-point shooter
• Menor left the game with 18 points 8/14 FG’s 2/4 3pt’s 3 rebs 2 assists
• 5 players actually scored in double-figures for Barako Bull (Aljamal 21 Hubalde 20 Menor 18 Najorda 10 Dimaunahan 10)
• Barako Bull, however, shot just 38% from the field
• SMB got another boost from its star-studded bench with Miranda playing his best game in a San Miguel uniform off the bench (17 pts 5 rebs 4 assists 1 steal in 26 hard-working minutes)
• How do you stop a team whose 3 top scoring players are also its top 3 defensive stoppers?
• SMB next game vs Coca Cola 11/21 in Cebu
• Barako Bull next game vs Burger King 11/20 at the Araneta Coliseum MH