SLR 115, Air21 80

Another win for the Sta. Lucia Realtors to improve their record to 2-3, tying Air 21 Express at fourth place in the on-going 33rd PBA Season. Just like their first win against the Talk N Text Phone Pals, several factors can be attributed to their second win. These factors are most notably absent in their 3 losses. Let us take a look at some of these factors using the numbers available to us.

50 Rebounds Per Game Quota

By this time, all Realtors fans are not anymore surprise if the papers report that the Realtors were out-rebounded by their opponents. What is not obvious is that in the two losses of the Realtors, they were not able to grab more than 50 rebounds per game as a team. In their two wins, they were still out-rebounded, but they managed to surpass the 50-rebounds-per-game limit by grabbing 53 and 57 respectively. Will this be a major indicator in their coming games? It certainly looks like it.

Saving Grace from the Stripe

In all 5 games, the realtors can only manage an unforgettable 66.0 percent from the stripe. Worse, the Realtors can only shoot 59.1 percent from the line in their game against the Express. Fortunately, their opponents fared only a little better by sinking 63.0 percent of their shots from the line.

However, in a close game and against a free-shooting team like the Beverage Masters or the Giants, the Realtors’s fate looks dim. The players who are shooting more than 75.0 percent from the stripe are Dennis Espino, Dennis Daa, Paolo Mendoza and Ryan Reyes. The worse free-throw shooter is Dennis Miranda who can only manage to sink 53.3 percent of his shot. Christian Coronel sank only 50.0 percent of his shots from the stripe, but since he only went there once in four games he played, we can rule that out.

Guard the Arc

It seems that the Realtors learned from their mistakes in the game against the Barakos because this time they were able to take away the 3-point shooting of the Express. Unlike the Barakos who shot a whooping 40.0 percent from beyond the arc, the Express can only manage 12.0 percent.