B-Meg’s unpredictable import disregarded a personal problem back home and scattered a personal conference-high 31 points, and the Llamados finally completed the semifinals cast with a runaway 111-89 victory over Air21 Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

“This is a sweet moment,” said Hinson, who shot 10-of-20 from the field. “I wouldn’t leave if there isn’t any problem back home.” The replacement import to Stefhon Hannah was informed Thursday of a custody suit filed against him by his estranged wife back in the US, a case wherein his presence is required.

Yet amidst the current predicament, he exerted an effort reflecting his true professional spirit, providing the energy and the leadership B-Meg needed to hurdle a game against a team that has simply nothing to lose but everything to gain.

Hinson scored 19 first-half points, bailing the Llamados out of a tight 30-30 count. When halftime came, B-Meg found itself ahead by 12 (57-45) and never gave the winless Express an opportunity to crawl back.

Now, the Llamados have made it safe to the single-round, carry-over semifinal stage with three playing dates left in the elimination.

They ended up with a 4-4 (win-loss) record, and likewise towed idle teams’ Rain or Shine (4-3), Alaska (4-3) and Ginebra (4-2) into the next round.

Grand Slam-seeking Talk ‘N Text and Petron were the first two teams to advance into the semi-finals.

B-Meg’s entry into the semis was already assessed since Meralco and Powerade have inferior quotients compared to the Llamados. The Bolts and the Tigers are teams B-Meg had already defeated and can only reach four wins, and will thereby lose in the quotient system.

“Well, it’s a new ball game for us,” said B-Meg coach Jorge Gallent.

“The problem we have now is how to play consistently. I hope this game will bring us to that attitude.

“We let slip away the last two games. Today, we played aggressive the whole game that resulted in a nice win for us.” Besides facing a tougher round, the Llamados will have to see whether the import they have hired will fit their star-studded system.

B-Meg’s fourth import for the season-ending tournament – Myron Allen – is expected to arrive Sunday. The Llamados will have nearly two weeks of respite before they plunge into action marking the start of their semifinal campaign.

Joe Devance contributed 23 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Llamados, who drew 15 points from two-time MVP James Yap and a combined 23 from PJ Simon and Marc Pingris.

Rafi Reavies started and collected 15 rebounds and eight points.

With the defeat, the Express have now dropped seven straight games in the tournament and 10 since being swept by Talk ‘N Text in their best-of-five semifinals showdown in the Commissioner’s Cup.

Later in the evening, Powerade refused to be disrupted by its ouster for the next round, pulling off a shocking 105-81 victory over erstwhile leader Petron.

The Tigers, who only knew of their elimination prior to the game, unleashed their frustration in the form of a superb defensive game-plan that limited the Boosters to just 37.7 percent shooting from the field (29-of-77), something Powerade failed to execute in past games that mattered.

This is the eighth straight conference that Powerade will miss the post-elimination round stage.
 
NBA superstars to play vs. PBA, Smart-Gilas teams

Meantime, an elite cast of NBA superstars – perhaps the brightest collection ever – will come over to the Philippines to play a pair of tuneup games against the PBA selection and the Smart-Gilas national team.

Chot Reyes, the executive director of the MVP Sports Foundation and head coach of Talk ‘N Text, bared this Friday during a media conference at the Big Dome along with PBA chairman Rene Pardo, Commissioner Chito Salud and MVP SF president An Panlilio.

Kobe Bryant, the two-time NBA Finals MVP of the 16-time champion Los Angeles Lakers, leads and coaches the American cast in the affair dubbed ‘Ultimate All-Star Weekend’ set for July 23 and 24 at the Araneta Coliseum.

With Bryant in the star-studded NBA squad are Chris Paul, the spectacular guard of the New Orleans Hornets, Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma Thunder’s James Harden, DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesotta Timberwolves’ Derrick Williams, the No. 2 pick of the recent NBA Draft.

Two big names that floated but were not mentioned were two-time scoring champion Kevin Durant of the Thunder and reigning regular-season MVP Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls.

Reyes neither confirmed nor denied that the two superstars will be part of the visiting NBA quintet, but said that he and his group are working on two other players to be included in the squad.

“We are working on an eight-man lineup,” Reyes said. “There are still two more to come and we’re going to reserve that announcement when we have finalized the deals. But we are pretty confident that you will be just as pleased.” The PBA selection will be the first to challenge the NBA team on the 23rd in a game that will kick off at 7 p.m. Smart-Gilas, which will be backstopped by Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo, will face the visiting team the day after at 1 p.m.

Comprising the PBA selection are James Yap and Marc Pingris of B-Meg; Mark Caguioa and JC Intal of Ginebra; Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Rabeh-Al-Hussaini of San Miguel Beer; Talk ‘N Text’s Ryan Reyes, Jason Castro and Larry Fonacier; Sonny Thoss and LA Tenorio of Alaska; and a player each from Air21 (Danny Seigle), Powerade (Gary David), Rain or Shine (Gabe Norwood), and Meralco’s Sol Mercado.