Ponce Nation

Bayamón 🆚 …

Carolina: 1-4, derrota fue el primer juego, Bayamon con un refuerzo menos

Caguas: 2-4, aun sin un refuerzo defendieron El Rancho, y en el 5to juego le dieron de 50 puntos

Aguada: 3-3, séptimo juego … final de isla vs la metro, todo la isla pendiente.

El mejor juego de la postemporada, hasta la fecha ha sido el 5to juego de la serie entre Aguada y Ponce.

El razonamiento, y la data pesan más que las opiniones;

Los ratings de la final de Manatí vs Caguas no fueron buenos, fue una gran serie, pero los ratings no fueron buenos.

Serie de Ponce vs Bayamón, los ratings fueron buenísimos, norte vs sur, toda la isla pendiente.

¿Asistencia en los cuartos de final, y semifinal, han sido buenas los pasados dos años? La respuesta es que sí, y los ratings también …

Bill Self asked Thomas Robinson if there was anyone he wanted the team to call.

Robinson's answer stopped the room.

"Coach, you don't get it. There isn't anybody left."

January 2011. Robinson is a 19 year old sophomore at Kansas, coming off the bench, a kid from a rough part of Washington D.C. who had been raised by a single mother named Lisa.

He called her before every game. She called him Earl, his middle name. She worried about him constantly.

Bill Self remembers her calling to ask, is Earl okay? I haven't heard from him in three days.

Then, in late December, Robinson's grandmother died.

Less than three weeks later, his grandfather died.

And on a Friday night in January, around 11 p.m., his phone rang. It was his little sister Jayla, who was 9 years old.

She was calling to tell him their mother had just died of a heart attack. Lisa Robinson was 43.

Three funerals in under a month.

Within the hour, the entire Kansas team, the coaching staff, and the mothers of players who lived nearby had gathered at Robinson's apartment. Nobody knew what to say.

That's when Self asked him who they should call.

That's when Robinson told him there wasn't anybody left.

His father had never really been in his life. Jayla's father had served prison time. It was just the two of them now, and they were 1,500 miles apart.

Self's reaction: "My heart just broke. Everybody gathered around Thomas, all the players in the room are staring at him, all the families are staring at him. Nobody knew what to say."

The next day, Kansas played Texas.

Thomas Robinson asked to play.

Allen Fieldhouse held a moment of silence for his mother before tip. Marcus Morris stood next to him and wept openly. Robinson stood there, tight lipped, and then played eight minutes. Two points, five rebounds.

Kansas lost, ending a 69 game home winning streak that had stood almost four years. Nobody in that building cared about the streak.

And then the sport did something.

Kansas set up the Lisa Robinson Scholarship Fund to pay for Jayla's college education, and hired a Washington attorney to sort out her care. Money came in from all over the country.

The NCAA cleared the school to help cover funeral expenses. Bill Self's words on it: "I was so proud of our administration, the NCAA, for allowing us to do some things for him. Things you take for granted. Buying a casket, the dress she wore. I was really happy that other people allowed it to be legal, because we would obviously do whatever we could."

The entire Kansas basketball team flew to Washington D.C. for the funeral.

And then rival coach Frank Martin at Kansas State, minutes before playing Kansas, asked his OWN fans to donate to the fund.

Meanwhile, Angel Morris, the mother of teammates Marcus and Markieff, told Thomas she'd look after him and his sister.

She meant it. The Morris twins call him their brother to this day. In 2017 they started a foundation together with their mother, and named it Family Over Everything.

Now here's the ending.

The next season, Thomas Robinson became the best player in the Big 12. Unanimous first team All-American, the first since Blake Griffin. He averaged 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds and led the nation in double doubles. He carried Kansas all the way to the national championship game.

On June 28, 2012, seventeen months after that phone call, the Sacramento Kings drafted him fifth overall.

When David Stern read his name, Thomas Robinson broke down and grabbed the only family he had left. His 9 year old sister, sitting right next to him.

He took custody of Jayla and brought her with him.

His explanation of what drives him is the whole story:

"At the end of the day, if my sister don't have the best opportunity, I feel like it's my fault. I have all the opportunities in the world right now to make sure she has a good life."

The NBA career didn't work out the way anyone hoped. He bounced through six teams in five years and has spent the last decade playing all over the world.

But a 19 year old who lost everyone he had in three weeks kept his sister, finished school, and got drafted in the lottery.

There wasn't anybody left.

So he became somebody.

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🎟️ Entrada General en el Pachín y en internet https://ticketpluspr.com/ #/Event/4764/Details;singleEvent=true

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✅ Palco y Balcón Sold Out

¡Nos vemos en el Pachín! 🦁🔥

🎟️ Boletos en la oficina de los Leones de Ponce BSN en el Pachín, en la Boletería a las 3:00 PM y en www.ticketpluspr.com

👕 🔴

¡Juego 6 en el Pachín! Ticket Plus PR

¡No se quitan! Leones obligan dos tiempos extra y vencen a los Santeros Marcador 106-105.

Hay juego 6 en el Pachín, nos vemos el martes

🎟️ desde las 10:00 AM en la oficina de los Leones en el Pachín.

¡VICTORIA EN LA CARRETERA!🏆🔥

Próximo partido el martes 4 de agosto desde el Pachín! 🦁

¡Vamos por el EMPATE desde CASA!

🎟️ Boletos desde mañana a las 10:00 a.m. en la oficina del Auditorio o a través de TicketPlusPR.com

Con la esperanza intacta y con la fe que siempre ha distinguido a nuestra ciudad, seguimos creyendo.

Porque un verdadero fanático nunca abandona a su equipo… y un LEÓN jamás se quita.

¡Vamos, Leones! 🦁❤️🖤

¡Ponce está con ustedes hasta el último segundo!

Leones de Ponce BSN

🗣️ ¡VAMOS LE🦁NES!

Las series largas son así, en el primer juego de la serie, Ponce no tuvo chance alguno luego de los primeros 5 minutos de acción.

En el segundo juego, en El Pachín, los Leones tuvieron la delantera los 40 minutos de acción.

En el tercer juego, anoche, Ponce tuvo un buen arranque, primer quarter terminó empate a 25. El banco de Aguada que no habia estado presente, hizo varios canastos y terminaron la mitad con ventaja de 8 puntos. Entre el tercer y cuarto quarter los Leones llegaron a estar abajo de doble-digito, pero se pegaron a 2 puntos restando 5 minutos, pero lamentablemente el puntillazo, el canasto grande de irse al frente no llegó, y Aguada cerró el juego.

Juego 4, mañana viernes en el Pachín, nos toca defendelo a todos, y volvemos a Aguada para el 5 juego.

🎟️ en la tienda de los Leones de Ponce BSN en el Pachín y en www.ticketpluspr.com