Thursday, May 17, 2007 Sharks enter finals without team skipper By Lynde Salgados
HE WAS largely instrumental for the underrated White Sharks' mercurial rise to the top. Starting off the elimination round with an awful 0-4 record, rival teams were quick to write off the then toothless Sharks as a title contender.
But with veteran guard Vito Gandiongco coaching his teammates from the bench and firing shots at the other end, the Sharks began to change the landscape of Club 92's inter-color tourney right in the quarterfinals.
And never losing a single match from there on, the rejuvenated Sharks eventually enter the best-of-3 championship series opposite the equally-surprising Orange Cats starting Thursday 7 p.m. at the Macasandig covered court here.
Will Gandiongco--who broke the 30-point plateau at one time against third-running Blue Panthers--be able to motivate his team anew to victory?
The glooming news for White is that job-related matters would inevitably force Vitgans (as he's fondly called in local cage circle) to miss the championship games.
"Kon karon pa nga naka-abot `mi sa championship ayha pa na timing nga naa miy one-week nga meeting sa Manila.
How I wish to be there but circumstances just won't allow me to join the fight," regretted Gandiongco who pledged to treat the White Sharks to a lechon-party in the event of a triumphant finish. "Kana na lang gyod akong mabilin nga pabuhi dugo sa ila," he told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro before heading to the Lumbia airport on Sunday dawn.
The Orange Cats, a 2-0 conqueror of the best elimination round performer Green Lancers, are considered as the most dangerous team in the league with the quick-cat pointguard Celbon Deña at the forefront alongside Xavier University varsity's main man, Chris Abrio.
The White Sharks of team manager Galileo Garcia could rely on the productive foursome of Jongjong Vallecera, Jerome Pagute, Nanni Palacio, and Mark Yana.
But if the Sharks could not maintain their cohesiveness in the absence of Gandiongco then it could be the right time for the Orange Cats to bare their fangs with impunity.
