Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Gin Kings itching to take solo lead
BARANGAY Ginebra Kings gun for the solo leadership to wiggle-out of a three-way logjam when they trade baskets with the Air 21 Express today in the 2006-07 Talk N Text PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Ginebra shares the lead with the Red Bull Barakos and Talk N Text with 2-0 win-loss slates each, after two outings. The King’s will face the Express at 7:20 p.m. for its third game.
The Kings opened their season with a surprising demolition job over newcomer Welcoat Dragons, 102-69, as one way of giving the Dragons a baptism of fire in the big league.
Ginebra coach Jong Uichico said that besides the victories, he is more satisfied "with the players' conscious effort to play defense."
All eyes will also be on top over-all pick Fil-Am Kelly Williams of the St. Lucia Realtors as he suits back for his second PBA game against the San Miguel Beermen at 4:35 p.m.
The FilAm forward had his first game last Friday but it turned out disappointing, as the Realtors faltered in the hands of the Purefoods Chunkee Giants.
Williams tallied 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help SLR get off to a good start in his first PBA statistics.
"It's nice to get the first win especially after seeing the rankings. They way they put us at definitely puts a fire in all the players' heart," Williams said, who highlighted his 38-minute job with an alley-hoop dunk over reigning slam dunk king Canaleta late in the second quarter.
The arrival of the Fil-Am forward might be the answer for the Realtors struggles for the past few seasons in always missing the playoffs mainly because the bench wasn’t deep enough to match up with the league's elite.
With Williams, an athletic, hardworking forward, and fellow rookies Mark Isip, Mark Magsumbol and Ronnie Bughao, has transformed Sta. Lucia into a potent contender.
"Everybody knows who the strong teams are. We're not even mentioned and we understand that and that's a challenge for us," said Chua, swearing: "I'm not gonna stop pushing these (Realtors) guys."
The Beermen opened their campaign in the 2006-07 Talk N Text PBA Philippine Cup with a close 79-84 loss to the Red Bull Barakos also last Friday. The Beermen are itching to bounce back, so the Realtors should expect a tough encounter.
Anticipating a tough battle, the Realtors Tuesday reactivated Norman Gonzales for some muscle.
It's also interesting to see if Williams will be a dominating force. The Fil-Am rookie is a player of Reyes in the RP Team, so the SMB coach knows the weak and strong points of the Sta. Lucia freshman. (JAF(PBA Media Bureau)
