Wednesday, October 18, 2006 P’foods plays Coke for fifth spot today
DEFENDING champion Purefoods Chunkee Giants and the Coca Cola Tigers clash in today’s opening game of the Talk ’N Text PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Talk N’ Text Phone Pals, for their part, will gun for the solo leadership in the main game when they tangle with the cellar-dwelling Air21 Express.
The Giants and the Tigers are tied at fourth spot with 1-2 win-loss slates each and both teams will be standing on even ground today as both are on high morals following their respective victories in the last assignments.
Depleted
Coach Ryan Gregorio and his Chunkee Giants inked their first victory in the conference over the weekend via a 103-101 cliffhanger over the depleted Air 21 Express at The Arena in San Juan. The Tigers nailed their first win with a king-sized 105-86 reversal of the favored Red Bull Barakos at the Cuneta Astrodome last Friday.
Man-for-man, the wards of Gregorio and Tigers coach Binky Favis are also even, although Purefoods has a bigger task not only in this game but in the conference as they try to become the first team in 21 years to repeat as champions.
Similarity
Another similarity between the two team’s recent victories is that it wasn’t their superstars who shone but role players.
For Purefoods, it was the tandem of Mark Pingris and Richard Yee who supplied the energy and firepower in the early goings against the Express, with Pingris scoring 12 and Yee adding 11 as the duo combined for almost half of the Giants’ 57 points in the opening half for a 17 -point cushion.
The Tigers, for their part, were rescued from disaster by rookies Chris Pacana and Mike Gavino , who took over from Coca-Cola’s starting rookies Ronjay Enrile and RJ Rizada in helping the team beat Red Bull.
In that game, Pacana registered 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made three assists in 23 minutes, while Gavino chipped in six points and the same number of rebounds in 20 minutes.
As it is, both teams will be hoping that their respective heroes the last time out deliver again today as they go for each other’s throats for win no.2.
Combination
Aside from the Yee-Pingris combination, Gregorio is also expected to lean on his superstars—Kerby Raymundo, Noy Castillo and James Yap—-against the Tigers, who will also be frontlined by Fil-Ams John Arigo and Ali Peek and former UV Green Lancer Neil Rañeses. (JSV)
