Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Purefoods, Sta. Lucia gun for 2-0 headstart
Games today: (Cuneta Astrodome) 4:35 p.m.- Purefoods v. Talk N Text 7:20 p.m.- Red Bull v. Sta. Lucia
AFTER a see-saw campaign in the opening rounds of the conference, the Sta. Lucia Realtors are now looking to build a 2-0 edge in the 2006-07 Talk N Text PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals when they battle the Red Bull Barakos today at the Cuneta Astrodome.
"This is gonna be a long series. Pero at least we have the advantage," SLR coach Al Chua said, whose team took hold of the leadership in the opening rounds before being made to fight for their lives in the wildcard phase.
Despite going through that energy-sapping phase, the Realtors showed no sign of fatigue Sunday in beating the off-form Barakos,96-89, in their series opener.
Fracture
Kenneth Duremdes, who missed Sunday's game with a fractured finger he sustained in Friday's playoff victory against Air 21, expects to be back for Game 2 although Chua is not counting on it.
"He really hoped he could play. But I doubt it given the extent of his injury," the Sta. Lucia coach said.
Dennis Espino, the team's skipper, is also hurting and Chua called it a blessing that he was able to play in Game 1.
Rusty
Observers contend the three-week break has turned the Barakos rusty but they should be back in form in Game 2.
"I'm sure my kumpadre (Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao) will think of something to beat me. But we'll be ready," Chua said.
In the other game, Purefoods Chunkee Giants coach Ryan Gregorio loves their role as an underdog.
"This is a nice series for us because all the odds are stacked against us," he proclaimed after the Giants pulled off an 87-84 victory over the Talk N Text Phone Pals in Game 1 of their quarterfinal series.
But Gregorio admitted that taking the opener is no big deal, more so against a team like the Phone Pals whom he described as a "superpower."
Strangely though, Gregorio doesn't seem worried given the challenge confronting them in the best-of-five series of the.
Pressure
Apparently, the defending champion Giants don’t need any motivation for this series, in the process keeping the pressure off Gregorio and his deputies.
"It makes my job easy knowing that my players no longer have to be motivated for this series. Just about everybody is playing inspired basketball and is self- motivated," said Gregorio, who remains confident about their chances in Game 2.
The Purefoods Chunkee coach mentioned Mark Pingris as their source of energy. He said the 6-3 power forward has been playing extremely well since getting in touch with his father whom he had been searching for 25 years. (JSV (with PBA Media Bureau)
