MANILA—Both the Tender Juicy Giants and rival Sta. Lucia Realty will play without their respective ace player as they break a 2-2 deadlock in Game 5 today of the best-of-seven championship series for the 33rd Smart-PBA Philippine Cup crown at the Araneta Coliseum.
James Yap and Kerby Raymundo combined for 58 points to lift the Giants to a pulsating 106-98 win over the Realtors last Friday to tie the series, 2-2, the records showed Purefoods did it twice in the league’s history, the first was in 2003 against Alaska and the second in 2005 also against the same Aces.
But coach Ryan Gregorio’s joy was just short-lived because they have to play in the crucial Game 5 without ace shooter James Yap, who was meted a fine of P20,000 and one game suspension for hitting Sta. Lucia’s Joseph Yeo in the face during the dying minutes of Game 3 last Wednesday.
“There is nothing to celebrate in our victory in Game 4. We have to focus for the next game without James Yap,” said Gregorio, who is seeking for the Giants’ 8th conference title and 5th All-Filipino crown since joining the league in 1988.
Executory
The Commissioner’s Office said that since the decision came late already, they have to implement the suspension order on only in Game 5, which according to Gregorio is not fair because they may lose the momentum of their victory in Game 4.
“Winning two straight games means we have the momentum already on our side. It’s really hard to turn the series to our favor, but now that we have it, we are going to lose it because without James Yap it’s like digging a deep hole in our offense,” said the 35-year-old Gregorio, who has already two conference titles tucked under his belt as a coach.
The Purefoods management issued an appeal on Friday and asked commissioner Sonny Barrios for reconsideration, to no avail.
Even if Sta. Lucia ace guard Joseph Yeo will also miss Game 5 because of the automatic one-game suspension for committing a very grave flagrant foul-2 against Noy Castillo in Game 4 last Friday, but Gregorio said “James Yap is James Yap already” while the sophomore Yeo has just started building his own career with the Realtors.
“Well, that’s it. We have to play without Joseph (Yeo). We told him after the game that it’s not Sta. Lucia style. We have to be very careful because of the incident, which is not really intentional but are very clear in the book. I’m sure he has no intention of hurting Noy Castillo. But because it happened, so we have to accept it,” said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez, who is hoping for the Realtors only second title after winning the Governor’s Cup in 2001.
Flexibility
Fernandez said they have to make a major adjustment particularly in their defense in Game 5. He said he noticed it was already different from where they started in the long series.
“Yes, I noticed it’s different already. So, we need to do something if we have to win the series,” added Fernandez, who steered the Realtors to the finals for the third time since joining the league in 1993 in only his second conference as a coach. (FCC)
