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HAPEE
Toothpaste hopes to bounce back from a frustrating loss
and clinch the second semifinal seat of the 2008
Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Lipovitan Amino
Sports Cup with a win Tuesday in the league’s first road
games at the Muntinlupa Sports Center.
Still
aching from a stinging 76-73 defeat to Toyota Otis, the
Complete Protectors will try to get back in the race for
the remaining automatic semifinals slot as they collide
with San Mig Coffee in the main game at 4 p.m.
In the
opener at
2 p.m., Harbour Centre, already in the best-of-five semifinal
series with an unblemished 11-0 mark, wants to make it
12 in a row against Noosa Shoes.
Hapee is
poised to take the No. 2 spot with an 8-4 win-loss card
and a win over the Coffee Kings will send the Lamoiyan
franchise into the next round.
But
Complete Protectors head coach Louie Alas said San Mig
Coffee is a dangerous team and that they must not let
their guards down, especially because their opponents
are fighting for survival in the tournament.
“I have
high respects for coach Koy [Banal]. He’s a champion
coach and we cannot take them lightly,” said Alas, who
will rely on Filipino-American Gabe Norwood, Jervy Cruz,
Mark Borboran and Eric Rodriguez for the all-important
win.
Alas
noted that in their four losses, his team started
terribly and that they could not afford to play that way
against an explosive team like San Mig Coffee.
“It’s
very important for us to start strong. All of our losses
are coming off a weak start. We must also contain Bonbon
(Custodio), JP [Alcaraz], Eric de la Cuesta and (Neil)
Raneses,” Alas added.
The
Coffee Kings are in a precarious situation as they need
to win all of their remaining three games to get a shot
at the quarterfinal round.
They are
currently toting a 5-7 card and are tied with Toyota
Otis for seventh spot. The last two teams outside the
guest team RP Youth will be eliminated in the
tournament.
Batang
Pier, meanwhile, wants to sustain a positive attitude
going into the next round as they go for win No. 12
against the Shoe Stars of coach Leo Isaac.
Harbour
Centre mentor Jorge Gallent said his team is determined
to keep its slate when it enters the Final Four of the
season-ending conference.
“I know
it’s not going to be easy but we’ll try our very best to
attain our goal. It’s nice to go to the Final Four with
a perfect record,” said Gallent, who is again expected
to rely on Jason Castro, TY Tang, Chad Alonzo, Al
Vergara and Jeff Chan.
Tanduay
holds the longest-winning streak in the league with 19
and Gallent was a member of that team. And, curiously,
the team that snapped that run was Blu Detergent, the
franchise that is now carrying the Noosa team.
Meanwhile, league commissioner Chino Trinidad and board
chairman Cecilio Pedro of Hapee Toothpaste are planning
to bring the PBL action to Batangas, Tarlac and Baguio
next month.
“It’s
part of our vision to get closer to all our supporters
and provide them total entertainment at this time of the
year,” said Trinidad. The league will hold its second
road games schedule on Thursday in Marikina City.
Standings: Harbour 11-0; Hapee 8-4; Burger King 8-6;
Pharex 6-6; Noosa 6-7; San Mig Coffee 5-7; Toyota Otis
5-7; Bacchus 4-9; RP Youth 0-7. |
