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SINCE
taking over the team three conferences ago, Toyota Otis
head coach Ariel Vanguardia has yet to miss a ticket in
the semifinals in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).
In fact,
Vanguardia inherited a team that has a streak of three
straight semis stints. Only thing he wants to do now is
to continue the tradition when his Sparks go for the
clincher against San Mig Coffee in a do-or-die match in
the 2008 PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup today at the
Oreta Sports Center in
Malabon City.
The lone
game is set at
3 p.m., with the winner getting the last spot in the best-of-five
series to join early
semifinalists
Harbour Centre, Hapee Toothpaste and Burger King.
Toyota
forced a rubber match Monday after stealing an 89-86
victory over the Coffee Kings in their quarterfinal
showdown in
Tanauan City, Batangas.
“That
win would be nothing if we will not get a win today,”
said Vanguardia, who turned around a squad that started
0-5 as they won eight of their 11 games to stay in
contention.
“But we
expect a different game. And I have high respect for the
coaching staff of San Mig Coffee so we have to be
explosive and energetic against them,” Vanguardia added.
The
Coffee Kings failed to capitalize on their twice-to-beat
advantage in the quarters as they allowed the Sparks to
climb back from 10 points down in the last four minutes
of the game as their offense faltered in that stretch.
And
clearly, the momentum is now on the side of Toyota,
which is considered by many as the dark horse in the
tournament.
RJ Jazul,
the five-foot-10 guard from Letran who used to give
Vanguardia headaches in the National Collegiate Athletic
Association as mentor of rival Jose Rizal U, is
undeniably one of the main reasons the Sparks are able
to keep their campaign alive.
A very
interesting spectator in the Sparks-Coffee Kings tussle
is Harbour Centre, which has the privilege of choosing
their semifinal opponent from the winners of the two
quarterfinal series, an incentive for topping the
elimination round.
Word has
leaked out that Harbour would prefer San Mig Coffee if
it wins against Toyota. But if the Sparks prevail, the
Batang Pier would opt for idle Burger King.
“He’s [Jazul]
a thinking player. His decision-making is very
commendable and I’m happy he’s in my team,” said
Vanguardia.
Jazul
had 18 points, five assists and two steals in their last
game as he totally outplayed Coffee Kings’ flamboyant
guard Bonbon Custodio, who scored 16 but all in the
first half.
San Mig
Coffee veterans Eric dela Cuesta and Neil Raneses were
also non-factors in the final quarter where Toyota
unloaded a 13-0 run in the last 3:52 of that game to
erase the 10-point deficit and seize the important
victory. |
