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DESPITE
the cool weather, defending champion Harbour Centre and
Hapee Toothpaste hope to sustain their hot start today
when they clash against their separate rivals in Game
Two of their respective semis series in the Philippine
Basketball League Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup at the
University of Cordilleras Gym in Baguio City.
Already
the proud owner of the longest championship run in
league history, Harbour Centre tries to move closer to a
fifth-straight finals appearance when it battles San Mig
Coffee at 3 p.m. as the league returns to the country’s
summer capital for the first time in 10 years.
Also
gunning for a commanding 2-0 lead in the semifinals
series is Hapee Toothpaste,which collides with Burger
King at 5 p.m.
The
Batang Pier survived some scary moments in Game One to
eke out a pulsating 76-74 thriller over the Coffee Kings
on Friday at the Tarlac State University Gym in Tarlac
City.
Unlike
the Batang Pier, the Complete Protectors encountered
only little problem in scoring a runaway 82-70
win—thanks to the pressing zone defense they unraveled
at the start of the start of the third quarter that
resulted in a 17-0 run.
Coach
Louie Alas expects the Whoppers to make some necessary
adjustments to solve their defense. “I’m sure Game Two
will be a lot more exciting [since] I expect them to
plot ways to stop us. But we are prepared,” he said.
But one
thing that troubles team manager Bernard Yang is the
absence of rookie center Jervy Cruz for the rest of the
semis series. The six-foot-five Cruz sustained a left
hamstring injury after running onto a wet portion of the
floor while trying to chase the ball during a halftime
warm-up that caused him to slip badly.
Without
Cruz, Filipino-American Gabe Norwood, Mark Borboran,
Reed Juntilla and Larry Rodriguez have to double their
efforts against the Whoppers who are eager to end their
three-game losing run to the Complete Protectors.
The
Batang Pier are also 3-0 over the Coffee Kings this
conference and 7-1 overall since last year.
Harbour
Centre coach Jorge Gallent was not satisfied with their
Game 1 victory but said he is confident his boys can
play better this time after working on their weak points
during practice Thursday.
“Expect
a different Harbour Centre to show up [today]. We have
already discussed the things that almost brought us
down,” said Gallent. “We can’t afford to repeat the
mistakes we did in Game One. We have to improve our
transition defense to stop Bonbon [Custodio] and we have
to be extra sharp in executing our pick and roll.”
Playing
minus the firepower and energy that characterized their
first 12 games in the eliminations, which they all won,
the Batang Pier teetered on the brink of collapse after
missing four of their last six free throws in the final
41 ticks.
In all,
Harbour Centre was 21-of-40 from the stripe, a
performance that enraged Gallent and team manager Erick
Arejola.
Good
thing for the four-time champion, Sol Mercado exploded
just in time and Jason Castro redeemed himself after
missing two free throws in the last seven seconds by
coming through with a defensive gem on Custodio in the
dying seconds.
TY Tang,
Jeff Chan, Jonathan Fernandez, Edwin Asoro and Jerwin
Gaco promised to lift their games several notches to
help Harbour take a 2-0 lead.
Besides
the wily Custodio, coach Koy Banal hopes his other
players such as Erick de la Cuesta, JP Alcaraz, Neil
Raneses and Ford Arao will play consistently from start
to finish, which is their only way to beat the Batang
Pier.
For the
Whoppers to get even, coach Allan Gregorio must draw big
points from Marcy Arellano, Khiel Misa, Mike Bravo and
Abby Santos. If only two of them will score in double
figures, chances are they will fall into a 0-2 hole. |
