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WHEN
they march onto the court of the Ynares Center tonight,
the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Magnolia Beverage
Masters know exactly what they have to do.
Their
coaching staff have inserted in their memory banks a
three-letter word: WIN.
The
members of the two teams know full well that if they
accomplish their goal, they would be rewarded with a
place in the semifinals of the 2008 Smart-Philippine
Basketball Association Fiesta Conference.
Ginebra
survived a belated rally by Sta. Lucia for a 92-90
decision and Magnolia dominated Coca-Cola, 108-96, in
the opener of their quarterfinal pairings on Sunday to
move within a win of advancing to the Final Four.
Moments
after their conquest of the Realtors, the reigning
Philippine Cup champions, Ginebra coach Jong Uichico
declared they are going for the kill. Although he was
frank enough to admit that carrying the plan won’t be
easy.
Hunger
should be a great motivation for the Kings, who have not
been in the Final Four of the Fiesta Conference since
the 2005-06 edition. Testament to it was their
seven-game winning streak dating back to the
eliminations.
Uichico
said he is counting on his entire bench to get the job
done.
“Everybody must step up offensively and defensively. We
have to match their [Realtors] energy and intensity if
we intend to get this series over with as soon as
possible,” said Uichico.
Nobody
can blame Uichico if he sounds pressured going into
their 4:50 p.m. showdown.
The
Realtors, after all, are no pushovers. They are the
reigning Philippine Cup champions and they have showed
they could be dangerous when their backs are against the
wall.
They
underscored their resiliency in the wild-card bracket
that saw them eliminating defending champion Alaska and
preseason favorite Talk ’N Text in the knockout round.
In this
most crucial moment, Uichico is counting on Mark Caguioa
for another explosive performance. The Ginebra hotshot
scattered 30 points on Sunday.
Magnolia
coach Siot Tanquingcen is also anticipating a tough
challenge against Coca-Cola in their 7:20 p.m. date.
The
Beverage Masters completely dominated the Tigers in the
opener, but the Magnolia coach expects Coca-Cola mentor
Binky Favis to make the necessary adjustments.
“In a
shorts series like this, it’s always good to win the
first game. But definitely it doesn’t mean anything,”
Tanquingcen said.
Of
course the Tigers can comeback and turn things around.
But that will require a great deal of a job from big man
Jason Dixon.
But the
bad news is that Dixon, who carried the Tigers on his
broad shoulders in the eliminations, has been struggling
the past few games.
On
Sunday he managed just six points on three-of-eight
shooting and cornered just seven boards. Things just got
worse because Coke’s new import, Brandon Dean, could do
no better than eight points.
Unless
Dixon rekindles his deadly form and Dean puts on some
respectable numbers in Game 2, chances of the Tigers
forcing a sudden death is unlikely.
The
quarterfinals is a best-of-three affair. The winner of
the Ginebra-Sta. Lucia match-up will advance to the
best-of-seven semifinal against Red Bull while the
survivor of the other series between Magnolia and
Coca-Cola will be pitted against Air 21. |
