RoS, Alaska seek early entry into semis
RAIN or Shine and Alaska, the top two teams after the eliminations, are both seeking early entry into the best- of- five semifinals as they take on their respective opponents tonight in Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The No. 1 Elasto Painters (9-2 win-loss record) battle No. 8 GlobalPort (5-6) at 4:30 p.m. while No. 2 Aces (8-3) collide against No. 7 Magnolia (6-5) at 7 p.m.
Armed with a twice- to- beat advantage, the Elasto Painters, behind import Reggie Johnson, are expected to go for the kill early against the Batang Pier.
“We have to want it more tomorrow and we cannot even think of the twice-to-beat advantage. We just have to focus on the game. We worked hard to be here. GlobalPort is a tough physical team and we have to match that,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia through a text message.
The Elasto Painters will be counting on Malcolm White to keep their campaign alive in the import-laden conference.
Meanwhile, Alaska, is jumping into the fray against Magnolia led by returning import Diamon Simpson and Jeron Teng.
Magnolia showed great potential last week, as import Wayne Chism led the team to victories against Northern Luzon Expressway and defending champion San Miguel Beer.
“I think it is a very hard game for us. We are always the underdog,” said Hotshots coach Chito Victolero, adding that they have to watch out for Alaska’s Vic Manuel. “He (Manuel) is very consistent not only against us but also against the other teams so we just have to prepare hard.”
Manuel leads BPC race
Manuel is leading the Best Player of the Conference race with superior statistical points standings (SPs) at the end of elimination round.
The power forward from the Philippine School of Business Administration has so far garnered 37.2 SPs from 24.18 points and 6.2 rebounds average in 11 games.
San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo is second with 36.8 SPs on 19.6 points and 11.3 rebounds in 11 games.
GlobalPort’s Sean Anthony (35.4 SPs), Stanley Pringle (35.0 SPs) and Meralco’s Chris Newsome (33.5 SPs) are No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.