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| SMB goes for the kill |
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| Thursday, 29 July 2010 20:18 |
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Games Today: (Araneta Coliseum) 5:00 p.m. — San Miguel Beer vs. Derby Ace 7:30 p.m. – Alaska vs. Talk ‘N Text AT this point, at a time when San Miguel Beer owns a commanding 3-1 lead over Derby Ace, coach Siot Tan-quingcen should feel a bit more comfortable. The enemy is exhausted, its morale somewhat battered. But no matter how he looks at it at every angle, Tanquingcen simply cannot loosen up. He knows his history, and he knows his opponent. “I think anything is possible in basketball. You can never tell,” said Tanquingcen. Seeking to prevent that possibility from becoming into reality, Tanquingcen and San Miguel Beer tonight tries to put an end to Derby Ace’s hopes of extending their best-of-seven semi-finals series, gunning for the clinching win in Game Five and sealing its place in the championships of the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum. “You can’t take anything for granted at this point,” said Tanquingcen. “They (Llamados) are very much capable of coming back. Pag nagkamali ka, you will be at the wrong end of history.” Against any team of lesser stuff other than Derby Ace, the defending champion might be a lock already for the Finals. The problem is, the Llamados have always been known to recover from deficits that appear insurmounrtable. “If I remember it right, we’ve been down before like this in a series before,” said Derby Ace coach Ryan Gregorio. “We’re fighting for survival. There is no tomorrow.” Known then as Purefoods, the Llamados rallied from a 1-3 deficit against Alaska in the semi-finals of the 2006-07 Philippine Cup, before winning the title against Red Bull in six games. Derby Ace also has this knack of winning in clusters in the playoffs, beating the Beermen themselves for three straight games to win the Final Four series of the Philippine Cup this season after being down 1-2. Derby Ace, though, appeared tired in Game Four Wednesday and is now doubted whether it can still survive the rigors of a defensive series. “I have to admit, it’s (Derby Ace’s long season) taking a bit of toll on them,” said Tanquingcen. “I see it honestly. We are one or three steps behind them,” said Gregorio. “I hope there is still enough gas in our tank. Sometimes the heart is willing but the legs are not responding. But you can’t say enough about the heart of this team, we just can’t stop here. The purpose for us why we are here is to rewrite history.” If the Llamados desire a date with history, they have to get more from Tony Washam. Washam was a total mess two days ago, shooting an abysmal 2-of-19 from the field and finishing the game with only 12 points. Derby Ace’s lone win in the series, in Game Two (95-94), came after Washam scattered 33 points including the game-winning three-point play in the final 7.8 seconds. Not only that, Derby Ace will have to see to it that it battles San Miguel Beer off the boards. “We got manhandled in the rebounding,” said Gregorio after Game Four wherein the Beermen had a 50-39 advantage in the key department. “It’s a familiar refrain. They were getting all the bounces. Meantime, powerhouse Talk ‘N Text, as of press time, has yet to make an official announcement whether it will replace Shawn Daniels with a 33-year-old import in Omar Sneed for Game Five of its own series against Alaska. The Tropang Texters won Game Four Wednesday, 83-62, after getting Daniels to perform better. Daniels was told before the game to play as if ‘his life depended on it,’ and rose to meet the challenge. “In order for us to win this series, I must be aggressive,” said Daniels after the game where he scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. TNT coach Chot Reyes said that the franchise will make its decision on the eve of Game Five. A source who requested not to be named, though, said that Daniels will be retained for at least one more game. If not, then the Texters will have to play with a first-timer in the PBA in the crucial stage of the tournament. Sneed, a product of the Memphis Tigers in the U.S., played in the European League and was under national coach Rajko Toroman while playing for Belgium and had just completed a 24-game stint in Israel averaging 15.3 points for Ironi Ashkelon. If Game Four is to be a gauge, then the decision to retain Daniels should be a no-brainer. He helped the Texters limit Diamon Simpson to only 12 points and 14 rebounds, a far cry from the 31-point, 20-rebound effort in Game Three. They also held the Aces to their lowest output for the past nine conferences at 62, which stood as the league’s lowest for the past three tournaments. In a series where a team has yet to win back-to-back, Tim Cone feels that they can reclaim the edge and move to within a win of a second straight appearance in the Finals. “We let TNT again play their talent by allowing them to dictate the tempo and win with the hustle chart,” said Cone. “We need to do a better job of setting the tone going into Game Five. We’re confident and we’ll bounce back strongly.” |
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