MANILA — Simply put, Red Bull was awful.
The Bulls became the first powerhouse team in the PBA Philippine Cup to bite the dust, bowing to lightly-regarded Coca-Cola, 105-86 because of a maze of errors and a display of woeful form last night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Coke battled hard in the early goings and the Tigers ultimately found their bearings late in the second quarter to post the surprisingly lopsided win, less than a week after an embarrassing loss to newcomer Welcoat.
“I thought I would not see you guys here anymore,” said Coke coach Binky Favis in jest, referring to the customary winning coach’s interview with the media after the game.
“We played very well tonight and I guess, Red Bull did not,” he added. “But before the game, the team and I had a very good talk, and one of the things we discussed was not to let little lapses like that (loss to Welcoat) put us down.”
Indeed, his Tigers responded with a lot of fight, refusing to be awed by the mighty Bulls right from the onset.
Obscure rookies Chris Pacana and Mark Gavino stepped up and eventually made a big difference for the Tigers, a team most pundits see will not go far in this tournament after dealing away three marquee big men in the off-season.
Coke erected leads of as many as 20 points in the fourth period, quite surprising to do considering that the Tigers played a side that was coming off impressive victories against two equally formidable teams in Alaska and San Miguel.
The loss was the first for the Bulls in three games, and it denied them a place at the top in the company of idle Barangay Ginebra and Talk ‘N Text, which earlier routed the newcomer Dragons, 115-99.
There was something terribly wrong in the way the Bulls played, as their layups rimmed out, their jumpers missed the mark badly and they showed their frustration on numerous occasions.
Red Bull was in the lead for the last time at 39-38 after a Cyrus Baguio layup completed a 3-on-2 break, but the Tigers answered with a flurry and sustained the onslaught all the way to the end.
Gavino, a 6-foot-4 slotman out of the University of the Philippines , scored just six points and plucked down four rebounds. But his interior presence helped protect the shaded lane for the Tigers.
A California-born guard, Pacana, meanwhile, scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half to help the Tigers build a 54-45 lead at the half which they never relinquished the rest of the way.
Harvey Carey helped jumpstart a searing offensive by the Phone Pals in the first period with 10 of his team-high 22 points, and Ren-Ren Ritualo was again deadly from the perimeter to finish with 20.
It was the third straight win for the Phone Pals, who led by as many as 25 points late in the third period only to see this chopped down to as little as 12 in the fourth because of a last-ditch rally by the Dragons.
And the tendency of the Phone Pals to “relax.”
“We relaxed. Instead of trying to make stops, we traded baskets,” said Talk ‘N Text coach Derrick Pumaren. “I told the guys that we cannot take them (Dragons) for granted because they are playing without pressure.”
Denver Lopez, a young Fil-American guard who bounced around Red Bull and San Miguel before being picked by Welcoat in the expansion draft, hit 13 of his career-high 21 markers in the fourth period to lead a mild uprising.
Nine of them came in a string from beyond three-point range, which had the Dragons coming within 93-81 from as far back as 80-55 in the middle of the third period.
