MANILA, 3 May 2007 — One look at the Barangay Ginebra squad on paper would make an opponent want to face the Gin Kings more than any other team in the PBA Fiesta Cup.
Well, maybe that was before the start of the tournament, before Jong Uichico whipped the team into such fearsome form that no one would want to touch the Kings with a 10-foot pole.
Ginebra brought down yet another foe in Welcoat last night, tearing the Dragons apart right in the first 12 minutes en route to a 103-71 victory that kept the Kings firmly on top of the elimination round heap at the Araneta Coliseum.
And Uichico is almost running out of excuses, trying desperately to explain the fine form his squad is into heading into the most crucial stages of the tournament.
“Things have just been falling in place for us,” Uichico said. “And the schedule has been favoring us well.”
Terribly undermanned as it is, Ginebra won for the fifth straight time to churn out the new winning streak of the tournament, and this one came easier than the previous victories after import Rod Nealy led a rip-roaring start. Nealy scored 22 of his 38 points in the first period and Ginebra practically snuffed the fire out of the Dragons with a 36-15 lead to cruise to its ninth win in 11 games overall.
And that could have moved the Kings to within three more victories of gaining outright entry into the semifinals, a break that would be a welcome one considering how many people are on Uichico’s injured list.
“Rod has been consistent throughout these eliminations,” said Uichico, who did not mince words in trying to describe what a perfect fit Nealy is to his team.
“He gets his teammates involved and it makes my job a whole lot easier.”
Johnny Abarrientos, Rafi Reavis and Eric Menk continue to be out because of injuries, Mark Caguioa and Jay-Jay Helterbrand have national duties to fulfill and Rudy Hatfield is still in the United States and has not sent word on his return.
Nealy had nine more points in the second quarter and the Kings trooped to the locker room for the halftime break way out of the Dragons’ reach, 58-35.
Welcoat dropped to 2-9 with its fifth straight loss which new import Wayland White did not even come close to helping avert.
White, who came in to replace Rob Sanders, was good for only 12 points and two rebounds in his debut and obviously seems to be not the kind of reinforcement that would take the Dragons past the elimination round here.
Original import pick Charles Clark is still in town, with Welcoat management hoping that his broken toe would heal in time to save the Dragons from being eliminated for the second straight tournament in their young PBA existence.
The Dragons also did not have any luck with Sanders, the runner-up in the CBA slam dunk contest who proved to be more of a headcase than anything else.
Another import, Jamaal Williams, made his debut later in the night and wasn’t able to provide a good result for his team.
Gary David scored 22 points, Wynne Arboleda added 21, Shawn Daniels had 18 points, 18 rebounds, four steals and six blocks in leading the Express to third straight win in an 8-3 card that tied them with idle Red Bull for second spot.
Jamaal Williams was respectable, shooting 36 points and grabbing 13 rebounds for the Realtors, who nonetheless dropped a fourth straight game and remained in ninth place at 3-8.
Kelly Williams had 20 points and 13 rebounds, but the Realtors simply could not close out the Express when they needed to.
Meanwhile, Enrico Villanueva of Red Bull was officially named the 12th man in the Philippine Team that will compete in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Champions Cup in Tehran, Iran in two weeks. This was learned by Arabnews last night after Red Bull team manager Tony Chua said that management had given Villanueva permission to suit up for the RP Five being prepped for a possible return to the Olympics next year.
