MANILA: It took a lot for Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio to change his first impression on import Brian Hamilton.
No less than a triple double, to be exact.
Hamilton scored 22 points, had 16 rebounds and 10 assists for only the second T-D by a debuting import in PBA history as the Tender Juicy Giants last night blitzed Talk 'N Text, 131-121, in the Fiesta Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum.
"Now, I am happy with what I saw," Gregorio said of Hamilton, who replaced original pick Reggie Larry but didn't impress him in his first two weeks of practice with the team.
The first time that an import debuted with a triple double was in the 1997 Governors Cup, when Dennis Williams scored 28 points, had 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Turbochargers.
It was the highest scoring game for Purefoods in the last five years as James Yap dropped 33 big ones and five others scored 12 or better for Gregorio, whose wards tumbled out of the wildcard phase of the Philippine Cup.
That game in 2003 against Red Bull was a 138-141 triple overtime loss and if one would count only the high score of the Giants in regulation, last night's tally was their biggest in the last 16 years.
Tiras Wade was bad himself, shooting 33 points, collaring 14 rebounds and dishing off six assists in his debut for the Tropang Texters. But the fire was obviously not there for the Texters, who had less than three weeks' rest from that grueling seven-game title series with Alaska .
"Part of the pre-game talk was we really wanted to wear them down. We knew that they were still in the hangover phase," Gregorio said.
Gregorio also had the compliment of a complete, healthy lineup to start the game, though PJ Simon, who scored 13 points in 17 minutes, asked to be relieved late in the third period.
Charles Clark, lighter on foot and with a better sense for the game, scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to power Rain or Shine to a 91-83 victory over Barako Bull in the first game.
Two other starters posted double-double efforts for the Elasto Painters, who still pounded out the easy victory even with super rookie Solomon Mercado sitting it out because of a suspension incurred in the last conference.
Jay-R Reyes, potentially one of the finest centers in the league, scattered 18 points while grabbing 14 boards, and Gabe Norwood chipped in with 15 and 11 rebounds as the trio befuddled the Energy Boosters from the second quarter on.
Barako Bull, the old Red Bull squad with a new name and a new coach, had a 25-18 lead after the first period before being held to just nine points in the second and to 19 in the third to slowly lose grip of the contest.
Rain or Shine took a 75-53 lead into the fourth period to cruise the rest of the way as Ryan Arana finished with 15 markers coming off the bench. Barako Bull unveiled a gem of a scoring machine in Scooter McFadgon, but it was clear that the Energy Boosters would struggle in this tournament under new mentor Leo Isaac if the locals, save for Carlo Sharma, would play the way they did last night.
Sharma started out at center and contributed 16 points for Isaac, but after him and the impressive 41 markers of McFadgon, the next best scorer was Reed Juntilla, who had five, even as new acquisition John Arigo wound up scoreless in 15 minutes.
"It was all teamwork," coach Caloy Garcia later told scribes. "Coming into the game, we have scrimmaged for more than one month without Sol (Mercado) and what we did in practice was focus more on defense.
Meanwhile, Mark Caguioa, who sat out the entire Philippine Cup for Barangay Ginebra because of tendonitis on both knees, is just percent" recovered and is in danger of missing the elimination round of the Fiesta Cup.
The 6-foot gunslinger, the Gin Kings' leading local scorer, is still in the United States and is in constant contact with coach Jong Uichico, who yesterday informed Arab News of Caguioa's progress.
"Hopefully we can have him back for the elimination round," Uichico said. That development would leave the Kings without their premier go-to-guy, as most of the scoring will now fall on the shoulders of import Rod Nealy and a formidable local crew led by Jay-Jay Helterbrand.
