MANILA, 25 May 2003 — It hardly surprised many that San Miguel coach Jong Uichico talked about next week’s All-Star weekend than his team’s game with FedEx on Friday night in the Samsung PBA All-Filipino Cup at the Makati Coliseum.
The game had little or no bearing for the teams, which have made both the quarterfinals and the Asian Invitationals.
Still, Uichico said they accomplished a lot in their 88-79 win, the Beermen’s sixth straight.
FedEx, which saw their own five-game streak come to a halt, also sparingly used star players Vergel Meneses, Jerry Codinera and Yancy de Ocampo. The three were recalled to the bench late in the third quarter and were not fielded back.
That enabled the Beermen to pounce on the Express’ three-minute silence and unleash a decisive 11-0 surge that wiped out a 71-74 lead. Danny Ildefonso and Dorian Pe?a had 17 points each while Dondon Hontiveros hit two triples late in the fourth.
In the second game, the Tigers used a 16-0 run in the first period to take a 20-point lead there and never looked back on the way to a 98-76 rout of Sta. Lucia Realty, where Rudy Hatfield completed his first career triple-double in the season’s first with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He also had four steals and two blocks in 37 minutes of action.
That’s exactly how the Tigers looked in their game on that particular night, taking an 80-54 lead at one point before tapering off in the fourth period. “Coming into the game, we were in the final stages of tuning up for the quarterfinals and we wanted to really sharpen up for the next round,” said Reyes.
Sta. Lucia also rested two of its Big Three late in the game, but it didn’t look like coach Alfrancis Chua simply wanted to rest them. With Marlou Aquino and Dennis Espino riding the bench late in the second half, Kenneth Duremdes was left to make things decent and even his 31 points and 10 rebounds failed to rally the Realtors.
Meanwhile, the troubles of PBA players who have tested positive for illegal drugs do not necessarily end after they have completed their rehabilitation. This was stressed by PBA technical chief Perry Martinez on Wednesday, saying players who have violated the country’s anti-drugs laws would still be subject to prosecution from any government agency.
“The commissioner (Noli Eala) has made it clear from the start that any penalty imposed by the league would in no way prejudice any prosecution to be made by parties outside the PBA,” said Martinez.
So far, five players have tested positive for illegal drugs this season.
