MANILA, 15 January 2007 — Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio admitted to not motivating his players at all.
The defending champions Chunkee Giants were already up to the task at hand to begin with, and they got added inspiration from their hardest working teammate of all.
Marc Pingris, who got to talk to his American father for the first time in 25 years, provided all the energy and the hustle needed by Purefoods last night, sparking an 87-84 victory over Talk ‘N Text for a 1-0 lead in their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinal series.
“There was no need to motivate the players,” Gregorio said. “I think no one expected us to win but ourselves and that was enough to drive my players to work hard and play their hardest. “This is nothing big, it’s just 1-0,” he added. “You need three wins to win a series.”
Aside from playing effective defense on Asi Taulava, Pingris scored 19 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked five shots in a workmanlike effort that led the Giants, a team so under-sized compared to the hulking Phone Pals. James Yap tossed in 18 markers and Kerby Raymundo added 13 points and 12 boards to complete a three-sided battering ram that chopped down tall Talk ‘N Text to size and gain a huge psychological edge in the series the Phone Pals were labeled to win. Purefoods, after trailing 20-24 in the first period, zoomed to leads of as many as 15 in the second and flaunted complete control the rest of the way, before dousing cold water on a spirited Talk ‘N Text finish anchored on Taulava and Migs Noble.
Taulava finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Noble scored 13.
Sta. Lucia, meanwhile, instead of showing signs of being tired, came out hard and fast and went on to nip Red Bull, 96-89, for a similar 1-0 lead in their separate series.
The Realtors, who were without 1996 MVP Kenneth Duremdes, built double-digit leads early and never looked back, holding off the Barako in the stretch behind some clutch shooting from Paolo Mendoza and rookie Kelly Williams.
“It was all over the papers (today), that we are injured and a tired team,” Sta.
Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua said. “Yes, we’re tired. We’re tired of losing.”
Mendoza hit two triples and Marlou Aquino fired eight of his 10 points in the first quarter to fuel the Sta. Lucia breakaway that had the Realtors taking a 65-37 lead at the half. The Realtors got the momentum of a strong first half after shooting 37 points in the first period, and that 28-point advantage at the break proved to big for the game Barako to overhaul even if they played their normal game in the second half. “Of course, they will come back,”
Otherwise, that team will keep on trying.”
Alex Cabagnot drilled in 16 points and threw his 10th assist to a streaking Dennis Espino for an unmolested layup with 60 seconds to play for the final score.
Coming into this quarterfinal phase as the No. 3 seed and fresh from a 25-day break, Red Bull rallied to within 87-92 after a Junethy Valenzuela jumper off the glass heading into the final three minutes.
And from the way things looked at that point, it seemed that the Barako were well on the way toward overhauling that huge deficit, only to hit a wall when Larry Fonacier missed a triple and Mendoza drained a difficult fall-away for Sta. Lucia’s 94-87 lead with just 1:41 to play. Though the loser in the series-opener and despite how awful his team was in the first half, Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao refused to talk grimly of his chances for the rest of the series.
“Obviously, there was some rust there,” Guiao said. “At least now, we’re over that. Our second half was a lot better and we hope to play that way in the next game and for the rest of the series. “Our confidence is still high,” Guiao added.
“I guess we have to pay the price for coming off such a long rest.”
Red Bull got the lift from Valenzuela and Cyrus Baguio in the third period, where the dup combined for 14 of the team’s 29 points that had the Barako creeping to within striking distance, 81-66. Rookie Kelly Williams, after the Barako had come within 71-81, nailed two straight triples to halt the rally somewhat before a Mendoza trey with 4:23 left restored a 92-80 lead from 89-80.
