MANILA, 10 February 2007 — So much for an interesting first game, San Miguel just had too much firepower to be denied.
The Beermen broke the game wide open early en route to a 118-94 blowout over Barangay Ginebra in Game 1 of their PBA Philippine Cup title playoffs last night, and raised the possibility of the series ending early.
Lordy Tugade, a man forgotten in the hype leading up to the “Dream Finals,” was at the forefront of the vicious San Miguel charge, shooting 18 of his 27 points in the first half to befuddle the Ginebra defense.
The 6-foot-2 swingman, acquired in the mid-season from Red Bull, hit four triples in the first two quarters, the last near the halftime horn which gave the Beermen a 61-40 advantage the Kings never even came close to overhauling.
“Obviously, I did not expect the (winning) margin to be this big,” San Miguel coach Chot Reyes later said. “But despite that, it wasn’t easy by any means. This (win) is in no means an indication of how this series will go.” San Miguel raced to a 21-7 lead and settled for a 29-23 advantage after the first period before coming up with several spurts that buried the Kings.
“I knew that he (Tugade) was due to play well, but I also didn’t expect that he would play that well,” Reyes added. “It was very obvious that he struggled in the Red Bull series because Red Bull knew how to play him defensively.” Eric Menk dressed for the Kings but did not play, like San Miguel counterpart Danny Ildefonso.
Ildefonso, winner of two straight MVP titles early in the decade, has missed practice since Game 4 of the Red Bull series because of a bruised tendon in the ankle. He is listed as day-to-day pending the results of an MRI test today. Danny Seigle lit it up as usual for San Miguel with 22 points, 11 of them coming in the first 12 minutes. Dorian Pena was also in double figures with 11 and 12 rebounds, and LA Tenorio and Chris Calaguio added 12 and 10, respectively.
Mark Caguioa led the Kings with 30 points and Rudy Hatfield added 22, but Jay-Jay Heterbrand was scuttled to just six markers as the Ginebra running game was grounded right from the start which made it easier for San Miguel. Tugade’s performance more or less made up for the six-point effort of Dondon Hontiveros, the Game 7 semifinal hero of San Miguel.
And that makes it more scary for the Kings for the remainder of the series, especially if Ginebra decides to mark Tugade and leave Hontiveros alone.
Asi Taulava, meanwhile, scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Talk ‘N Text to a 124-111 decision of Red Bull in the first game for third place in the tournament.
The hulking 6-foot-10 Fil-Tongan was all business in the battle for the crumbs, as the Phone Pals posted their best finish in an all-Filipino tournament since winning the 2003 edition under Joel Banal. Harvey Carey had 22 points and the similar number of boards, and Jay Washington, a sophomore acquired from Air21 last year, tossed in a career-high 27 markers for the Phone Pals. It was also the best finish for coach Derrick Pumaren in an all-Filipino event since winning in 1995 with disbanded Swift.
Cyrus Baguio, the former Slam Dunk King, paced the Barako with 27 markers, also a career-high for the 6-foot-1 native of Iligan who earned prominence while playing for Santo Tomas in the UAAP in the last decade.
Incidentally, Gie Abanilla, who called the shots in Red Bull’s thrilling 104-100 Game 6 semifinal victory over San Miguel, again coached Red Bull last night in lieu of the suspended Yeng Guiao.
Guiao, the firebrand winner of four PBA titles in his career, served out a one-game ban for fighting with San Miguel assistants Pido Jarencio and Biboy Ravanes in Game 6.
Enrico Villanueva scattered 18 points for the Barako, whose 3-4 semifinal loss to the Beermen on Wednesday prevented the team from making it to a third straight championship series.
Red Bull is the reigning Fiesta Conference champion, defeating Purefoods in a seven-game series last year with the efficient James Penny in tow.
