MANILA, 24 November 2007 — Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao surely knows how to motivate his players — and stir the fancy of the covering press.
Guiao brought out the best in his Barako last night as they mauled the rock-solid Magnolia Beverage Masters to submission, 105-97, to jump to solo second place in the Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“Playing Magnolia is like playing a mirror image of ourselves, especially because they have three of our former players,” Guiao told a handful of mediamen. “My team just has something to prove.
“When we are not playing Magnolia, and I see them playing well, it makes me proud,” Guiao added, referring to Larry Fonacier, Lordy Tugade and Enrico Villanueva, who all found their way to the San Miguel franchise through trades last year.
“But even if I am proud of them, and love them all to death, I told my players that we should treat them as our enemies and not our friends,” he said. “I told them not to socialize with them before the game and during, and only to resume their relationship with them after the game.” The Barako broke open a tight game with a 22-0 run in the third period, holding the powerhouse Beverage Masters scoreless for 4:30 to turn a 43-48 deficit into a commanding 65-48 lead.
There was no looking back for the Barako from there as they scuttled every attempted rally the rest of the way to improve to 5-3 overall and be the closest pursuer of the league-leading Tender Juicy Giants.
“I was not expecting to be in second place at this point,” Guiao said. “The upsets just happened. This is beyond our expectations.” The day’s first upset came in the first game, when Ranidel De Ocampo scored 23 points in the second half on the way to tying his career-high with 33 as Air21 nipped Talk ‘N Text, 118-115.
De Ocampo also pulled down 14 rebounds, went 10-of-17 from the field and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line as the Express rose to 4-4 overall and tied Sta. Lucia and Alaska .
Arwind Santos added 23 points and Wynne Arboleda bucked a scoreless first quarter to also finish with 23, five rebounds and five assists.
“Our strategy was to control their (Phone Pals) transition offense,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol. “That was the reason why we were down early. But in the second half, we were able to limit their running game.” Jimmy Alapag, who had a horrible shooting night from three-point land, had the chance to send the game into overtime when De Ocampo put the Express on top at 118-115 with the last two of his free throws with 15 seconds left.
But the 5-foot-8 guard rifled a triple long and the Phone Pals failed to launch another attempt after that.
It was one frustrating loss for the Phone Pals, who are coming off a 113-88 win over Coca-Cola. And it was doubly galling for Jay Washington, who tossed in a career high 28 points, 10 in first quarter when Talk ‘N Text looked headed to break the game wide open with a 22-11 lead.
Ren-Ren Ritualo backed Washington up with 24 points and Don Allado and Mark Cardona each contributed 14 for the Phone Pals, who dropped to 5-4 at the close of their first round elimination bid.
De Ocampo also had a 33-point performance only last season against the Phone Pals themselves, and the Express won that one 127-110.
Meanwhile, former national coach Chot Reyes became the last person nominated to fight it out as the PBA’s seventh commissioner, joining a surprisingly short list of four aspirants.
Lawyer Chito Salud, son of former PBA commissioner Rudy, SBP vice-chairman Patrick Gregorio and corporate man Lambert Ramos are the three others who have confirmed their acceptance of nomination.
