MANILA: The way Rod Nealy played last night would make it hard for Barangay Ginebra to miss Mark Caguioa.
Ginebra's hard-working, all-around import came up with an impressive debut that was just an assist shy of a triple double as the Gin Kings scored a 110-103 victory over Coca-Cola at the start of their Fiesta Cup defense at the Ynares Center.
The 6-foot-5 lefty, who first played for the Kings two years ago, scattered 42 points, grabbed 23 rebounds, had nine assists and was 11-of-11 from the stripe in a truly outstanding first game that showed promises of a great Ginebra campaign here.
"In the past tournament (Philippine Cup), we had problems scoring," coach Jong Uichico said.
Nealy's offensive explosion more than made up for the continued absence of Caguioa, the league's leading local scorer last year who is still in the United States getting treatment for tendonitis on both knees.
There is a big likelihood that the 6-foot Caguioa will miss the entire elimination round, and Uichico, this early, knows that he needs to get all the scoring he can until Caguioa returns.
Ginebra won this tournament last year when the format called for imports with unlimited height, as the Kings rode the 7-foot Chris Alexander to a 4-3 Finals victory over Air21. In Nealy first stint in 2007, the height limit then was the same as this season, and the Kings went as far as the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Alaska.
Jay-Jay Helterbrand scored seven straight points inside the final two minutes, which propelled he Kings to a 106-101 lead after the Tigers, through the efforts of JJ Sullinger, came threateningly close at 98-99 with 2:26 left.
Ginebra led by as many as 13 points in the early goings, getting 14 points from Sunday Salvacion in the first half. The Kings' breakaway was also aided partially by Sullinger picking up his fifth foul as early as the third period. A barreling running jumper from Sullinger put the Tigers within 98-99, but Helterbrand countered on the other end with a triple set up perfectly by Nealy's eight assist. The firebrand Ginebra guard then added four straight free throws in a 21-second span for that five point lead heading into the final 25 seconds, which proved to be all se wrote for the Tigers.
Incidentally, the Kings were perfect in their 24 free throw attempts, which now stands as the sixth highest mark in the history of the league.
Meanwhile, a San Miguel crew informed at the last minute that it couldn't play its import, still found ways to crush Alaska and debut in style in the season-ending tournament. Jonas Villanueva made his first nine attempts to tally a career-high 27 points, engineering a third quarter breakaway by the Beermen for a 93-89 victory over the Aces in the first game.
Villanueva, who got a call to start at the point guard spot, scored 13 of his points in the third period before the Beermen survived the loss of three big men to fouls in the fourth to join Ginebra, Purefoods, Burger King and Rain or Shine for the early lead.
Import Nate Carter was not suited up by coach Siot Tanquingcen because of the possibility of the team being fined after Carter's agent failed to get the necessary clearance from Carter's last professional team in France.
Add to that the fact that the Beermen were already missing injured stars Mike Cortez, Lordy Tugade, Danny Ildefonso, Mark Pingris and Danny Seigle, the team was considered as a huge underdog before tip-off. But Villanueva stepped up and Dondon Hontiveros was big in the stretch to help key the San Miguel win. Joe Devance led the Aces with 19 points, while import Galen Young, before fouling out with under two minutes left, contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds while committing a night-high eight turnovers.
Willie Miller was silent for the Aces, finishing with just five points.
