MANILA: Jong Uichico knows exactly what he has gotten.
“It’s good for us, because we know that there will be no complications facing us,” the soft-spoken mentor said last night, moments after a 122-104 victory over Burger King that gave his Barangay Ginebra crew an outright quarterfinal slot in the Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
“And of course, the rest that we will get will allow the team to get healthy,” he added as he reiterated his wish of finally being able to play with a complete lineup when the playoffs start in a couple of weeks.
JC Intal, the former Ateneo ace nicknamed “The Rocket,” tossed in a career-high 24 points, sharing scoring honors with another high-flyer, Cyrus Baguio, as the Gin Kings closed out their elimination round assignment with a 12-6 card.
And that is enough to guarantee the Kings of advancing to the playoffs and getting a break of at least a week as the others in the bottom half of the standings play in the knockout wildcard phase. Willie Wilson scattered 15 points and Ronald Tubid and Enrico Villanueva each had 11 as the Kings won a fourth straight outing while dealing the Whoppers a third consecutive defeat in a 5-12 card.
Mark Caguioa, the Kings’ leading scorer two years ago, suited up but did not see action, while Jay-Jay Helterbrand, the reigning MVP, watched the game in civilian clothes because of a knee injury.
They are the two men whom Uichico would want to be healthy for the playoffs, with the quarterfinals being a best-of-five series. Burger King closes out with a game against Alaska on Friday and the Whoppers will be in the wildcard no matter the result. A win, though, would give them No. 6 slot, hence a pairing with the No. 7 squad.
The Kings broke away in the third period, turning a 57-55 game at halftime into a 92-74 contest with their offensive machine humming on all cylinders.
Beau Belga had 17 points and Alex Cabagnot, in his second game for the Whoppers after being traded from Coca-Cola, had 13 like Carlo Sharma. As things stand, Alaska is also safely in the quarterfinals like the Kings, with Purefoods, Talk ‘N Text and Sta. Lucia battling for the remaining two slots.
The 12-4 Aces, meanwhile, can march to the Final Four outright with a split in their last two outings. Aside from the game against the Whoppers on Friday, Alaska is also slated to play Rain or Shine later.
Purefoods has Sta. Lucia as its last foe and that game, which is also scheduled on Friday, will be very important for both teams with the Tender Juicy Giants looking to tie Ginebra and the Realtors also trying to avoid falling into the wildcard.
The Realtors scored a 108-86 rout of Barako Bull earlier to rise to 10-7 and beating Purefoods would mean that the Giants, the Realtors and defending champion Talk ‘N Text would all wind up with 11-7 cards.
In that scenario, all three teams would be left to contest the two remaining slots, with the team with the highest quotient earning No. 4 seeding and the last two-ranked squads figuring in a playoff for No. 5.
“At least we still hold our fates in our hands,” Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez said after getting 25 points and 11 rebounds from former MVP Kelly Williams and 17 points from veteran center Marlou Aquino.
The loss also shoved the Energy Boosters to the brink as they dropped to 3-14 and gave idle Coca-Cola a free ride to the wildcard.
At 5-12, the Tigers are now out of reach of the Boosters, with Rain or Shine the only squad now in danger of dropping into a playoff with Barako Bull for the last wildcard slot, which would happen if the Elasto Painters lose to Alaska and Barako Bull wins over the Tigers next week.
“I am very happy that we overcame (Barako Bull in) this game,” Fernandez said. “I was very worried coming into this game because Barako Bull had just come from a good game against Talk ‘N Text.
“We will prepare really hard for Purefoods (for Friday) and what’s good about it is that we have our fate in our hands.”
Yousif Aljamal tossed in 20 points and plucked down nine rebounds to lead Barako Bull, which wants to change its fortunes here after failing to make it past the elimination round the last two tournaments.
