Defense key to Realtor’s Finals surge
If there’s one reason why Sta. Lucia Realty is now just a breath away from closing out its Smart-PBA Philippine Cup Finals series against Purefoods TJ Hotdogs, it’s because of its dreaded defense or Big D.
Sta. Lucia’s rock-solid defense threw Purefoods’ offense into disarray as the Giants could hardly find an opening to make their shots that paved the way for Sta. Lucia to win the crucial Game 5, 88-76.
"We’re here in the Finals because of our defense. I think our defense (in Game 5) stepped up. As long as we play our defense, we’ll do just fine," Boyet Fernandez, who is only in his second conference as SLR mentor, said.
Another win tomorrow will enable Fernandez to feel the excitement of winning a championship in the pro league which he never experienced while playing for several teams in a career spanning 12 years.
The 37-year-old Fernandez has two chances to do it.
The first will be tomorrow (Game 6) at the Araneta Coliseum. A seventh game, if necessary, will be played on Sunday, also at the same venue.
The Realtors, who won their first title during the 2001 Governors’ Cup, also won the first two games, 109-97 and 112-101.
Purefoods and Sta. Lucia were in the same predicament in Game 5 as they played minus key players — the Giants were without James Yap, who was suspended one-game and fined R20,000 when he nearly broke the nose of Joseph Yeo in an apparent retaliation to a hard foul in the latter part of Game 3 while Yeo was suspended for committing a hard foul on Noy Castillo in Game 4.
The 6-foot-2 Yap has been averaging 27.3 points in the first four games of the series. He had 32 points in a 106-98 victory in Game 4. Yeo averaged 16.8 points before his suspension.
Already handicapped by the absence of Yap, the Giants struggled against Sta. Lucia’s Big D.
Another reason why Sta. Lucia won Game 5 was because Kelly Williams rediscovered his shooting touch.
Williams, who was named the Best Player of the Conference (BPC), delivered his 20th double-double this conference with 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Three players who were part of the SLR championship team of 2001 also stepped up with Dennis Espino contributing 15 points, Marlou Aquino adding 12 points, three boards, four assists and two shot blocks, while Paolo Mendoza came off the bench to score nine.
Nelbert Omolon came through with 14 points, four rebounds, two steals and three shot blocks.
But for the Realtors to sustain their championship drive — not to mention the return of Yap — they have to keep their defense.
"We have to play smart defense from start to finish," said Fernandez.
They ought to since Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio is preparing a new strategy to dismantle the Realtors’ defense.
Failing to contribute in the crucial game for Purefoods was guard PJ Simon, who had 26 points in Game 4 but was held to just three the previous game after shooting 1-of-8 from the field, including 0-6 from the three-point territory.
Despite the setback, Gregorio remains optimistic of bouncing back.
"There will be no seventh game if we don’t win Game 6, one miss you die. We just want to survive and play another game," Gregorio said. "I told my players that if we can bounce back from 1-3, we can bounce back in Game 6. We missed James (in Game 5), but with the complete arsenal, we will come out fighting in the next game," he added.
Source:mb.com.ph
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