STA. LUCIA GOES FOR ALL THE MARBLES

By -
Realtors in 1st of 2 chances to end 7-year title drought

A championship showdown nobody had imagined gears for an unexpected ending as the Sta. Lucia Realtors try to lower the curtains on the 2007-08 SMART PBA Philippine Cup Finals and end the franchise's seven-year title drought.

The Realtors hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of- seven series and need just one more win to clinch the 24-carat gold-laced Comm. Jun Bernardino Trophy.

The Realtors have been truly admirable with the way they have been handling this series against a team that has been dominating throughout the conference and heavily favored to win it all.

This marks the third Finals appearance for Sta. Lucia since joining the league in 1993. The Realtors won their only championship by ruling the 2001 Governors Cup with the help of hardworking import Damian Owens.

"If we could execute our defensive patterns the way we should, we'll be in good stead," said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez at a news conference that followed their 88-76 victory in Game 5.

The 36-year-old Fernandez – a pesky, defense-oriented playmaker during his prime – failed to win a championship during his 12-year playing career in the league but his chances to finally nail one, this time calling the shots from the sidelines, looks pretty good.

"The series is not yet over. Purefoods is capable of coming back. So we just have to take it one game at a time," offered Fernandez.

Game 6 is scheduled for 7 o'clock Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum. If necessary, Game 7 will be played on Sunday also at the Big Dome.

Purefoods’ back is certainly against the wall but the thought of having James Yap back in the lineup might be enough to lift the confidence of the Giants up.

The Giants' leading scorer missed Game 5 to serve a one-game suspension stemming from a flagrant foul he committed on Sta. Lucia's Joseph Yeo in the closing seconds of Game 3.

"We have formulated our offense and for the past three years I believe we have been so effective with James and Kerby (Raymundo) anchoring our offensive system… And missing one will really tell heavily on our overall offensive and defensive scheme," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

"We missed his 22.7 points (per game) in Game 5. But with a complete arsenal, we're gonna come out fighting next game," he added.

Fernandez doesn't seem worried, though.

"We'll be ready," he said with a smile.

The Realtors also strengthened their bench with Yeo, a daredevil slasher, back in the rotation.

Yeo, who averaged 16 points in the first four games of the series, also sat out Game 5 after being suspended for one-game for committing a nasty foul on Purefoods' Noy Castillo in the closing seconds of Game 4 won by the Giants, 106-98. (DBC)

Source:pba.ph

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who will be the final Eastern playoff teams?

By -
Image
Roy Hibbert and the Pacers are, so far, on track to earn an East playoff spot. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) Before the season, most folks divided the the Eastern Conference into two broad tiers: six playoff locks (Miami, Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago and Milwaukee) and nine teams slap-fighting for the bottom two playoff spots. I was secretly hoping that one of those bottom nine teams would get off to a fast start and tweak this narrative a bit. Nope. Through Friday, none of the presumed bottom nine were over .500, and seven of the nine took up the last seven spots in the conference standings. There is a school of thought that making the playoffs and losing in the first round is a good thing, that it gives young players valuable exposure to a more intense NBA atmosphere, and that it creates loyalty among fans. I’m not convinced on either of those counts, but let’s pretend for now that all of these teams (and their fans) really want to make the playoffs. Are any of them read...
Read more

The champ reveals secret of success

By -
Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - As is his wont everytime he comes home from a victorious fight, Pacquiao went to the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo) Church, arriving late for the 9 a.m. Mass. Manny Pacquiao?s arrival drew more worshipers to the church. The crowd inside the basilica reached at least 1,500 for the Mass celebrated by Fr. Jack Padua. Bernard Enrique, 52, of Pasig City, was late for the 6 a.m. Mass that he and his wife usually attend and decided to stay for the 9 a.m. Mass. ?I only found out he (Pacquiao) was coming when I saw the media. I asked around and was told he was attending Mass today," Enrique said, regretting not bringing a camera or a phone with a camera. After the Mass, Pacquiao took the lector?s stand and preached to the Mass-goers about the importance of faith. ?I only dreamed of being the (boxing) champion in the Philippines. I had many setbacks but I continued to pray," he said. ?We should be close to God. The way we seek to...
Read more