Thunder eye Final Four; Jun B. summons Bayno

Red Bull, coming off a franchise record of No. 1 finish in the eliminations, is simply bullish on its chance to hurdle Shell and advance to the Samsung PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four.

The Thunder, who dominated the opposition in the elims to enjoy the luxury of letting up toward the final stretch of the round, look forward to doing the same thing in the quarterfinals. They seek to deliver the knockout punch on the Turbochargers right in their first meeting tonight at the Astrodome.

But before basketball action begins, fireworks are expected at the PBA Commissioner’s Office with league commissioner Jun Bernardino summoning Talk N Text coach Bill Bayno for scoring the referees and branding the PBA an "SMBA or San Miguel Basketball Association" Sunday night.

Bayno is likely to be assessed a hefty fine.

The American coach practically accused the PBA of favoring San Miguel. "Refereeing in the league drives me crazy. I heard a lot of rumors. I’m not afraid to say it, the SMBA is what this is . . . San Miguel Basketball Association," he said.

Bernardino refused to comment on the matter, pending his meeting with Bayno.

"We’re confident we can beat Shell in one game," said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao on the eve of the match ushering in the playoff phase of the mid-season import-laced conference.

The other playoff matchups pit No. 2 Sta. Lucia against No. 7 Talk N Text, No. 3 Alaska versus No. 6 FedEx and No. 4 San Miguel against No. 5 Coca-Cola. The Beermen and the Tigers play Thursday.

"We had a weeklong rest and I think it worked to our advantage. We got to rebuild on our weaknesses and our early break also gave us the opportunity to see the situation and scout our would-be rivals," added Guiao.

More importantly, Guiao said Tony Lang has recuperated from his back injury, thus, Red Bull is in great shape and in good fighting form as it takes the first of its two cracks at the semifinal round.

For the record, Red Bull is in its sixth straight quarterfinals, third with the twice-to-beat advantage. The Thunder advanced to the semis in the first two occasions they enjoyed the privilege.

Shell, on the other hand, is making only its third quarterfinals appearance in the last eight tournaments. The Turbochargers barely made it to the Final Eight with a 4-6 win-loss record.

But the Turbochargers also have a positive frame of mind going into the game, having been one of only three teams which defeated the Thunder in the eliminations.

The Turbochargers stunned the Thunder, 82-81, on July 6. Curiously, Shell was winless in three outings while Red Bull unbeaten also in three starts when they crossed paths.

"We’re not comfortable playing against the zone, and I expect Shell to play the zone like they did in our first game," said Guiao.

Guiao said they’ve learned their lessons in that game as well as in their last two games which they lost the Purefoods Hotdogs and the FedEx Express. He said: "It’s a lesson that stuck in our mind."

Sta. Lucia Realty could have opted to take it easy, and a loss would not derail its entry into the Top Four.

But the Realtors had another thing in mind.

Playing with so much pride and passion, the Realtors ripped the San Miguel Beermen, 74-65, and rewarded themselves with a higher seeding in the quarterfinals – plus the respect of many – at the close of the Samsung PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Sta. Lucia victory also meant the entry of Alaska Milk, instead of Coca-Cola, into the Magic Four despite a 76-80 defeat at the hands of Talk N Text earlier in the day. San Miguel could have given sister team Coca-Cola a free ride into the Top Four had it beaten Sta. Lucia.

The final standings had Red Bull at No. 1 with a 7-3 win-loss card, then Sta. Lucia second also with a 7-3 slate, followed by Alaska (6-4), San Miguel (6-4), Coca-Cola (6-4) FedEx (6-4), Talk N Text (5-5) and Shell (4-6). The Aces and the Beermen gained No. 3 and No. 4 with better quotient than the Tigers and the Express.

Thus, it will be Red Bull versus Shell, Sta. Lucia against Talk N Text, Alaska versus Fedex and San Miguel against Coca-Cola in the quarterfinals. The top four enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the matchups.

The playoffs begin tomorrow with the Thunder taking their first attempt at nailing a seat in the semifinals against the Turbochargers at 7 p.m. at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The Realtors play the Phone Pals Saturday, riding the momentum of a two-game streak, including their mangling of the Beermen last night.

Stephen Howard stood his ground against the returning Terquinn Mott while Chris Clay and Marlou Aquino presided over key runs by the Realtors.

Clay scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the second quarter, fuelling a searing attack that had Sta. Lucia wiping out a 10-point deficit to take a 44-36 lead at the turn. Aquino, meanwhile, pumped in eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, four of which he made in a lethal eight-to-nothing run that decided the outcome of the game.

Replacing Art Long, Mott scored 21 points in his return stint for the team which he helped win the Commissioner’s Cup championship in 1999.

Earlier, Talk N Text overcame Alaska as the Phone Pals simply outmaneuvered the Aces at endgame.

Saving their best for last, the Phone Pals outscored the Aces, 8-3, in the final three minutes of play with Pete Mickeal, Jerald Honeycutt and Kenny Evans at the firing end.

Evans was scoreless in the first three quarters but made five in the final canto, including two charities that sealed their win at 80-76 with 19.8 ticks left in the clock.

Honeycutt and Mickeal combined for the bulk of Talk N Text’s productions with the two tallying 60 points, 23 rebounds and 10 assists between themselves.