Alexander the Great
For the record, Barangay Ginebra finished the double-round eliminations of the PBA Fiesta Conference in a triple tie for third place with Coca-Cola and Magnolia. The three teams wound up with identical 10-8 records.
Ginebra, however, took the No. 3 spot because of a superior plus 14 quotient compared to Coca-Cola’s plus 4 and Magnolia’s minus 18. The standings are important because they determine the pairings in the best-of-three quarterfinals, which begin Sunday at the
At the moment, the league’s hottest team is Ginebra whose stock got a major boost with 7-foot Chris Alexander’s arrival. Before Alexander came in to replace Ernest Brown (who had displaced Rashon Turner), the Kings were 0-5. Alexander the Great led Ginebra to its first win this conference in his debut against Purefoods. Since his entry, Ginebra is 10-3 and has won its last six.
Alexander is averaging 20.5 points and 22.5 rebounds. He leads the league in rebounding, field goal percentage (.561) and blocked shots (3.0). The last PBA player to average a “20-20” was FedEx’ Anthony (Pig) Miller who normed 22.6 points and 21 rebounds in 21 games in the 2005 Fiesta Conference.
So this is how the ladder looked after the eliminations. No. 1 Air21 (12-6), No. 2 Red Bull (11-7), No. 3 Ginebra (10-8), No. 4 Coca-Cola (10-8), No. 5 Magnolia (10-8), No. 6 Alaska (9-9), No. 7 Talk ‘N’ Text (9-9), No. 8 Purefoods (8-10), No. 9 Sta. Lucia Realty (7-11) and No. 10 Welcoat (4-14).
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Air21 and Red Bull earned outright tickets to the semifinals by virtue of their 1-2 finish, a bonus for dominating the eliminations. Ginebra, Coca-Cola and Magnolia gained outright quarterfinal berths. The fourth and last quarterfinal slot will be filled by one of the four wildcard contenders -
Welcoat was eliminated for bringing up the rear.
In the quarters, Ginebra will face off against the wildcard survivor while Coca-Cola takes on Magnolia.
The knockout wildcard games begin today with
Air21 will play the winner of the Coca-Cola versus Magnolia quarterfinal series in the semis. Incidentally, the Express is also on a roll, winning its last four games. Air21 hasn’t lost to both Coca-Cola or Magnolia this conference.
If Ginebra disposes of the wildcard survivor in the quarters, the Kings move up to play Red Bull for a ticket to the Last Dance. Ginebra hasn’t beaten Red Bull in two outings this conference so coach Joseph Uichico has his work cut out for him in the semis-assuming, of course, the Kings win their quarters series.
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A Ginebra-Red Bull clash would be intriguing because of Junthy Valenzuela’s increasingly vital role in the Kings’ scheme of things. Valenzuela was a Red Bull original in 2000 and played two games for the Barakos this conference before his trade to Ginebra.
An exciting quarterfinal duel is between Coca-Cola, bolstered by two imports, and Magnolia. The Tigers’ anchor is big import Jason Dixon. Coach Binky Favis will unveil a small import as Donald Copeland’s replacement in the quarters. He will name the replacement on Friday. Favis’ other reliables are Asi Taulava, Alex Cabagnot, Ronjay Buenafe, Mark Macapagal, Nic Belasco and Cesar Catli.
The Beverage Masters ended the eliminations on a high note, winning three of their last four, including an 81-77 decision over Coca-Cola. Magnolia is 3-1 since NBA veteran Amal McCaskill bumped off Jameel Watkins. The good news from coach Siot Tanquingcen’s camp is his players are all finally healthy. Danny Ildefonso, Danny Seigle, Dondon Hontiveros and Dorian Pena are raring to go. So are Lordy Tugade, Marc Pingris, Mike Cortez, Olsen Racela and Jonas Villanueva.
No doubt, it’ll be a thrilling race to the Finals.
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