No one doubts Thomas’ vow to win

Steven Thomas went straight to practice after arriving from the United States yesterday morning, apologizing to his Air21 teammates for missing Sunday’s game and vowing to make up for it with a win tomorrow.

Thomas promised they would get even with the Magnolia Beverage Masters in Game Two of their Smart PBA Fiesta Conference best-of-seven semifinals showdown at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Beverage Masters exploited the absence of Thomas as they walloped the Express, 113-87, in the series’ opener Sunday at the Astrodome.

Lordy Tugade starred for Magnolia in their last two games and beat out Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand for the PBAPC’s Smart-Accel Player of the Week honors.

“We’re no longer thinking about Game One. It’s all about the absence of Thomas. Now that he’s back, Game Two will be a different story,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol.

“We’re giving away only nine second-chance points a game in the tournament. In Thomas absence, we yielded 25 points. It’s really all about us missing our import,” Perasol added.

Perasol said Thomas was very apologetic as he appeared in their practice at the Xavier gym in San Juan without a rest from his long flight from the US.

“He just dropped by in his hotel to pick up his practice uniform then he proceeded to our practice. At first, his teammates were kidding him, not minding his presence. After a while, they were all working hard, boosted by the return of our import,” said Perasol.

Thomas’ brief US journey didn’t go for naught as he was picked No. 4 overall in the draft exercise done by the Korean Basketball League among import hopefuls.

Over a hundred players attended the tryouts with Terrence Leather another ex-PBA import picked in the draft.