Unang hirit ng PBA Commissioner's Cup sa Balanga

Batid ni Yeng Guiao na nang kunin ng San Miguel ang All-Filipino Cup title, nagkaroon ng kumpiyansa ang kanyang Red Bull Thunder nang hindi nila pinaghirapan.

Nasabi ito ni Guiao dahil nabigyan nila ng mabigat na hamon ang Beermen bago ito nakapasok sa kampeonato.

"Malaking bagay for a young team like us to be able to know that we played well against a championship caliber team, or a champion team for that matter," pahayag ni Guiao sa isang telephone interview pagkatapos ng kanyang practice kahapon.

"It definitely gives our confidence a boost, knowing that we slugged it out against a class team like San Miguel, dagdag pa niya.

Ang laban ng San Miguel at Red Bull sa quarterfinals ay umabot sa deciding game kaya’t inubos ng Beermen ang kanilang lakas upang makausad sa semifinals.

Ang lakas na iyon ng Thunder dagdag pa ang maiaambag ni Antonio Lang, may magandang hinaharap ang Red Bull sa Commissioner’s Cup na magbubukas sa Sabado, Hunyo 2.

"All we are looking for is to stay healthy at this stage, and by staying healthy, I think we have a fair chance of at least making the top four after eliminations," paliwanag ni Guiao. "If it’s any consolation to us, we played the last tournament through with two starters injured."

Bukod kay Lang, maganda na ang kondisyon nina Mike Pennisi at Jimwell Torion kaya’t nararamdaman ni Guiao na mayroon itong mabisang sandata para sa kampanya ng kanyang koponang pinakamataas sa liga.

Si Lang ay isang lehitimong NBA veteran na naglaro sa apat na koponan at may solidong college background.

Siya ay may taas na 6’8 mula sa Duke at naging outstanding Blue Devil matapos magtala ng average na 13-puntos sa kanyang senior year bagamat kasama nito si Grant Hill sa koponan.

Na-draft si Lang ng Phoenix at naglaro noong l994 at nakita rin ito sa Cleveland, Miami, Toronto at Philadelphia.

"He is okay," ani Guiao kay Lang. "The only problem that he has at the moment is that he is having a hard time adjusting to the climate. He gets drained of his energy because of the heat, kahit in battle shape siya ngayon."

"Antonio is a leader in a quiet way," ani Guiao. "His father and mother are both teachers so you more or less have an idea of how he handles himself and gets his character across the rest of the team."

Ang Red Bull ay mapapasabak sa Alaska sa pagbubukas ng second conference sa Bataan na gaganapin sa Peoples Center sa Balanga.

Lalong lumaki ang line-up ng Thunder sa pagdating ni Lang at maaari siyang paglaruin ni Guiao sa no. 3 spot dahil naririyan sina Pennisi, Davonn Harp at Kerby Raymundo.

"Like I said, We want to make sure that we all stay healthy. I dont want to think beyond the eliminations at this point. "Not that I don’t want to get past there, but rather, just have a high goal for the team," wika ni Guiao.