Magandang laban ibibigay ng RoS vs Derby Ace; Ginebra puntirya naman ang tagumpay sa Alaska

MANILA, Philippines - Matapos makalagpas sa dalawang knockout matches sa wildcard phase, ang malalaki at mabibilis namang Llamados ang ma­kakasagupa ng Elasto Painters.

“They have the height, the quickness and advantages in other departments. But it will be all about competing. We’ll be there to give them a good fight,” sabi ni Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia sa Derby Ace. “We like our chance against them.”

Lalabanan ng Elasto Pain­ters ang Llamados sa Game 1 ng kanilang best-of-five quarterfinals series para sa 2009-2010 PBA Fiesta Conference ngayong alas-5 ng hapon kasunod ang salpukan ng Alaska Aces at Ginebra Gin Kings sa alas-7:30 ng gabi sa Araneta Coliseum.

Bago makaharap ang Derby Ace, tinalo muna ng Rain or Shine sa wildcard stage ang Air21, 92-89, at ang Coca-Cola, 98-93.

Muling ipaparada ng Elasto Painters sina import Rod Nealy, Sol Mercado, Gabe Norwood, Jay-R Re­yes, Ryan Araña at Jeff Chan katapat sina Clif Brown, James Yap, PJ Si­mon, Roger Yap at Rafi Reavies.

Hindi pa tiyak kung pa­lalaruin ni mentor Ryan Gre­gorio sina Kerby Raymundo at Marc Pingris.

Tinalo na ng Derby Ace ang Rain or Shine, 3-2, sa kanilang quarterfinals series ng nakaraang Philippine Cup bago ginitla ang San Mi­guel sa best-of-seven semifinals wars, 4-2, para kunin ang korona.

Sa ikalawang laro, pipilitin naman ng Alaska ni Tim Cone na maduplika ang kanilang pagwalis sa Ginebra ni Jong Uichico sa na­karaang Fiesta Conference.

“It’s a two different teams at this point from what there were the last time we met,” ani Cone sa Gin Kings, nakuha ang mga dating Aces na sina Willie Miller at Mike Cortez. “We will try to focus on the things that we made much in the last series. We’ll try to get the ball inside and see if we can dominate the board with our size.”

Tinalo ng Ginebra ang Rain or Shine, 115-88, sa kanilang playoff para sa pangatlong outright quarterfinals seat.

Aasahan ng Gin Kings sina Miller, Cortez, Jayjay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa, Eric Menk at import Chris Daniels laban kina Cyrus Baguio, LA Tenorio, Joe Devance, Sonny Thoss at reinforcement Diamon Simpson ng Aces.