Sharp reversal of fortunes

Another fairy tale finish in the league seems to be in the works but the story could be that of Red Bull and not San Miguel Beer.

The plot could easily revolve around a David-and-Goliath storyline, unless the Beermen dig deep in their bag of tricks and pull off a Houdini act to avoid finding themselves in the losing end of what could be remembered as one of the most stunning reversals in the league.

Two games away from completing a highly-improbable conquest of the grandslam-seeking San Miguel side, Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao said that feat will be in the back of their mind when they play the Beermen in Game Three of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven title playoff at the Philsports Arena tonight.

"Before, we’re just enjoying being in the finals, the atmosphere and the recognition we’re getting for being in there. I thought 1-0 or 2-1 could be done but I never expected a 2-0 lead. But now that we’ve got this, the confidence is already there. We now want the championship, we want to be the league No. 1," said Guiao.

But Guiao stressed he’s not yet counting San Miguel out although he thought the pressure is now heavy on the Beermen’s side.

"I think a day rest before Game Three alone is to our advantage. I don’t think one day is enough time for them to make the necessary adjustments," he pointed out.

San Miguel coach Jong Uichico thought otherwise.

"Wala naman kaming gaanong adjustments na gagawin. We had a good shot to win both Games One and Two. It so happened that we couldn’t make the shots which counted the most," said Uichico.

"Laban pa rin kami though we’re hard-pressed to win Game Three. If we win it, then we’re back in business. Of course, it’s another story if we let them make it three in a row," he added.

Uichico maintained it’s Tony Lang who’s proving to be their worst nightmare in the series.

"I’m not surprised (Junthy) Valenzuela made his outside shots because he’s getting good looks at the basket as we doubled up on Lang. Lang’s making everything possible for them," said Uichico.

"Actually, hindi lang naman si Junthy ang maganda ang ipinapakita sa mga locals nila. Lumalabas lang ang totoo na mas malalim ang bench nila and we shouldn’t be the favorite in the series," he added.

True enough, Guiao is drawing much, much more from his reserves than Uichico is from his own support crew. In Game Two, bench scoring was 50-10 in favor of Red Bull.

Guiao has been trying to confuse Uichico as he’s rotating practically all his 12-man crew while his SMB counterpart has been playing only up to nine players.