Red Bull seeks No. 3 ranking vs Purefoods

Red Bull, a team determined to follow up its Commissioner’s Cup title conquest with a second conference crown, can make a big step towards achieving its goal as it plays embattled Purefoods at the close of the PBA Governors Cup elimination round at the Philsports Arena today.

The Thunder are currently at sixth place but they will jump all the way to third and gain a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals if they beat the Hotdogs in their 7:10 p.m. tiff.

A victory over Purefoods will allow Red Bull to catch up with Pop Cola, San Miguel Beer and Talk N Text at 7-6 (win-loss record). The Thunder will get the best placing among the four on the strength of a superior quotient.

In that scenario, Pop Cola takes fourth place and the last twice-to-beat incentive, followed by San Miguel Beer at fifth then Talk N Text at seventh.

"If the team comes out to play, I’m confident we can beat any team," said coach Yeng Guiao, noting that his team had a roller-coaster ride early on because the Thunder are still in Cloud Nine following their second-conference championship.

In the cellar with a 4-8 card, the Hotdogs’ fate, meanwhile, doesn’t rest solely on their shoulder.

The Hotdogs must beat the Thunder and hope that the Shell Turbo Chargers stop the Alaska Aces in the day’s other game to get a playoff crack at the last quarterfinals berth.

But the Aces vow to go all-out to hack out the win that will give them outright entry into the quarterfinals. If they make it to the next round as the No. 8 team, they will have a rematch with top seed Shell.

A victory by Alaska will mean automatic elimination not only of Purefoods but also of Tanduay.

As it is, Shell is assured of the No. 1 spot in the quarterfinals because of a superior quotient than Sta. Lucia.

Though the game has no more bearing in their campaign, Shell coach Perry Ronquillo, however, said they will give their best shot. "We can now choose which team we’ll play in the quarters but we’ll not do that. We’ll come out to play. We want to end out elims stint on a winning note. We need the momentum going into the quarters," said Ronquillo.