Kings, Beermen in Bataan bash

BATAAN — Eric Menk and the rest of the Barangay Ginebra Kings crew are expected to be a little more cohesive after a week of the Selecta-PBA All-Filipino Cup when they slug it out with the San Miguel Beermen as the first out-of-town game of the premier Philippine Basketball Association tournament of the year is played at the Bataan People’s center here.

Menk and the Kings lost in their first game Sunday but things are expected to be different for the Ginebra Kings when they take on the defending champion Beermen in the 5 p.m. game on Saturday with "Major Pain" expected to have settled with his new team.

Bataan Gov. Ding Roman and George Alcantara will be promoting the game, a first for the province to be hosting such a huge game involving the most popular teams in the country.

"It was the clamor of the people of Bataan," said Alcantara of the game which he personally requested from the PBA. "They really want to see a game this big, one that pits the defending champion against arguably one of the teams to beat in the tournament.

Alcantara and the good Governor have assured fans that security will not be a problem.

The San Miguel Beermen, incidentally, will be coming off a 94-71 trampling of FedEx Express also Sunday, a performance that announced the readiness of the Beermen in their quest to win this tournament a second successive year.