John-O seeks solo lead vs Viva

John-O guns for solo leadership in the NCR division as it tangles with Viva Mineral Water today in the Sunkist-PBL 2003 Unity Cup at the San Juan gym.

After meeting tough teams in their previous games, John-O will now face the challenge of the Water Force’s young but equally gritty crew in the 2 p.m. match.

Nutri-licious, on the other hand, hopes to bounce back from back-to-back setbacks as it plays LBC-Batangas at 4.

Games will be telecast live over Solar Sports Channel 29 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

John-O’s 103-84 victory against Nutri-licious Thursday tied it with ICTSI for the lead with 2-1 (win-loss) cards apiece.

It was a big victory for John-O that saw Emmerson Oreta, Ricky Calimag, Ranidel de Ocampo, Mark Macapagal and Celino Cruz churn out double-digit scores.

The big question now is how they will fare against the intensity of Viva.

"Mahirap ding maging complacent. I know how much they wanted to win after losing their first two games, and that makes them equally deadly," said John-O coach Dong Vergeire.

It will be another big test for Mark Isip and 6’8 Don Yabut as they team up with Jojo de Guzman and James Razon against John-O’s big men.

Coach Koy Banal will again rely on Warren Ybanez, Joel Co, Jeff Napa, Jobim Garcia and Francis Gerard Jones to match John-O’s firepower behind Macapagal, Oreta and Cruz.

"Medyo hindi pa gaanong nagdyi-jell yung team, but the determination is there. All we have to do is capitalize on that. And if we can do that, I believe malakas ang tsansa namin," said Banal.

Like Viva, Nutri-licious is also raring to get back on track as coach Monel Kallos hopes his adjustments would click this time.

"So far, I’m satisfied with what the boys are showing. Nelbert Omolon, Irvin Sotto, Ismael Junio were playing all out and even Michael Gonzales, Chico Lanete and Edsel Feliciano gave their own contributions," explained Kallos. "The desire is there, siguro we have to work on teamwork."

But LBC-Batangas also aims to regain its poise after the close 70-75 setback to Blu Star last Sunday. Alex Compton is expected to be back from a knee injury to take the key role as court general anew together with the support of Al Magpayo, Ronald Capati, Nicole Uy and Vincent San Diego.