Welcoat, Viva eye share of lead

Fancied Welcoat Paints and Viva Mineral Water gun for a share o f the lead as the two take on Toyota Otis-Letran and Blustar Detergent, respectively, today in the second PBL Unity Cup at the Makati Coliseum.

Leaning on the explosive ex-pro Chester Tolomia’s 22 points, the Paint Masters walloped the Detergent Kings last Tuesday to get their title bid going and another victory over the Knights at 4 p.m. would surely boost their chances further.

The Water Force, for their part, clash with the Detergent Kings at 2 p.m. seeking for a fitting follow-up to their 77-62 smashing of the Knights in Sunday’s opener and a piece of the lead.

Welcoat’s youthful coach Caloy Garcia, who took over from Leo Austria who is now with the PBA’s Shell, said a second straight win is possible if they will keep the intensity they showed in their first outing.

"We’ve a good chance if the players will play with the same intensity," said the 29-year-old former St. Benilde standout. "But we must not take Toyota Otis for granted because this team is coming from a loss so we expect them to go all out for a win."

Toyota Otis mentor Louie Alas, however, said he sees his team playing pressure-free.

"Wala sa amin ang pressure dahil kami naman ang underdog, sila ‘yung mga paborito," he said. "Huwag lang silang papakasiguro dahil kaya din naming makapuwing."

Like Welcoat, Viva has also showed so much potential what with a cohesive line-up and a tough defense — the main assets of the team which placed second to Hapee Toothpaste in last year’s Unity Cup.

"We knew we are one of the teams to beat and we don’t want that to get into our heads. We just want to play our game and hope for the best," said Viva coach Koy Banal.

This year’s top rookie pick Neil Raneses of the University of Visayas will not start again for Banal although he is expected to get more minutes following a three-point output on his debut over the weekend.

Meanwhile, defending champion Hapee Toothpaste opened its title-retention bid on a high note Wednesday, beating Montana Pawnshop, 68-61, behind the exploits of newcomers Emerson Oreta and Mark Macapagal.

Protecting a shaky 54-53 edge midway in the final canto, the Teeth Sparklers went to Oreta, who rifled in a triple that touched off a decisive 8-2 run that thwarted Montana’s fightback.

Cesar Catli along with Arwind Santos, Dennis Miranda, Warren Ybanez and Mark Isip is expected to carry the fight anew for the Water Force against a Blustar squad that boasts of a veteran roster headed by Eric dela Cuesta.

And that is why Banal is a little bit wary.

"Kinakabahan ako because we won by a big margin and they (Blustar) lost big. We know they’ll be angry and we might be complacent. Hope we can sustain our intensity," he said.