Total war is expected in both the Red Bull Barako-Barangay Ginebra and Sta. Lucia Realty-FedEx tiffs with all four teams pressing their respective bids in the homestretch of the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.
Though running fifth with an 8-7 win-loss card, Red Bull is determined to gain the second and last outright quarterfinals berth being disputed in the preliminary round of the transition tourney.
Ginebra, at 7-8, and Sta. Lucia, at 7-9, are still eyeing a twice-to-beat incentive while FedEx, at 4-11, hopes to get out of the cellar for a shot at two one-game knockout tiffs in the wildcard phase of the tourney.
All four teams must win their remaining games or they will get untracked in their respective bids.
The Thunder must sweep their three remaining games versus the Kings, the Purefoods Hotdogs and the San Miguel Beermen for a possible second-place finish behind the Beermen at the close of the double-round prelims.
The Kings must sweep the Thunder, the Talk n Text Phone Pals and the Alaska Aces while the Realtors must apply the broom on the Express and the Shell Turbochargers if they were to land at third and fourth for the twice-to-beat incentive in the post-prelims games.
To avoid No. 9 or No. 10 finish and a tough twice-to-win task in the wildcard plays, the Express, meanwhile, must beat the Realtors, the Beermen and the Hotdogs.
San Miguel has clinched the first outright quarters berth, leaving Coca-Cola, Alaska, Talk n Text and Red Bull to dispute the second and last slot.
Third to 10th placers after the preliminaries need to go through wildcard plays to make it to the quarterfinals where they will be joined in by two foreign teams which will likely be the Perth Wildcats of Australia’s National Basketball League and Canadian Division I collegiate team University of British Columbia featuring a Filipino ace pointguard in Carlo Villanueva.
The Thunder and the Kings are both coming off back-to-back victories while the Realtors and the Express are coming off defeats.
Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao specifically is on cloud nine with his Thunder once again on a run and his vice gubernatorial bid in Pampanga in the recent elections getting the nod of his provincemates.