Kings try to boost Siot’s All-Star bid

Boosting their coach’s chance of gaining a berth in the coming All-Star Game will be part of the Barangay Ginebra Kings’ agenda when they play the Red Bull Barakos tonight in the San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

With their spots in the All-Star game looking secure, Eric Menk, Romel Adducul, Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand need to step up today to enhance the bid of Siot Tanquingcen to land a coaching slot in the Laoag festivities.

Tanquingcen will only stay in contention for the coaching job in the All-Star Game should the Kings beat the Barakos in their 7:25 p.m. tiff today.

Coaches of the top two teams after the Nov. 16 cutoff date gain the right to square off in the All-Star Game slated in Laoag City on Nov. 26.

Purefoods’ Ryan Gregorio is virtually assured of an All-Star stint with a league leading 7-2 win-loss record. The last slot is a race among Tanquingcen (6-3), Talk n Text’s Joel Banal (6-2) and Alaska’s Tim Cone (5-3).

Adducul, Caguioa and Helterbrand look cinch for a spot in the North All Stars together with San Miguel’s Danny Ildefonso and Alaska’s Rich Alvarez while Menk is tipped to make it to the South All Stars together with Talk n Text’s Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag and San Miguel’s Danny Seigle and Dondon Hontiveros.

Tanquingcen ehnaced his bid for the coaching job in the All-Star as the Kings swept their last four games upon the reinstatement from suspension of Menk.

The Kings had the Barakos as their first victim in their initial meeting in the double-round classification phase of the Xtreme Magic Sing-backed tourney. And the Kings are fancied to repeat with the Barakos struggling as of late.

Meanwhile, San Miguel and Air21 play their rematch at 4:40 p.m. with the Beermen seeking to duplicate the lone win they have scored thus far in the tourney.

The Beermen needed two overtime plays before hurdling the Express in their previous match.

But Air21 is running sixth with a 3-5 record while San Miguel is languishing in the cellar with a 1-6 slate.