Kings, Aces go for kill vs rivals

Barangay Ginebra is plagued with injuries to key players but may leave Red Bull hurting even more with another victory tonight.

The Kings have inflicted the Bulls back-to-back defeats and are raring to deal them one more to cap their improbable, if not unbelievable, run in the Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup playoffs and arrange a semifinal duel with the San Miguel Beermen.

Stopped on their tracks Sunday, the Alaska Milk Aces, meanwhile, take another shot at clinching a semis seat in their own quarterfinals match-up with the Coca-Cola Tigers.

Ginebra and Red Bull play at 4:40 p.m. then Alaska and Coca-Cola battle at 7:35 p.m. in what could be another smash hit at the Araneta Coliseum.

A conference-high paying crowd of over 15,000 stood as witness Friday as the Tigers foiled the Aces’ first crack at securing a semis seat and the Kings took the pivotal 2-1 lead over the Bulls in their own best-of-five showdown.

The Alaska-Coke series has been very close with all the three games thus far decided only in the closing seconds. In fact, the biggest winning margin was six points in Game Two.

Curiously, the Ginebra-Red Bull duel has been marked by lopsided matches with the Kings, despite injuries and everything, pulling off emphatic victories in the last two games.

Those were results of Eric Menk putting up hulking performances against Enrico Villanueva and the Ginebra reserves, most notably Mark Macapagal, Allan Salangsang and Egay Echavez, providing the boost badly needed by the crowd favorites.

"Eric (Menk) has been simply awesome. Everything generates from him," said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.

Tanquingcen is all praises for Menk, who’s supposed to be in the sideline already with Romel Adducul, Rodney Santos, Andy Seigle, Jayjay Helterbrand and Aris Dimaunahan.

"Eric was supposed to have undergone surgery last April and that would have meant he will be out for six weeks," said Tanquingcen of his ace behemoth, who has been suffering from bone spurs on his right ankle.

To the Bulls’ woes, Menk has stepped up his game in the quarterfinals, averaging 24 points and 11.3 rebounds. Menk averages only 14.5 points and 11.1 rebounds in the conference.

Then there’s Macapagal, who’s providing Ginebra the lift whenever needed. He averaged 20.5 points in the last two games.

"His is a story anyone can relate to," said Tanquingcen of the 26-year-old former San Sebastian Stag, who was drafted in the second round of the last Rookie Draft by Talk n Text but left unsigned.

"Before the season started, he walked into the gym and asked if he could try out. Nakita naming p’wede, pero reserve muna siya. When injuries started decimating us, he worked his way up in our rotation real quick," Tanquingcen said.

Tanquingcen, however, stressed they’re not yet out of the woods.

"You know Red Bull. It’s not a quitter. I expect war in Game Four," said Tanquingcen.