Painters, Whoppers take crack at quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine and Burger King, two teams which narrowly missed an outright semifinals entry, open their Final Four bid via the long route as they take on Barako Bull and Alaska Milk, respectively, at the start of the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference playoff phase at the Araneta Coliseum today.

Third and fourth placers in the classification round, the Elasto Painters and the Whoppers enjoy twice-to-beat advantages against the Energy Boosters and the Aces in their respective match-ups.

Rain or Shine, bannered by Fil-Am Gabe Norwood, and Burger King, headed by Arwind Santos, clinch a slot in the quarterfinals with a victory today or in the next game.

Barako Bull and Alaska finished last in the classification round with both teams needing to win twice to snatch a spot in the next round.

The Energy Boosters are returning to action in the playoffs with a third import replacement in Jamaal Williams who took over from Daryan Selvy.

Williams is the same former Washington Husky who played for Sta. Lucia Realty in the same tournament two years ago. The well-built 6-5 player averaged 30.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.7 steals with the Realtors. He finished No. 3 in scoring and steals and No. 4 in offensive rebounds with 4.3 a game.

Williams, however, has a job cut out for him with the Energy Boosters posting only two wins in 14 games in the pre-playoff plays. Against Rain or Shine, Barako Bull suffered two losses by an average margin of seven points.

But the Energy Boosters remain hopeful of their chances with Williams around.

Coach Tim Cone and his Alaska Aces are not losing hope either. But they can’t expect the Whoppers to take them lightly.

“Alaska was All-Filipino Conference finalist. The only reason they’re ninth placer in the classification round was that they haven’t gotten the breaks. They can beat any team twice. We are actually the underdogs in terms of talent and experience,” said BK coach Yeng Guiao.

“If we don’t win it tomorrow (today), we’ll be in deep trouble,” Guiao added.

Alaska and BK met only once in the classification round with the Whoppers fashioning out a 106-88 rout.

BK finished tied with Ginebra and Rain or Shine at second at the end of the classification round but didn’t get a playoff shot at an outright semis seat due to an inferior quotient.

Guiao, however, was satisfied with their No. 4 seeding. The Whoppers are determined to sustain their charge in the playoffs to get a shot at a return stint in the Fiesta Conference finals.