Down to the wire

With only four games left in the PBA Philippine Cup schedule, it’s still not certain which team will join San Miguel Beer in the semifinals as an outright qualifier and which team will drop out of contention at the end of the double round eliminations.

Two doubleheaders remain in the calendar. Today, the twinbill features Barako Bull (3-14) against Coca-Cola (5-12) and Alaska (12-4) against Burger King (5-12) at the Cuneta Astrodome. On Friday, the last two games will pit Rain Or Shine (4-13) against Alaska and Purefoods (11-6) against Sta. Lucia Realty (10-7) at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

If Alaska defeats either Burger King or Rain Or Shine or both, the Aces advance to the semis outright. If the Aces lose both, they battle Barangay Ginebra (12-6) in a playoff for the second automatic semis ticket - assuming Purefoods loses to the Realtors.

If the Tender Juicy Giants beat Sta. Lucia, they move up to 12-6 and create a three-way logjam for second spot with Alaska (assuming the Aces lose to Burger King and Rain Or Shine) and Ginebra.

To break the three-way logjam, the team with the lowest quotient falls to No. 4 and the other two slug it out in a playoff for the No. 2 slot. Ginebra will slide to No. 4 because its minus-6 quotient is the lowest while Alaska and Purefoods, both with plus-3 quotients, dispute the No. 2 semis ticket.

If Purefoods loses, there will be a three-way tie for fourth with the Giants, Talk ‘N’ Text and Sta. Lucia toting identical 11-7 records. In this situation, the team with the highest quotient takes fourth place and the other two figure in a playoff for fifth.

If San Miguel Beer wins its protest against the Tropang Texters, then Talk ‘N’ Text will slip to 10-8 which will be Sta. Lucia’s record in the event the Realtors lose to Purefoods. In a tie for fifth, there will be a playoff to break the knot.

San Miguel’s position is Talk ‘N’ Text should’ve lost their game in Zamboanga City last Saturday by default because the Tropang Texters failed to show up with the right uniforms at the scheduled tip-off time of 5 p.m. Rules are rules and no team is above the law, argued the San Miguel camp. Talk ‘N’ Text, on the other hand, claims PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios agreed to postpone the tip-off to 6 p.m.

How Barrios will rule on the protest has a bearing on the standings.

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In the PBA format, the top two teams clinch automatic semis berths. The next three move to the quarters outright. Teams that finish from sixth to ninth will play knock-out games in the wildcards. The survivors of No. 6 versus No. 9 and No. 7 versus No. 8 then figure in another knockout to decide the last quarters qualifier. The No. 10 team is eliminated from the playoffs.

In the best-of-five quarter pairings, No. 3 takes on the wildcard survivor and No. 4 plays No. 5. Winners advance to play in the best-of-7 semis.

 Barako’s only hope to stay alive is to beat the Tigers then pray that the Elasto Painters lose to Alaska. That’s the only way Barako can force a playoff for the last wildcard slot and avoid an early vacation. It would mean Barako and Rain Or Shine wind up with identical 4-14 records. Both teams then square off to decide which of the two advances.

NBA veteran and San Miguel Corp. consultant Alton Lister said Barako Bull can’t be underestimated. “Remember that this team just beat Talk ‘N’ Text,” he noted. “Alex Crisano has finally found himself with this team. They’re allowing him to be himself, to play to his strengths. And I think he’s one of the most improved players this conference. The team has had its ups and downs but it plays hard and that means you can never take them lightly. This team has nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Lister said his choice for best player this conference is San Miguel’s Arwind Santos. He picked Purefoods’ Rico Maierhofer as best rookie and Ginebra’s J. C. Intal as the most improved player.

“If I were to build my own team and pick five players to begin with, they would be Arwind, James Yap, Jimmy Alapag, Cardona and well, myself playing center,” said the man who has skirmished with the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon in a distinguished 16-year NBA career.

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Although the verdict was unanimous, the scorecards in last Thursday’s WBC Youth Intercontinental flyweight title fight between challenger Milan Melindo and defending champion Anthony Villareal in Cebu showed it was hotly contested. Edward Ligas saw it 95-94, which was how we scored it. Ben Necessario had it, 96-93 and Teddy Alivio, 97-93. Melindo was rewarded with a two-point cushion when he decked Villareal in the first round.      

As for bantamweight prospect A. J. Banal who knocked out Mexico’s Cecilio (Boga) Santos in the undercard, ALA stable owner Tony Aldeguer said “Bazooka” stole the show.

Banal, 21, was impressive in mowing down the Mexican journeyman who once held former IBF superflyweight titlist Dimitry Kirilov to a majority draw and has figured in four world title fights.

The flat-footed Santos, 31, was an easy target for Banal who circled his prey and landed jarring combinations to the head and body from the opening bell. In the fourth, Banal rocked Santos with a right straight to the head. As Santos retreated along the ropes, Banal jumped on him, unleashing seven unanswered blows to the side of the body and midsection. Santos collapsed on his back and took the 10-count from referee Tony Pesons sitting on the canvas.