Magnolia Beverage Masters Basketball Games Updates

Barangay Ginebra Guns For Finals Seat, Magnolia Beverage Masters Try to Arrest Skid

The Magnolia Beverage Masters will try to arrest a 2-game skid against the rampaging Air21 Express to level the series at 2-2. Barangay Ginebra on the other hand, will try to close out the Red Bull Barakos to grab a finals seat.

As I am frequently mentioning here, the only way for the Magnolia Beverage Masters to win is to play excellent stingy defense in 48 minutes of action plus some consistency in offense in the fourth quarter where the Express surprisingly took charge in the last two outings.

Will Seigle play tonight? That's another doubltful question. But in his abscense, Lordy Tugade and the other veterans should take charge if they want to win this one while Danny Seigle is recuperating from injuries. Levelling the series at 2-2 will make it more exciting to watch with the series probably closing at six games or a knockout Game 7.

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Ginebra guns for finals seat

Source: Manila Bulletin Online
By Waylon Galvez | July 27, 2008

One win separates Barangay Ginebra from earning the first finals slot in the Smart-PBA Fiesta Cup and the Kings go for it today when they clash with Red Bull at 4:30 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings lead the Bulls, 3-0, in the best-of-seven semifinals and a win today will complete a sweep for the crowd favorites while setting them up for another best-of-seven playoffs with the winner of the other semifinals between Air21 and Magnolia Beverage Masters.

Air21, which leads 2-1, tries to move a step closer to a first-ever basketball championship appearance when the Express tackle the Magnolia Beverage Masters at 6:50 p.m.

Air21 mentor Bo Perasol has expressed optimism as he noted that his basketball players have matured in this basketball series and complemented well with import Steven Thomas.

"As a team, we really matured, we gained basketball experience in these type of basketball playoff gammes," Perasol said. "But we know that trying to take a 3-1 lead will be tough, but we’re ready against Magnolia Beverage Masters."

Gary David, who averaged 18.3 points in the basketball series, No.1 among the Air21 locals, will try to lead his basketball team anew to victory, like what he did in their gammes 2 and 3 wins.

Air21 will also rely on Thomas, local mainstays Arwind Santos, Homer Se, Ranidel de Ocampo, Nini Cañaleta and Wynne Aboleda.

As for Magnolia Beverage Masters, coach Siot Tangquingcen will lean on import Amal McCaskill, Dondon Hontiveros, Lordy Tugade, Danny Ildefonso, Mike Cortez, Olsen Racela and Marc Pingris.

Danny Seigle, who sat out the first two gammes and appeared only in the final seconds of gamme 3, is again a doubtful starter due to a strained (leg) muscle.

Focus, however, are on the mighty Kings, whose latest win was their 11th straight this conference, the best since Red Bull’s 10-gamme winning streak during the 2003 Reinforced Conference.

Ginebra, which entered the semifinals via a quarterfinal sweep of Philippine Cup champion Sta. Lucia Realty, won gamme 1, 108-82; gamme 2, 111-101; and gamme 3, 94-91.

A win by the Kings will propel the SMC-owned franchise to its 17th finals basketball appearance in the PBA.

In the rich history of the pro league, no basketball team was able to come back from a 0-3 hole, but according to Ginebra coach Jong Uichico, if there’s one basketball team that is capable of doing that, "it’s Red Bull."

"We need to play with the same intensity if we intend to close this out," Uichico said. "We don’t want to make this difficult for ourselves, we want to get this over as soon as possible."

Red Bull mentor Yeng Guiao, one of the strong contenders for the coaching post of the national basketball team the PBA will name after the conference, isn’t giving up.

"We had a really good chance of winning gamme Three, only to slide back and had mental mistakes," Guiao said. "We’re definitely not giving up. Our goal is to win this one, once we do that, we’ll start from there.

"We had a good practice (Saturday morning), and our thinking is that if they can win three straight basketball gammes, we can also win three straight basketball gammes," he added.

For the Bulls to win, they have to limit the scoring production of the Kings’ basketball guards, particularly Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa, who are averaging 21 and 19.6 points, respectively, in the basketball series.

Also, Red Bull’s 7-foot Mexican import Adam Parada have to match the intensity of fellow 7-footer Chris Alexander, who averaged 16.3 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in three basketball gammes.

Parada had his best gamme in the previous outing with 19 points, 17 boards and three blocked shots after struggling in the first two due to a hamstring injury.

"We’re not happy the way he’s playing in this basketball series, but we’re not giving up on him," Guiao added.

Aside from Parada, the Bulls will also lean on the locals like Cyrus Baguio, Mick Pennisi, Mike Hrabak, Rich Alvarez, Topex Robinson, Leo Najorda and Celino Cruz, ejected in the third quarter of gamme Three despite a cut on his tongue.