Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Red Bull Barako Battles Magnolia For Third Place
My observation on San Miguel Beermen/Magnolia Beverage Masters not competing for third place was invalidated by the news below with the team garnering 14 third-place tropies - all since 1975. Well, that was just an observation for the past few years. Nevertheless, its still nice to watch and support our basketball team for the last time around this season.
Aside from the being winningest team in league history with 17 championships, the San Miguel franchise also has the most number of third-place trophies with 14 – all since 1975.I do hope that Danny Seigle will play more minutes tonight for him to raise his morale going in the off-season. I also would like to see players who were frequently benched to get substantial minutes to see if they deserve a spot in the team for the next season.
Red Bull on the other hand, will be raring to exact revenge on Magnolia Beverage Masters' sister team Barangay Ginebra Kings to what they have done to them - a sweep of the best-of-seven semifinals series.
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WAR OF A REMATCH FOR THIRD PLACE Red Bull, Magnolia battle prior to Game 1 of Finals
Source: Philippine Basketball Association
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
IT is quite understandable the limelight is all on the upcoming Air21-Barangay Ginebra Finals for the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference title. The crowd-favorite Kings are making basketball tickets selling like hotcakes even as Express fans are imagining a king-sized upset in the making.
But there’s one more battle to be fought before Game 1 of the best-of-7 title war begins Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum and that’s the one-gamme battle for third place between semifinal losers Red Bull and Magnolia Beverage Masters.
The No. 2 basketball team after the eliminations which meant an outright berth to the best-of-seven semifinals, the Barakos were surprisingly swept by Barangay Ginebra. It came almost 16 years after head coach Yeng Guiao had engineered the last known best-of-seven sweep in basketball league history which happened when his then Swift basketball team, led by a high-scoring import named Tony Harris, applied the broom on Seven-Up to win the 1992 Third Conference title, the first of five PBA basketball titles under Guiao’s belt.
Magnolia Beverage Masters, on the other hand, lost to Air21 in their best-of-seven semis basketball series, 4-2, despite winning the basketball series opener.
Unknown to many, the Barakos and the Magnolia Beverage Masters also figured against each other in the battle for the second runner-up trophy in last season’s Fiesta Conference with Red Bull, then with James Penny as import, prevailing 103-96 over a Galen Young-led Magnolia Beverage Masters squad.
Curiously, both teams will battle it out for third in the two Fiesta Conferences which followed right after their title triumphs in the previous two – San Miguel Beer in 2005 and Red Bull in 2006.
The Barakos also took third-place honors in the Philippine Cup early this year which means they are actually gunning for a third straight third place-finish.
No basketball team has won third place honors three in a row in the basketball league in the last 10 years or since Sta. Lucia did so starting in the 1997 Commissioner’s Cup.
Red Bull will be looking to take the third-place trophy against a Magnolia Beverage Masters team that will have its best finish this season. The Magnolia Beverage Masters only finished fifth in the Philippine Cup.
“It’s still important to us,” says Magnolia Beverage Masters head coach Siot Tanquingcen. “Besides every gamme is our way of paying respect to the basketball gamme that has given us so much… by playing hard everytime whether its an actual gamme or just practice.”
The Barakos, who have matched their longest losing streak in the basketball conference, are also looking to avoid their longest losing streak in the last three years. Red Bull has not lost five in a row since ending the 2004-05 Philippine Cup with a 6-gamme losing run.
Win or lose on Red Bull will have its fewest number of wins in a season since 2001. The Barakos tote a 28-22 slate for the season, which will mean it will not finish with at least 30 wins for the first time in the last six seasons.
Finishing third or fourth, however, will still be considered an overachievement for a Red Bull team that has lost the likes of Rico Villanueva, Lordy Tugade, Larry Foncier and Junthy Valenzuela one after the other since last year to other basketball teams by way of trades.
Win or lose, Magnolia Beverage Masters, which is 24-23 so far this season, will fall short of its 35-27 record last season but will still be better than its 22-23 two seasons ago.
Aside from the being winningest team in league history with 17 championships, the San Miguel franchise also has the most number of third-place basketball trophies with 14 – all since 1975. (FM)
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