Beermen, Kings wary
of long wait

THERE are advantages and disadvantages in making it outright into the semifinals.

Coach Jong Uichico of Ginebra San Miguel and San Miguel Beer assistant coach Biboy Ravanes, however, stressed yesterday the pluses far outweigh the minuses in their respective teams’ early entry into the semifinals of the Talk N Text PBA Philippine Cup.

"For one, we are already in the semifinal round and we don’t have to take the rigor of playing in the quarterfinal round and chasing a wild card slot," Uichico said in the Scoop Sa Kamayan session at the Kamayan Restaurant on Padre Faura St.

"The biggest disadvantage, of course, is our long layoff. It’s been three weeks since the classification (round) ended and it looks like we will have to wait for another three weeks to be able to play again," added Uichico, who was transferred from San Miguel to Ginebra in the off-season.

"Iba kasi ‘yung naglalaro ka competitively. Kung puro practice lang, you can’t feel the atmosphere of competition. There is no intensity and chances are you might get used to it until the time comes that you have to play," added Uichico, who came to the session with Johnny Abarrientos and Ronald Tubid in tow.

Ravanes, who represented head coach Chot Reyes in the session sponsored by Accel and TeleTech, agreed and added that earning an automatic berth in semis benefited the Beermen more.

"Like coach Jong, we have just been transferred to San Miguel (from Coca-Cola) and therefore we needed more time to adjust to the players and the players to us. So we really needed this long vacation," said Ravanes, who came with his co-assistant coach Nas Racela and Beermen Danny Ildefonso, Danny Seigle and Romel Adducul.

"Iba kasi ang sistema ni coach Jong at coach Chot. Coach Chot is more on player movement inside the court at mahirap agad maka-adjust sa sistema nya. With this long vacation, we were given the time to improve on what was lacking in both offense and defense," he said.

"One other thing is, when we arrived at San Miguel, maraming injured. And because we are not yet playing, there is time for Danny (Ildefonso) and Danny (Seigle) to fully recover from their injuries," Ravanes added.

Ginebra’s Abarrientos and Tubid and Beermen Seigle, Ildefonso and Adducul welcomed the respite although agreed the long wait would certainly affect their timing.

"Magagaling naman ang trainers ng San Miguel and Ginebra, so kung may problema man na baka kalawangin ang mga players, puwedeng maremedyuhan," Abarrientos said.

Uichico and Ravanes would have wanted their teams to play in invitational tournaments in Qatar and Australia but the trip was turned down by the PBA.

"Maganda nga sana kung makakapaglaro sa labas para hindi naman kami mawala sa laro pero hindi ito pinapayagan ng liga. Maybe in the future, the league can do away with that rule," Uichico said. "What is happening is, in this format, they are not rewarding excellence.

"The reason why a team is at the top of the standings is because it is far above the other teams. What is happening now is that excellence is being penalized," he added.