HAPEE Toothpaste and Pharex eye a share of the lead when they
battle separate rivals today even as Nokia Philippine Youth debuts today against
Burger King in the PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup at The Arena in San Juan.
Out to erase the stigma of its collapse in the finals of the
last conference, Hapee collides with Bacchus Energy Drink at 2 p.m. while Pharex
takes on Toyota Otis at 4 p.m. with both Hapee and Pharex hoping to follow up
their impressive wins last Tuesday.
With pro-bound Mark Borboran and Fil-Am Gabe Norwood at the
helm, the Complete Protectors drubbed Toyota Otis 77-72 while the Medics leaned
on old reliables Emer Oreta and Ronnie Matias to beat the Bacchus Raiders 86-83.
The Nokia RP Youth, fine-tuning for two important
international events, clash with the Burger Whoppers at 12 noon.
Among the players to watch in the RP Youth Team are Gabriel
Banal and Jeric Teng, who come armed with rich basketball pedigree. Teng is the
son of former San
Miguel Beer bruiser Alvin Teng while Banal is the son of
former Great Taste and now Alaska assistant coach Joel Banal.
Even Burger King coach Allan Gregorio is not taking the RP
Youth for granted, saying: "The RP team is very talented so we have to prepare
for its deadly run-and-gun game."
The Whoppers recovered from a stunning 73-63 loss to Noosa
Shoes last Saturday by outlasting San Mig Coffee in overtime 73-67 two days
back, thanks to the solid performance of Marcy Arellano, Abby Santos and Khiel
Misa.
Aside from Borboran and Norwood, who combined for 36 points,
coach Louie Alas can also count on Larry Rodriguez who produced a double-double
with 12 points and 10 rebounds in their opening game.
Hapee, however, will continue to miss the services of
prolific scorer in Reed Juntilla who is still in Cebu.The 6-foot-1 Juntilla is
expected to arrive tomorrow from an extended vacation.
Comebacking Nat Cruz of Bacchus is expected to be a marked
man after exploding for 22 points the last time out.
Pharex coach Carlo Tan said closing a game will be their
biggest challenge since he is still looking for someone who can fit to the role
of a take-charge-guy. He’s hoping that Cebuano hotshot Ian Saladaga and new
recruit Don Villamin will step up again.
For Toyota Otis to recover from a poor start, coach Ariel
Vanguardia must squeeze the best from former pro Jonathan Aldave, Cholo
Villanueva and Erick Rodriguez.
Only Patrick Cabahug scored in double figures for the Sparks the last time
with 16 points.
