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E- PAINTERS EYE LEAD AS EXPRESS GO FOR 5TH STRAIGHT W
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THEIR first meeting went down to the wire before Rain or Shine carved out a 99-97 squeaker of a win over Air21 last February 22.
ROS coach Yeng Guiao knows it’s going to be a lot tougher Sunday night and the Elasto Painters will have to scratch, scrape, dig deep and get ready for the worst when they tangle with the Express for a second time in the 2013 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
For the Elasto Painters, at stake is a share of the lead with Alaska, which is lording it over the field with an 8-3 mark.
For Air21, it’s a shot at redemption, a fifth straight win and solo fourth place.
“We could have won that game,” said Air21 coach Franz Pumaren, recalling the waning seconds of their first encounter with Rain or Shine.
Actually, the Express could have tied the count and sent the game into overtime. They had the last possession but Mike Cortez miscalculated on a lob pass to Michael Dunigan, who was taken out of position by Beau Belga. The result was an errant spheroid caught by an Elasto Painter as the final buzzer sounded.
That was one of five straight losses suffered by the Express after opening the conference with a 74-70 triumph over crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
In that five-game tailspin, there were at least three matches that could have gone Air21’s way. In fact, in those five losses, the difference was an average of 3.4 points.
This not only meant that if Air21 had gotten the endgame breaks, the Express could have had a better record than the even 5-5 it has. Air21 shares fourth spot with four other ballclubs – Talk N text, Ginebra, Meralco and defending champion San Mig Coffee.
Air21’s four-game winning run started with a 106-94 demolition of tailender GlobalPort last March 10. After that came a mind-boggling 74-68 triumph over Alaska. If that wasn’t enough, Air21 shamed San Mig Coffee, 87-82. Last March 23, the Express repeated soundly over the Batang Pier, 87-72.
After losing to an import-less Petron Blaze, 87-79 in faraway Panabo City, Davao del Norte, Rain or Shine rebounded with a 103-93 win over Barako Bull. And before the league went on a Holy Week break, the Elasto Painters pulled off a big, big triumph by routing Talk N Text, 116-85.
The 31-point blowout was the first win by Rain or Shine over Talk N Text this season.
The Elasto Painters lost their first six meetings with the Tropang Texters in the current season, including a 4-0 humiliation in the recent Philippine Cup Finals.
“Parang ibinuhos na lahat ng sama ng loob sa game na iyon, e,” said Guiao.
Question is: Can they muster the same intensity against the Express?
Rain or Shine will be led by 7-3 Bruno Sundov, the tallest among the 10 imports in the tournament. Sundov, who has slowly but surely learned to nurse his fouls, averages 21.1 poins, 11.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.4 steal, 0.4 blocked shot and three errors in 31.9 minutes. He wil be pitted against Dunigan.
Although younger and shorter, Dunigan is teeming with intensity and, at this point, has emerged as a strong contender for Best Import honors.
Dunigan is good for 25.9 points, 16.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.7 steal, 2.1 blocked shots and 4.8 errors in 43 minutes.
No Rain or Shine local is averaging in double figures in scoring and the best effort comes from last season’s Rookie of the Year awardee, Paul Lee, who has 9.7 points to go with 3.7 rebounds, four assists and 1.1 steals in 25.6 minutes.
Over at Air21, two locals have twin figures in scoring with Nino Canaleta accounting for 11.4 ppg and Cortez having 11.0. (BP)
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