Powerade’s ace shooting guard Gary David sees the Tigers as the underdog versus the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in their best-of-seven semifinal series in the PBA Philippine Cup that starts Wednesday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
However, the 6-foot-1 David stressed that it’s just a slight advantage that Rain or Shine enjoys as both teams will enter the series inspired by their success in the quarterfinal playoff.
“They had a better showing than us in the eliminations,” David said in Filipino, referring to Powerade’s 6-8 win-loss record that gave them the No. 8 spot.
Rain or Shine wound up with a 9-5 card for the No. 3 seed in the quarters.
The Tigers stunned top seed and twice-to-beat B-Meg Llamados in their series with a pair of thrilling victories, including a 131-123 overtime win in the do-or-die game, while the Painters swept the Ginebra Kings, 2-0, in the best-of-three series.
“But after the quarters, both teams proved that they are worthy contenders for the title,” said David.
After averaging 20.79 points per game in 14 games in the eliminations, the 33-year-old David elevated his performance to another level when he torched B-Meg with 32 points in a 97-88 win that forced the sudden-death game.
In the no-tomorrow encounter with the Llamados, David exploded for 37 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field, including 8-of-13 from the three-point territory.
David will definitely be the focal point anew of Powerade’s offense, but he said that his team is well-equipped from all positions with rookie guards JV Casio and Rudy Lingganay sharing playing minutes with veteran guard Celino Cruz.
The wing spot is also loaded, according to David as he will lead the charge alongside rookie Marcio Lassiter, Sean Anthony and Josh Vanlandingham, while the frontline unit includes Doug Kramer, Alex Crisano, Rommel Adducul and Will Antonio.
“We’re prepared versus Rain or Shine. We expect a good series, a very exciting match. It’s a new challenge for us. We feel that both teams are equal man-for-man. No team has a definite advantage in the series,” said David.
David isn’t also worried on Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao’s statement that he knows the weak points of the former Lyceum stalwart who played for him with Burger King/Air21 (now Shopinas.com) three years back.
source by Waylon Galvez, mb.com.ph
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