But to his surprise, his players learned the nitty-gritty of the “triangle offense” so quickly and skillfully that they are now on their way to earning the second twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal playoff of the Philippine Cup.
Riding the crest of a seven-game winning run, the Llamados try to secure that privilege when they tackle the winless Shopinas.com Clickers at 5:15 p.m. today at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
In the other game, Barangay Ginebra takes on Barako Bull at 7:30 p.m. with the Kings out to extend their winning run to four.
Defending champion Talk ’N Text already clinched the first twice-to-beat with a nail-biting 80-78 victory over Petron Blaze Tuesday night that improved the Tropang Texters’ record at 10-3.
Second year forward Japeth Aguilar collared the offensive rebound off a missed second free throw by Harvey Carey as he scored on a putback and completed the three-point-play after he was fouled by Arwind Santos with 2.4 seconds left in the game.
TNT will still play Ginebra on Sunday, but whatever is the result of that game, the Chot Reyes-mentored squad, plagued by injuries to key players this conference – is already assured of the twice-to-beat.
B-Meg is hoping to follow suit since Shopinas does not have enough firepower to stop B-Meg’s run.
“Obviously, it’s a big opportunity for us to get that top two seeds,” said Cone, who took over the coaching chores of B-Meg two weeks before the start of the season when he left Alaska after 22 years and 13 championships.
Cone cautioned though that even they are up against the winless team, his Llamados aren’t taking the game easily.
Shopinas is hoping to avoid the worst start for a franchise in the league’s 37-year existence.
The Clickers’ 13-0 record already tied the 0-13 start of Country Fair during the 1984 Reinforced Conference, as well as the 13 straight losses by Great Taste, which eventually finished the 1982 All-Filipino at 2-16.
source | By WAYLON GALVEZ | mb.com.ph
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