PBA: Sister teams Purefoods, Magnolia clash tonight

April 1, 2008

Sta. Lucia Realty goes up against Alaska Milk while Purefoods clashes with Magnolia in a pair of explosive games in the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum today.

The Realtors and the Aces enter the hard court in the first game at 4:50 p.m. as they meet for the time since their classic semifinal encounter in the last Philippine Cup nearly two months ago.

The Giants and the Beverage Masters collide in the main offering at 7:20 p.m. in a game between sister teams that had effected an interesting trade using a former sister team as conduit days before the start of the season-ending tournament.

Purefoods will be playing for the first time without a reliable man in Marc Pingris who was traded to Magnolia, a team loaded with stars but could not seem to maximize its manpower.

Having acquired exactly the man they need who could complement Danny Seigle inside the paint, the Beverage Masters would be able to improve their dismal showing in the last Philippine Cup where they reached no farther than the quarterfinal round.

The Giants, the losing finalists last conference, will thus have Enrico Villanueva, a journey man who will fill the void left by Rommel Adducul who is undergoing chemotherapy after he was diagnosed to be suffering from cancer.

But focus will definitely be on the towering imports the four protagonists will be parading tonight. Three of them actually are returning imports.

Sta. Lucia, which had thrived much on its running game, has opted to get a tall guy in Wesley Wilson, actually a returning import who had already played for Shell in the 2005 Fiesta Conference.

The 28-year-old, six-foot-11 behemoth out of Georgetown University in the US NCAA may not possessing enviable credentials, but his vast experiences he culled from the NBA, NDBL and at one time, in Korea, would do well for the team that’s in need of a tough rebounder.

Alaska, the defending champion here, will be reinforced by 6-foot-9 Randy Holcomb, who averaged 17.2 points during his final year with the San Diego State in the NCAA. He was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round but was traded to the Sixers. He has played in the CBA, with the Chicago Bulls (NBA), and previously with the Talk ‘N Text in the 2004 Fiesta Conference.

Magnolia will have former Shell import Jamaal Watkins, who like the rest, has not much concrete credentials to speak off, but he has vast experience from playing in the NBA and in China.

Darius Rice, a former University of Miami in the NCAA who averaged 16.9 points in his final year in college, will backstop the Giants. The 26-year-old 6-foot-10 Darius led college team in scoring for four consecutive seasons. He has played in the NBDL, China and Puerto Rico, D-League Championship MVP.

By Arman Carandang

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