B-MEG aims for top ranking against winless Shopinas

Two months ago, who would have thought B-MEG will get a crack of finishing on top at the end of the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations? On Thursday night, the Llamados have a chance of exactly doing that. The star-studded team, handled by an equally-talented coach, shoots for the No.1 ranking and a twice-to-beat edge in the playoffs when it squares off with winless Shopinas.com at the Araneta Coliseum. The Llamados are currently on a seven-game winning run, a streak that reversed their once paltry 2-4 slate in October to a second best 9-4 record. A B-MEG win in its 5:15 encounter, coupled by a Ginebra victory over league-leader Talk `N Text (10-3) on Sunday will formalize the Llamados’ claim as the No. 1 team heading into the playoffs—their first since the 2007-08 season when the team still carried the name Purefoods. Llamados coach Tim Cone doesn’t want to get carried away this early, however. B-MEG still needs to hurdle past Shopinas.com, a task not really that easy since the Clickers are also looking to end its first conference campaign with a win after losing 13 straight. “Obviously it’s a big opportunity for us to get that top two seed, but we also know that Shopinas.com has their own motivation as well,” said Cone. “We just have to make sure that we won’t feel anything is automatic, and we will have to go out and earn the win.” B-MEG has not lost since suffering an 87-84 defeat at the hands of Barako Bull last October 29. Shopinas.com’s league worst 0-13 card has already tied the most horrible mark in PBA history owned by Country Fair (0-13) during the 1984 Reinforced Conference. Another loss and the Clickers’ campaign will go down as the most awful in league records. But a Shopinas upset will relegate B-MEG to a playoff with sister-team Petron (9-5) for the No. 2 spot. Ginebra and Barako Bull clash in the 7:30 p.m. main game with the Kings aiming for a win to secure their place in the best-of-three quarterfinals. The Kings (7-5) have won three straight games, but are still in danger of falling to seventh place in the quarterfinals where they needed to beat the No. 2 team twice to move on into the next round. “We need to come into the game with a playoff mentality because we need this to avoid being in the bottom two in the playoffs,” said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen. The Energy (6-7) has lost two in a row and another setback would put them at seventh place going into the playoffs. — JVP/KG, GMA News