Ginebra’s ‘Fast and the Furious’ leading Player of the Conference race

MANILA, Philippines – The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings’ 1-2 punch of Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand lead the statistical points (SPs) standings at the midpoint of the semifinals in the Smart-Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Cup. Caguioa earned a total of 685 SPs for a 32.62 average. He is followed closely by Helterbrand’s 32.42 SPs in the race for conference best player. Caguioa is averaging 22.9 points, four rebounds and 2.4 assists, while Helterbrand is posting 18.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. The Kings’ two-guard combination is working wonders for the Ginebra franchise, sweeping the second-seeded Red Bull Barakos, 4-0, in their best-of-seven semifinal series to advance to the championship round. Ginebra is unbeaten in its last 12 games. Sta Lucia’s Kelly Williams is within striking distance with a 32.38 SPs, with Willie Miller of Alaska and Purefoods’ Kerby Raymundo placing fourth and fifth with 30.3 and 29.5 SPs respectively. All three players and their teams, however, have been eliminated from the tournament Rounding up the top 10 are: Air21’s Arwind Santos (29.0), the Barakos’ Cyrus Baguio (28.2), Talk ’N Text’s Mark Cardona (27.5) Purefoods’ James Yap (27.2), and the Phone Pals’ Jimmy Alapag (26.9). In the race for the conference’s top rookie, the Realtors’ Ryan Reyes leads the way with 23.4 SPs, while Welcoat’s Joe Devance came in second with 19.6. Ginebra import Chris Alexander, meanwhile, tops the best import race with a 48.6 SPs while the Express’ Steve Thomas is two points behind with 46.6. – GMANews.TV