Underdogs begin PBA Fiesta Cup semis series vs seeded foes

MANILA, Philippines – Coming off two hard-fought series to advance in the semifinals of the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup, Burger King and Rain or Shine are definitely considered the underdogs against their top seeded opponents come Game 1 of their respective best-of-seven showdown Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum. The Whoppers take on the top seeded San Miguel Beermen in the 5:00 p.m. curtain raiser, followed by the main game between the Elasto Painters and defending champion Barangay Ginebra Kings. Both Rain or Shine and Burger King survived sudden-death encounters Sunday to seal a semifinals stint in the season-ending meet. Behind a big Ty Tang three-pointer in the dying seconds, the Elasto Painters beat the Purefoods Giants, 93-89, while the Whoppers eliminated the Sta. Lucia Realtors via a 48-point blowout, 120-72. With San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra coming off a three-week rest after earning outright semifinals berth earlier, the two are favored to march past the best-of-seven series. Rain or Shine’s Caloy Garcia and Burger King’s Yeng Guiao like it that way. “As long as we help each other, we still have faith that we can beat them (Ginebra Kings)," Garcia said. “Making the semis is already like winning a championship, but I hope that we can win another (series). It’s all about teamwork. We should think that we can go further." “Definitely, we’re the underdogs (against San Miguel)," Guaio said for his part. Ginebra mentor coach Jong Uichico expects the Elasto Painters to come out spewing fire from the opening buzzer. “Definitely they (Elasto Painters) will play with a lot of energy having made it to the semis for the first time," Uichico said. “We have to match that. We have to get off the rust right away and do our best to win Game 1." Ginebra has been in these stages countless times, and the addition of Cyrus Baguio has added a new dimension and depth into its offensive rotation. The Gin Kings, too, were the ones who dealt the Elasto Painters their worst defeat in franchise history, a 114-71 drubbing last May 23. Meanwhile, the Beermen and the Whoppers split their two games this conference. San Miguel won the first match 114-105 last March 8 before Burger King bounced back with a 107-105 victory last May 10. San Miguel will now play with import Gabe Freeman, who missed the last three games of the eliminations because of an injury. – GMANews.TV