Mercado, David rise to the occasion in PBA wildcard

Rain or Shine’s Sol Mercado and Coca-Cola’s Gary David rose to the occasion for their respective teams in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup wildcard phase, coming through in the clutch to earn the nod as the KFC/Accel-PBA Press Corps’ Co-Players of the Week for Jan. 18 to 24. Mercado came up with a two-game average of 26.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists, leading the Elasto Painters’ surge to a near-win against Alaska and a critical victory over Sta. Lucia Realty in the opening round of the knockout wildcard last Sunday, which was also the franchise’s breakthrough victory for the year.

The well-built sophomore had 21 points, four rebounds and three assists in the ninth-ranked RoS’ 90-86 win over No. 6 SLR, giving the Painters enough reason to believe the future holds much in store and that their recent four-game slide is well behind them. Since the current format’s introduction in 2004, only one other team achieved such rug-pulling in the wildcard. In the 2008 Fiesta Cup No. 6 Alaska and No. 7 Talk ‘N Text got bumped off by a team that eventually lost to Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinals. Coincidentally, that team was Sta. Lucia. The Painters have the chance to do even better, thanks to Mercado. “He stepped up big for us. He is peaking at the right time and trying to get everyone involved," said RoS coach Caloy Garcia. Mercado refuses to hog the limelight. “It’s an honor, but it was a total team effort," said the man who dropped a career-high 35 points, anchored on 7-of-12 three-point shooting, on top of seven rebounds and four assists in a 94-95 loss to the Aces last Friday, when the Painters were already assured of a wildcard slot. “Since coach has moved me to point guard, I have taken the responsibility of being aggressive and trying to be the best leader out there," he added. David was of a similar mold after leading No. 7 Coke to a 118-112 win over No. 8 Burger King in the Tigers’ own sudden-death also Sunday. Against the Whopper, David started and scored 21 points and also had four rebounds and three assists to follow up his 16-point off-the-bench performance in a 91-89 elimination of the Barako Bull Energy Boosters last Wednesday. “There was really no doubt in my mind that he will make an impact to our team. He is the instant energy that we needed," said Tigers coach Bo Perasol of the wingman his team acquired in a Jan. 4 trade with Burger King. David said he is merely trying to do his part. “Kapag talagang nabigyan ako ng chance na maglaro, ibibigay ko 100 percent ko. Alam ni coach Bo iyan kaya binibigyan n’ya ako ng (playing) time" he stated. Those wins set the Elasto Painters and Tigers up for a Wednesday showdown to decide which team advances to the best-of-five quarterfinals and the right to face early qualifier Purefoods. The third-ranked Giants are decidedly the favorites, but with Coke and RoS toting players like David and Mercado, anything is possible. - GMANews.TV