Gin Kings show old form, routs Elasto Painters

No way will Barangay Ginebra allow former import Rod Nealy and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters secure an outright quarterfinals berth at their own expense.

Playing like the well-oiled Ginebra team of old, the Kings turned their expected thrilling playoff game with Rain or Shine into a rout coasting to a 115-88 victory on Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. The Gin Kings now move into the second round of the PBA Fiesta Cup where they will meet the Alaska Aces in the best-of-five quarterfinals that begins next week. The two teams split their elimination round meeting this conference at 1-1. New import Chris Daniels readily made an impression in his debut game ending up with 19 points, 19 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks while committing no turnovers in 31 minutes of play. Daniels, the former Georgia College stalwart who replaced Denham Brown, shot 8-of-14 from the field while providing the inside presence the Kings had been lacking in the past. "He (Daniels) does the little things we need to get done," said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico of his import, who helped the Kings stop a three-game slide. "The more he gets to practice and the more he gets to know the kind of game we have here, the more he will improve." But it was not an all-Daniels show in Ginebra’s most lopsided win in the import-laden meet. Jay-Jay Helterbrand added 17 points and eight assists, Ronald Tubid had 14 points and 10 rebounds while three other Kings also finished in double figures. Ginebra rode on a big 19-5 run to break out from a 27-27 count and never looked back. They posted a 31-point lead, 111-79, with the game already settled. Uichico also admitted that the four-day rest could have given the Kings an advantage over the Elasto Painters coming into the game after their supposed playoff duel last Wednesday was reset in deference to the Presidential and Vice Presidential inauguration. "The delay in our Wednesday game gave us some time to prepare. It somehow gave us an advantage to rest and at the same time we had the time to work with our new import," said Uichico. After steering Rain or Shine to big wins over Air21 and Coca-Cola in the team’s last two games, Nealy finally slowed down and only came up with 17 points on 8-of-18 shooting. He had 12 rebounds, but was 0-of-4 from the foul line. The loss shoved the Elasto Painters into a do-or-die encounter with Leroy Hickerson and Air21 in the wild card phase set on Sunday. The Express will be getting an added help from new acquisition Leo Najorda, acquired in a trade with Barako Coffee for Richard Yee, as they seek to avenge their heartbreaking 113-111 loss to Rain or Shine in a game that saw them led by as many as 28 points. Sol Mercado had 24 points to lead the Elasto Painters, who were clobbered off the boards (62-48) and shot a paltry 9-of-31 from three-point range. – JVP, GMANews.TV