SLR, SMB, P’foods, Ginebra top picks as darkhorses


Without a glimpse yet of all the imports, the consensus among the coaches is that the top finishers in the Philippine Cup are the teams to reckon with in the 2009 Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference which kicks off on Feb. 28 with a road game in Dumaguete City.

Talk n Text, Alaska, Sta. Lucia Realty and San Miguel Beer are the prohibitive picks on the strength of their strong showing in the all-Filipino tourney topped by the Tropang Texters with a 4-3 decision over the Aces in their title showdown.

Purefoods and Barangay Ginebra are considered dark horses after having strengthened their lineups with key acquisitions from a recent trade transaction also involving Burger King (formerly Air21).

Ginebra is also given a plus-factor as it's bringing back an import – Rod Nealy – well familiar with the team and its system.

Burger King (Shawn Daniels), Coca-Cola (J.J. Sullinger) and Rain or Shine (Charles Clark III) are the other teams playing with returning imports. Coaches Tim Cone of Alaska and Chot Reyes of Talk n Text are still in hot pursuit of old reinforcements in Rosell Ellis and Rashad Bell, respectively.

"It's hard to tell because we haven't seen the imports yet. Reinforcements are a very important consideration. But if I were to base it last conference, then Talk n Text, Alaska and Sta. Lucia should be the favorites," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

"Talk n Text and Alaska are the teams to beat because of their proven ability as shown by their performance in the recent All-Filipino Finals. The third favorite is San Miguel because I still think they're arguably the best team on paper," said Burger King coach Yeng Guiao.

"It should be Alaska and Talk n Text because they'd just played in the championship. What more if they have imports to fill their holes. Then it's a toss up between San Miguel and Sta. Lucia," said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico.

Coca-Cola's Kenneth Duremdes also has Talk n Text and Alaska as his top picks and Ginebra his third choice with the Kings being the defending champions in the season-ending tourney.

For Sta. Lucia's Boyet Fernandez, it's Talk n Text and Alaska, then Purefoods and San Miguel.

Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen has a surprise choice in Burger King, with Purefoods and Alaska close behind.

"I think Burger King will be a strong contender because of Shawn Daniels and its strong local unit. Purefoods will be there with the addition of Don Allado and the return of Romel Adducul likely to relieve pressure on James Yap and Kerby Raymundo. Alaska will play well together specially when they get Rosell Ellis," said Tanquingcen.



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