Pop Cola cops third place

Pop Cola, the surprise elimination round third best team whose dream of a great finish took a bitter end in the semifinals, finally lived up to its playoff ranking, toppling top seed Shell, 83-75, to win second runner-up honors in the PBA All-Filipino Cup at the Philsports Arena last night.

The Panthers outmaneuvered the Turbochargers in the fourth quarter and went on to achieve their goal of closing out their stint in the first conference on a winning note, thus, gaining their best campaign in the league since the team also finished third in the 1998 Centennial Cup.

It was the eighth third-place finish for the RFM Corp. franchise since it joined the league in 1990.

"We really wanted to end our All-Filipino stint well and we’re looking forward to bigger things in the second and third conferences. We should not be content," said Pop Cola coach Chot Reyes.

"Actually, we could have done better in the tournament if not for our close brushes with San Miguel. But we can say we’d done well considering we’re not expected to even make it to the Final Four," added Reyes.

Reyes said another Final Four stint is their initial goal in the second conference where the Panthers will likely be reinforced by NBA veteran Jason Sasser. Pop Cola failed in a bid to sign up former UCLA star Ed O’ Bannon.

Up to the end, Pop Cola drew sterling efforts from new recruits Rudy Hatfield, Poch Juinio and Johnny Abarrientos — the three players who made the big difference in ballclub’s turnaround from a so-so squad last year.

Hatfield, a contender for the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) plum, dished out yet another double-double performance with 20 points and 17 rebounds. Hatfield together with Alaska’s Ali Peek and Red Bull’s Davonn Harp were the three players who ended up averaging in double figures in scoring and rebounding.

Juinio added 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Abarrientos chipped in seven points, four assists, three rebounds and had two steals.

Chris Jackson, who’s also in the running for the BPC honors, had a near double-double showing with 10 points and nine rebounds but he accounted for six of Shell’s 13 turnovers.

With Benjie Paras once again back in sickbay, Jun Marzan and Mike Hrabak picked up the slack combining for 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists both coming off the bench.

But the Panthers played steadier when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter, dealing the Turbochargers the loss that relegated them to fourth place after dominating the eliminations. Nonetheless, Shell proved to be a revelation as it failed to make it past the elims of any tournament last season.