Welcoat hopes to break PBL jinx

Welcoat coach Junel Baculi wants to break a PBL final jinx while Shark mentor Leo Austria hopes to finally get the endgame breaks in the current PBL Chairman’s Cup final.

"We’ve been in this kind of situation before," said Baculi referring to last year’s Challenge Cup championship where the Paintmasters took a similar 2-0 lead but lost the crown in seven games to the Power Boosters. "We just need to figure out how to break the jinx."

But Austria and his Power Boosters will have a lot of figuring out to do after the team dropped a couple of heartbreaking one-point losses in the first two games of the ongoing title series.

"The series is not yet over. We can still come back. We’re just hoping breaks will go our way this time," said Austria.

Game Three of the best-of-seven showdown is set at 5:30 p.m. today at the Makati Coliseum with another down-to-the-wire finish expected in a series fast turning out to be a duel of character, composure and execution.

The Paintmasters showed they’ve got those qualities, first when they battled back from a seven-point deficit to steal the opener, 58-57, and when they weathered the Power Boosters’ fightback from nine points down to win in overtime, 80-79, last Saturday.

Ren-Ren Ritualo and Jojo Manalo, the heroes in the first two games, are again expected to spearhead the Paint Masters bid for a third straight victory with support to come from Yancy de Ocampo, Eugene Tan and Celino Cruz.

Experts believe Shark need not only to get the endgame breaks but must also come up with adjustments to break their rivals’ effective 1-2-2 zone that has slowed down Power Boosters’ once dreaded offensive threat.

"I think we’ve learned how to counter their zone and we’ve shown that we can bounce back from a 0-2 deficit," said Austria. "I just hope the boys will realize their mistakes in the first two games and play better beginning today."

The Power Boosters controlled the boards and outscored their rivals in transition in the first two games but just couldn’t pull it off at endgame.

Meanwhile, Ana Freezers and Giv Beauty Soap dispute third place at 3:30 p.m. The Soap Masters took Game 1 of their best-of-three duel, 100-87, while the Freezers Makers bounced back with a 90-86 win in Game 2. — Joey Villar