Inspired Toyota, Hapee eye shorter route to semis today

Reaching the quarterfinal round of the 2004 PBL Unity Cup is already a big achievement for newcomer Toyota Otis-Letran and coach Louie Alas is so thrilled about the team’s latest success.

Alas, however, insists that their mission is far from over and wants a bigger prize–perhaps a chance to play in the semis.

That can be realized if the Knights beat the Montana Jewels in one of the two quarterfinals matches slated today at the Letran Gym. Their match is set at 4 p.m.

Also seeking a semis berth is defending champion Hapee Toothpaste which collides with Blustar Detergent at 2 p.m. in a game that is expected to be bruising and exciting contest just like in their past encounters.

Both the Teeth Sparklers and Knights are armed with twice-to-beat privileges after finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the elims and need only to win today to join Viva Mineral Water-FEU and Welcoat Paints in the next phase. Viva-FEU gained outright semis berth after topping the elims with a 9-1 record followed by the Paint Masters with a 6-4 mark.

Hapee finished the elims with a 5-5 record while the Knights wound up tied for 4th to 8th places with Blustar, Montana, Sunkist-UST and Lee Pipes-Ateneo at 4-6 but took the other twice-to-beat advantage on account of their superior quotient.

"Every win is a bonus for us and we have won four matches already. Right now, we have already overachieved our goal," said Alas. "But if we can advance into the next round then that is major one."

Alas is fully aware that Montana is a dangerous squad, having two dominant big men in Jondan Salvador and Al Magpayo and a slew of crack shooters but the veteran mentor is confident his boys are up to the challenge.

"We have to make some adjustments in our defensive plays to stop their big men. We also have to contain their wing men for us to win," said Alas who watched in awe how the Jewels mauled the hapless Sunkist-UST squad in their knockout match the other day.

The Jewels romped to an 86-59 win–the largest winning margin so far–to earn the right to meet the Knights while the Detergent Kings had to go through the wringer before beating the Eagles, 63-58.

Ronjay Enrile is again expected to carry much of the scoring load for the Knights while Montana coach Robert Sison is hoping that Ismael Junio will deliver again just like the last time where he scored 18

points on an impressive 8-of-11 shooting from the floor.

Aside from their smashing win over the Tigers, the other factor going for the Jewels is that they beat the Knights, 73-63, the first they met this conference which according to Sison will give his boys a big psychological edge going into today’s crucial match.

Hapee coach Junel Baculi is hoping that his boys can reprise the energy and hard work they displayed in beating the Detergent Kings, 83-74, last month. The Teeth Sparklers are bidding for their third straight title.