Tigers, Gin Kings move in for the kill

Coca-Cola and Barangay Ginebra hope their virtual sibling rivalry will end up in full-blown war for supremacy as they go for the clincher versus Red Bull Barako and Talk n Text in their respective best-of-three semifinal showdowns in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Philsports Arena tonight.

And Coca-Cola coach Chot Reyes is confident they can do it "as long as we stay calm come what may."

Ginebra mentor Siot Tanquingcen, meanwhile, thinks they can hack it out if they continue to perform their "blue-collar jobs to overcome Talk n Text’s blue-chip stars."

Fired up by their stirring victories last Wednesday where the two coaches felt they simply outfought and outplayed their rivals to move on the threshold of the best-of-five finals of the PBA transition tourney, the Tigers and the Kings have the momentum going into tonight’s contests.

The Tigers whipped the Thunder, 91-87, while the Gin Kings subdued the Phone Pals, 100-95.

"We need to work hard one more time and we can gatecrash the finals," said Reyes, who maintained his team remains the underdog against Red Bull despite making it to the finals in the last four tournaments.

"We have our own marquee players but Talk n Text has blue-chips cagers whom we could beat by doing a blue-collar job on them," said Tanquingcen.

He made special mention of Mark Caguioa for helping the team fashion out the come-from-behind win.

"He (Caguioa) deserved the credit. I got mad at him after he took an ill-advised three-point shot but he took it in stride and made up for it with a crucial three-pointer. That’s character," said Tanquingcen of Caguioa who turned from heel to hero at endgame.

Caguioa became the Kings’ man of the hour with imports Torraye Braggs and Jerald Honeycutt neutralizing each other out and so did Asi Taulava and Eric Menk. The 5-foot-10 two-guard won his personal duel with Willie Miller as he exploded for 28 points as against the 2002 MVP’s 14.

But the question is whether the King are ready for the kill.

It would be remembered that Ginebra also took the opener in a best-of-three semis series versus Coke in last year’s Reinforced Conference but failed to finish the job. The Tigers bounced back from that Game One defeat, reached the finals and went all the way to win the championship.

"I think the team is slowly getting there," said Tanquingcen.

For Coca-Cola, Jeffrey Cariaso took it upon himself to step up on his game with their import Mark Sanford stymied with early fouls.

Cariaso outplayed all defenders thrown him by coach Yeng Guiao, finishing with 22 points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal in 41 minutes of action.