Giants tower over Bulls: Mighty Kings crush Gilas five

MANILA, Philippines - The Kings played efficiently against the Nationals even minus injured stars Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk, dominating their duel to stay unbeaten in the all-Filipino tourney in three starts.

Ronald Tubid, Jayjay Helterbrand, JC Intal, Enrico Villanueva and Willy Wilson delivered the goods as the Kings notched a third win following earlier victories over the San Miguel Beermen and the Purefoods Giants.

The RP developmental team continued to struggle with naturalization prospect CJ Giles not seeing action.

SBP executive director Noli Eala said Giles’ status was day-to-day, since he was unable to keep his focus in his game following report that his four-year son in the United States was hospitalized with a rare blood disease.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Fuel PBA on Tour features its second game today, pitting Rain or Shine and Burger King at the Arturo Lugod Gym in Gingoog, Misamis Oriental.

“The circumstances didn’t allow us to help the RP team as much as we wanted to,” said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico.

“The desire to win gets in the way. We needed the win and we had to do what we can to try to win the game. I’d been in their shoes before, it’s hard to be dominated that way. We wish we could help them in another way,” Uichico added.

The Ginebra mentor, however, was convinced Smart Gilas was doing the right thing in its preparation for its stint in the 2011 Fiba Asia championship.

But the Kings would remain without Caguioa who would be out for at least four weeks.

“It’s not the old knee injury. It’s a new injury on the other part of the knee,” said Uichico.

“It’s sad. We thought we have a healthy lineup. Now we have to find ways again to fill void in our roster,” Uichico added.

Against the Giles-less Gilas team, the Kings had little difficulty plugging the holes, riding high on the exploits of Tubid, Helterbrand, Intal, Villanueva and Wilson.

Kerby Raymundo and James Yap combined for 34 points and 13 rebounds to make up for 13 turnovers as Purefoods overcame Barako Bull’s brave stand and hacked out out a 92-77 win later in the night.

Don Allado, Roger Yap, Rico Maierhofer and Paul Artadi also produced key numbers as the Giants pulled through in the rugged and emotional game marked by three technical infractions.

The Giants improved their win-loss record to 2-1 while dealing the Energy Boosters their second loss in three outings.

“Obviously, Kerby and James are marked men and it’s important for us to get productions from our other players,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

Alaska Milk continued to sizzle even as Willie Miller cooled down after two hot games, streaking to a third straight win with a 100-79 walloping of Coca-Cola in the nightcap.