Patriots seek No. 6; Beermen duel Warriors

MANILA, Philippines - The AirAsia Philippine Patriots shoot for the first round pennant as they slug it out with the Chang Thailand Slammers tonight in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) at the Thai Japanese Association Gym in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ranged against the struggling defending champions, Patriots coach Glenn Capacio stressed the need for his wards to toughen up on defense as they try to sustain their win run in the first of three elims rounds.

“We need to find consistency on the defensive side,” said Capacio on the eve of their departure. “We take pride in our defense. Our main goal is to limit our opponents to just 60 points a game. We don’t have problems with our offense, we just have to play within our system.”

Meanwhile, the second-running San Miguel Beermen (4-2) seek to close in on the front-running Patriots, gunning for their fifth win against the Indonesian Warriors (3-3) at 8 tonight at the Mahaka Square in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Beermen are on a two-game streak, trampling the Bangkok Cobras (94-59) and the Saigon Heat (85-62), but coach Bobby Parks warned against complacency against the dangerous Warriors.

“Indonesia’s win-loss record does not show it but the Warriors are a very strong team with a good set of American and Asean imports,”said Parks, referring to former PBA import Steve Thomas and Jonathan Larry Smith and Filipino reinforcements Allan Salangsang, Jerick Canada and Marlon Legaspi.

Capacio also braces for a highly physical match with the Slammers, who are struggling in sixth in the eight-team field with a 3-4 card.

Patriots Erick Rodriguez, Ardy Larong and Eddie Laure figured in a push-and-shove match with Singapore import Donald Little in several occasions the last time out that nearly turned the game into a boxing match.

Laure suffered a cut from Little’s wayward elbow, prompting Larong to retaliate by hitting the 6-foot-11 Singapore import in the abdomen late in the game that almost sparked a fistfight. Larong was subsequently suspended.

Parks is also concerned about Warriors’ local player Mario Wuysang, currently the highest-scoring local with an average of 16.5 points per game.

“He (Wuysang) is a very good scorer and we have to look out for him. We don’t want him to get open looks at the basket,” said Parks, confident that imports Darlon Lamar Johnson and Doug Thomas and locals Froilan Baguion, Benedict Fernandez, Leo Avenido, June Mar Fajardo and RJ Rizada, will live up to the challenge.

SMB also hopes its tendency to start cold, a problem in its early outings, has already been remedied.

“We had that in our game against the Saigon Heat and it is a good thing that we made quick adjustments (against the Cobras),” Parks said.

The Patriots are looking for their fifth straight win and sixth overall in seven games.

However, Capacio has advised his players to stay focused and keep their cool in their 7 p.m. showdown (Manila time).

This marks the first time that PH Patriots and Slammers will face each other since their finals meeting last year where the Thais fought back from 13 points down in Game 2 to stun the Patriots in their title series.

“It’s payback time,” said AirAsia-Philippine co-team owner Mikee Romero, who is hoping that import Anthony Johnson and veteran guard Al Vergara will remain in sharp form. “It’s high time to settle the score.”

Also expected to step up for the Patriots are Aldrech Ramos, Bogs Raymundo, Jonathan Fernandez, Reed Juntilla and Warren Ybanez.

While the Patriots are on a roll, the Slammers are coming off a crushing 106-72 defeat to the Westports Dragons of Kuala Lumpur also last week.

Johnson was in razor-sharp form, finishing with 26 points, while Vergara torched his former team with 14 points, including two triples.