FINALS: Powerade Tigers 1 - 3 Talk N Text Tropang Texters
 
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Published on November 12, 2011

OF all the defeats Shopinas.com suffered in the PBA Philippine Cup, the one against Barangay Ginebra, without a doubt, is the toughest to forget. 

Ahead by five with 55.2 seconds left in regulation, the Clickers crumbled, and the Kings went on to steal it in overtime, 94-90, last Oct. 26. It was a lesson Shopinas.com learned the hard way. 

But Ginebra found out, too, that a winless ball club should never, ever be underestimated. Saturday night, Ginebra faces Shopinas.com once more, bringing along an abundance of respect against a struggling team in a Phoenix Fuel PBA on Tour game in Tubod, Lanao del Norte.

“We have to take care of the basketball or we will be in for a long night,” said Kings’ coach Siot Tanquingcen. Tanquingcen is well aware how fortunate they were against the Clickers. 

They were on the brink of defeat when Shopinas.com built what looked like a safe five-point lead under the one-minute mark, but fought back miraculously after crucial baskets by Enrico Villanueva and Jay-Jay Helterbrand, who sent the game into extra time with a triple. 

 Tanquingcen just hopes that the Kings won’t take the Clickers for granted again. Shopinas.com was the last team Ginebra beat. Since that epic victory, the Kings have dropped back-to-back games – a 93-87 decision against Meralco and an 86-71 loss to defending champion Talk ‘N Text. 

 The Clickers have yet to taste what victory feels like, and much of their results were due to their failure to execute late in the game or losing mental focus in a stretch. 

 Against Petron last Nov. 9, Shopinas.com failed to stop a rare 21-0 run by the Boosters early in the third quarter, and eventually absorbed a 102-77 setback, their eighth straight in the season-ending tournament. When Shopinas.com first met Ginebra, the Clickers forced the Kings to commit 25 turnovers. 

It was a surprising twist since the most popular ball club is a guard-laden line-up, and that resulted into a whopping 34 points off errors. 

 Mark Caguioa, Jay-Jay Helterbrand and Nino Calaneta are the ones expected to carry the load for the Kings, who in their previous game against the Tropang Texters gave away 20 turnover points off 19 errors. Ginebra also had a miserable performance from the field, missing 40 of its 61 attempts (35.5 percent). (ZM)


Source: http://www.pba.ph/news/entry/1237



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