WINNING ONE overtime game is hard enough. But two in a row in a three-day span?
That’s exactly what Purefoods Chunkee pulled off in the week and the feat has many fans wondering if the team is finally on its way to attaining PBA glory.
Purefoods Coach Ryan Gregorio explains it this way.
"The players want to win," said Gregorio, whose Giants racked up an epic 86-84 win over the Alaska Aces last Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome and then followed it up with a 92-90 win over defending champion San Miguel Beermen, last Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The victory over Alaska was considered a classic as the team fought from 29 points down.
"In the Alaska game, I just wanted the boys to whittle the deficit in case quotients (come to play). Against San Miguel, I was relegated to a virtual spectator in the dying minutes," he explained.
The likes of import Marquin Chandler, rookies Jondan Salvador and Marc Pingris and Noy Castillo are factors, but nobody typified the team’s never-say-die spirit more than Kerby Raymundo and James Yap, who were named co-Players of the Week by the PBA Press Corps.
According to Gregorio, Raymundo is the Giants’ acknowledged spiritual leader despite his relative youth while Yap is his chief disciple, as willing to take matters into his own hands and particularly in crunchtime.
"With Kerby, you know he’ll be more willing to take charge. The same is true with James. Kaya nga it makes it a lot easier for us to devise plays during tight situations dahil maraming options," Gregorio said.
"Kaya nga malaki ang pasasalamat ko kay Coach, dahil sa tiwala niya sa akin," said Yap, who wound up a close second to Shell’s Rich Alvarez in the top rookie balloting early this year.
"Me mga oras na medyo struggling ako both ends of the court, pero hindi siya nagsasawang palakasin ang confidence ko," said Raymundo.
Yap had 15 points against Alaska, 13 in the second half, while Raymundo wound up with 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He also scattered eight of his points in the second half to fuel their comeback.
It was Raymundo’s turn to shine brighter in the game against SMB, scoring 19 of his 21 points in the second half while snaring seven rebounds. Yap had 12 points, six rebounds and two steals. But five of those points came in the extension and his second steal of the game led to his basket that made it a 92-90 count, only 19 ticks left.
With those wins Purefoods Chunkee improved its win-loss record to 3-1 and now lies solidly just behind leader unbeaten Talk N Text (2-0) in the standings.
