Import Shawn Bell of Coca-Cola powers his way past Talk ‘N Text counterpart Shawn Daniels in a game won by the Texters, 103-93, Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum. (Photo by MICHAEL VARCAS)

Games Sunday (Araneta Coliseum)
4 p.m. – Sta. Lucia vs Ginebra
6:30 p.m. – San Miguel vs Barako Bull

Sta. Lucia Realty starts a new era without superstar players Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes when it battles Barangay Ginebra Sunday in the PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings (5-4) collide with the Realtors (4-5) at 4 p.m. preceding the 6:30 p.m. match between defending champion San Miguel Beer (8-1) and Barako Bull Coffee (2-7).

The Realtors take the floor with five new players – Ali Peek, Nic Belasco, Pong Escobal, Ogie Menor and Yousif Aljamal –  providing a stiff challenge for Realtors coach Boyet Fernandez.

Fernandez said he can’t imagine coaching a team without Williams and Reyes.

Williams and Reyes helped Sta. Lucia win the 2007-08 Philippine Cup title, and in the process were rewarded at season’s end when Williams bagged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award while Reyes was named Rookie of the Year.

“I’m very sad with what happened,” Fernandez said. “They’ve been with me for the past four seasons.

Williams was with the team when I was still an assistant (to Alfrancis Chua), while Reyes joined us when I was on my second conference. We had a memorable campaign that season (2008),” he  said.

Fernandez, however, believes that he has new players who can play under his system which thrives on defense.

Belasco is a 14-year veteran, while Peek is now on his 12th season in the PBA.

Menor and Aljamal will be reunited with Escobal, their former teammate with NCAA champion San Beda College.

“We had a good first practice. Hopefully we can carry that on the playing court when we face a formidable opponent in Ginebra,” said Fernandez who has placed Chris Pacana and Dennis Daa on the reserve list.

The five players will join SLR holdovers Marlou Aquino, Nelbert Omolon, Paolo Mendoza, Gabby Espinas, and import Anthony Johnson.

In the main game, Mark Isip makes his debut with Barako against the Beermen.

Meanwhile, the arrival of do-it-all forward Kelly Williams and versatile playmaker Ryan Reyes boosted Talk ‘N Text’s boosted the team’s rotation, but presented a problem for TNT coach Chot Reyes on how to distribute playing time among his star players.

The Tropang Texters scored a 103-93 win over the Coca-Cola Tigers last Friday at the Big Dome that extended their winning  streak to six and improved their record to 7-2 for a firm grip of solo second after the first round classification phase.

Reyes, however, downplayed the problem he’s facing.

“I don’t really want to worry about those things as long as we have guys who are multi-dimensional, who can play a lot of  position,” Reyes said. “The first thing I told these guys (Williams and Reyes) in our meeting yesterday (Saturday) was to be ready to play all the position all over the floor.”