Rain or Shine Elasto Painters

Former MVP winners Willie Miller, James Yap and Kelly Williams were among six players who emerged as official candidates for the Best Player of the Conference honors in the all-Filipino tourney which is about to end.

Arwind Santos, Joe De Vance and Mark Cardona also made the list, becoming contenders for the coveted award won last year by Miller.

With the statistical points (SPs) race over, the six players now dispute the BPC plum through balloting.

Based on the average SPs churned out by the players from the eliminations through the semis, Williams is on top with 40.6 points per game, followed by Santos (35.4), Miller (31.0), De Vance (31.7) and Cardona (30.7).

Yap failed to make the Top Five but was included in the candidates list for being the stats leader of his Purefoods Giants team, which reached the tournament finals.

Yap, the 2006 MVP winner, landed at No. 8 overall with Kerby Raymundo being the next best-placed Purefoods player at No. 13.

Raymundo was in the Top Five after the elims.

Narrowly missing the Top Five were LA Tenorio (29.8) and Gabe Norwood (29.0).

The Best Player of the Conference will be named before Game Four of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven series. - www.philstar.com

A HIGH-FLYING import from the Latin American Basketball League is set to bolster Burger King's campaign in the coming Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference starting March 20.

LeRoy Hickerson, a slam-dunk champion in the Mexican League, is set to arrive March 10 to join a Whopper team seeking to bounce back from a mediocre campaign in the Philippine Cup. The Whopper were eliminated in the wildcard phase of the ongoing tournament by the Coca-Cola Tigers.

Burger King team manager and PBA chairman Lito Alvarez confirmed the news to Standard Today.

"He played in the Mexican League and James Penny was one among the former PBA players he went up against," said Alvarez. "Penny's team got eliminated while LeRoy's team is still competing in the semifinals."

Hickerson is a 6'5", two-time slam-dunk champion in the Mexican LNBP All-Star Game in 2008 and 2009. He worked out with the Memphis Grizzlies last summer and was chosen last year as the Player of the Year, Guard of the Year and Import Player of the Year by Latinbasket.com.

In 41 games last year, Hickerson averaged 19.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game while playing for the Halcones UV Xalapa.

Hickerson will be one among the new faces expected to suit up in a tournament which will be composed mostly of returning reinforcements.

Jason Forte, younger brother of NBA player Jason Forte, is trying out a spot for the Coca-Cola Tigers, while Barangay Ginebra is eyeing an import with an interesting story—Awvee Storey.

Sta. Lucia, Rain or Shine and San Miguel Beer have decided to tap their old reliable reinforcements. The Realtors will bring back Anthony Johnson, the Elasto Painters will parade burly import Jai Lewis anew and the Beermen will count on Gabe Freeman again for their title retention bid.

Meanwhile, two PBA teams —Burger King and Coca-Cola—were invited to play in the His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Almaktoum Cup. - www.manilastandardtoday.com

Purefoods finally ended Rain or Shine's Cinderella story in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

James Yap scored a game-high 28 points and Marc Pingris grabbed 16 rebounds, made 14 points, and provided the hustle and heart the Giants needed in disposing of the young Elasto Painters, 95-85, and winning the decisive game of their best-of-five quarterfinals series Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Giants next face no. 2 seed San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals beginning Wednesday.

"It's a great relief to finally beat Rain or Shine," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio. "People thought this series was a breeze for us. But they (Painters) are quicker and younger than us, and at times in the series had bigger hearts than us. But not in tonight's game."

"I always felt that Rain or Shine is really, really a hard match-up for us," said Gregorio. "At least we finally made it to the Final Four."

James Yap sparked Purefoods offense in the third period, scoring 13 markers that helped Purefoods pad a three-point lead at the half to 80-64 in the dying seconds of the quarter.

The Elasto Painters never recovered from there as the closest they got was at 91-85.

James Yap then had a short basket and Raymundo hit a pair of free throws to push the Giants at 95-85 with only 1:37 remaining.

Sol Mercado scattered 23 points and Gabe Norwood had 20 for the Elasto Painters. - GMANews.TV

Scores

Purefoods 95 - Yap J. 28, Raymundo 16, Yap R. 16, Pingris 14, Reavis 9, Maierhofer 4, Allado 4, Artadi 2, Simon 2, Canaleta 0.

Rain or Shine 85 - Mercado 23, Norwood 20, Reyes 9, Chan 8, Arana 7, Cruz 6, Laure 6, Telan 4, Tang 2, Arellano 0, Hrabak 0.

Quarterscores: 25-26, 50-47, 80-66, 95-85.