Unlikely semifinalists out to prove worth

MANILA, Philippines — This match-up definitely lacks the box-office appeal of a Final Four pairing, one that no one thought possible until the two squads brought down fancied foes last week.

But the Rain or Shine-Powerade semifinal duel for a title shot in the PBA Philippine Cup certainly shows a lot of promise.

The top picks in the rookie class of this season will all be seeing action in the best-of-seven series, all of them having crucial roles to play for the respective squads with the Elasto Painters getting this far with a lot of help from No. 2 choice Paul Lee.

It took JV Casio some time to get out of the injured list and adjust to the pro style of play, but once the top overall Draft choice got going, it took so much to stop the 5-foot-8 spitfire out of La Salle.

B-Meg, the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals, found that out the hard way as the Llamados fell two straight games against the Tigers.

And after the Painters swept crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra in their best-of-three showdown, the unlikeliest Final Four pairing came to being, one bereft of mass attraction but certainly one that can crown new heroes when the smoke of the battle clears.

“Powerade deserves to be in the semifinals. They worked hard for it,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said. “They were the underdogs but they beat the odds. They can strike again if we let them be.”

Powerade’s Gary David has waited a long time to be this deep in the playoffs, and if he continues to play the way he has done this season, being crowned as a legitimate superstar in the PBA will just be a formality for the former Lyceum standout.

He finished with 37 points in the game that knocked the Llamados out, making eight triples. In one stretch that caught Guiao’s attention, David scored 16 straight Powerade points.

“The way Gary David is playing, we have to find a way to ice those hot hands,” said Guiao of David, who averaged 34.5 points in their upset of the Llamados.

David himself couldn’t hide his joy after the match against B-Meg, saying in Filipino that he has “waited for this chance for a long time and won’t waste the opportunity.”

“They said that there was no chance in hell (that we would win this series),” David told reporters after the game. “But look at us now: we’re in heaven.

When asked if the semifinal victory had given him and the rest of the Tigers their sense of fulfillment already, if the ousting of the top seed meant mission complete, David immediately said they were going to gun for more.

“We’re not satisfied yet.”

Interestingly, David will try to accomplish his goal against his former coach, under whose tutelage his career rose a notch higher.

But more than David, attention could focus on the Lee-Casio matchup, which will finally happen for the first time since Casio sat out a 93-96 loss to Rain or Shine in the eliminations because of an injury.

Casio and Lee have impressive averages going to the semis.

Casio is scoring at a rate of 11.2 points and is issuing out 6.2 assists an outing while Lee is averaging 13.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

More importantly, with Lee showing he is franchise player material, people began questioning Powerade’s decision to snub the former University of the East star in favor of Casio.

In a sense, Lee will be out to prove he deserved to be the No. 1 pick. Casio will also go all out to prove that Powerade was right all along.

Casio also eventually ended up as the starting point guard of the Smart Gilas Pilipinas program, which Lee declined to be a part of.

Talk ‘N Text, the defending champion, and Petron Blaze, the reigning Governors’ Cup titlist, are in the other semifinal pairing. Their series starts Jan. 5 also at the Pasay venue.

Talk ‘N Text needed just one game to dispose of dangerous Barako Bull in their quarterfinal pairing, while Petron swept Meralco, 2-0, in their own series.