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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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So far so good for ‘unconventional Kia’
KIA Picanto showed a glimpse of its unconventional system after hacking out a 78-75 victory over San Miguel Beermen in a tune-up match on Tuesday at the Claret School Gym.
Far from being the whipping boys of the league, Picanto has stamped their class on three-time defending All-Filipino champions as they lead in the match for most of the way.
Picanto had a blazing start in the match and were up by as much as 15 points behind the hot shooting of Jackson Corpuz and Philip Paniamogan, but the Beermen rallied back to even snatch the lead at 63-62 on a basket by rookie Louie Vigil.
Since then, the match became a seesaw battle until the final minute where Picanto was up by just a basket at 77-75. Beermen’s Arwind Santos had a chance to force an overtime but his shot was defended well by Rashawn McCarthy.
Corpuz led the Picanto with an all-around effort of 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists, four steals, and two blocks, while Paniamogan added 11 markers, mostly outside shots.
“We’d like to play the kind of basketball that is not confined to the books. We’d like to veer away from the orthodox and shift to something unconventional,” said Picanto team manager Joe Lipa.
“The idea that we’re trying to develop has been proven before, but we know that it takes years and a lot of dedication on the part of the players and the coaching staff. We’d like to pay our dues,” he added.
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Contrary to rumors, tickets for the much-anticipated San Miguel Beermen-TNT KaTropa match at the University of San Agustin Gymnasium on January 13 will not be available yet today.
According to Bayani Landrido, who is tasked to fine tune the details of the 2017-2018 PBA Philippine Cup out-of-town match in Iloilo City, the tickets will go to sale as early as next week.
“No truth to the reports that the tickets will start selling on Friday,” Landrido told Buzzer Beater on Wednesday evening. “The tickets will be made available to public as early as Monday.”
Just like their previous encounters, the match between the two teams is expected to be an excited one with both Beermen and KaTropa maintaining their powerhouse lineups heading into the next season.
Beermen is still to be bannered by four-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo along with veterans Arwind Santos, Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter, Gabby Espinas, Von Pessumal, Matthew Ganuelas-Rosser, Brian Heruela and David Semerad.
KaTropa, on the other hand, are still led by Jayson Castro, Jeth Troy Rosario, Roger Pogoy, Kelly Williams, Ryan Reyes, Ryan Garcia, Anthony Semerad, Moala Tautuaa, Mark Tallo and Sidney Onwubere.
This will be PBA’s second official game in Iloilo City in the last two years after the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings-Meralco Bolts encounter on January 14, 2017 at the USA Gym. Kings won the game, 83-72./PN
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