San Miguel suffers 6th straight loss - March 29, 2007

By JAY R. GOTERA

The Saudi Gazette

MANILA

SAN Miguel absorbed its sixth straight loss and remained winless in the PBA Fiesta Conference, losing to Sta. Lucia, 95-90, Thursday night at the Fresnedi Gym in Muntinlupa City.

The defeat marked the worst start for San Miguel in its franchise history. Ironically, San Miguel has the most number of championships in the PBA.

Despite the impressive performance of import Paul MacMillan, the Beermen continued to be hounded by lackluster plays and poor shooting.

The win was only the second for the Realtors who are likewise struggling in the conference, but not as worse as the Beermen.

Meanwhile, just days after guaranteeing another Barangay Ginebra title win in the PBA Fiesta Cup, Fil-American Rudy Hatfield left for the United States last Wednesday to attend to a domestic problem and may not be back soon.

Hatfield’s hasty departure left the Kings, already missing the backcourt duo of Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand, without another dependable player in their quest for a second straight championship.

“We were not able to talk on when he’ll return,” Ginebra coach Jong Uichico said Thursday. “What he told me is that he needs to fix something as soon as possible.”

Uichico refused to go into the details of the problem that forced the 6-foot-4, do-it-all forward to abruptly leave the team. Other sources, however, said Hatfield will involve himself in a custody battle involving his fiancee’s child.

Hatfield’s wedding with his fiancée, Bethany, in early August prevented him from joining the Philippine Team gearing up for both the South East Asia Basketball Association Championship in May and the FIBA-Asia tourney in Japan.

His wedding, which took more than a year to plan and set up, will overlap with the FIBA-Asian tournament in Saitama, Japan, that runs until Aug. 5.

Regarding Friday’s games, Air21 seeks to regain the top spot in the standings as the Express tangle with the Welcoat Dragons at the Araneta Coliseum.

“How we play tomorrow will be a good test of the character of this team,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol. “We need to bounce back from our loss. The only way to do that is to remain aggressive.”

A win will give Air21 a share of the lead and, more importantly, recharge the Express’ drive that was cut short by the Bulls last Wednesday.

The Dragons are coming off a 78-100 shellacking from the TNT Phone Pals last Saturday in Cabanatuan City in a game where the league’s newest franchise trailed by as many as 35 points.

That doesn’t mean Air21 can afford to take Welcoat lightly, however.

“Every time we go up against Welcoat, I instill only one word in the minds of the players: Respect,” said Perasol.

“We have to learn to be more exact in executing our game plans. Our game versus Red Bull should teach us to play every second of the game,” he said.

Talk N Text also aims to recover from a numbing 95-101 loss to Purefoods last Wednesday when it takes on undermanned Ginebra in the other game.