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BACOLOD CITY: The finest in the country’s lone professional league
see action Sunday when the North and South selections mix it up
lowering the curtains in the three-day 2008 Smart-PBA All-Star
Weekend at the West Negros University gym.
The 5:30 p. m. encounter will determine whether
the Ryan Gregorio-mentored Northerners will reaffirm their supremacy
over the Southerners or the boys of coach Boyet Fernandez can even
up matters and avenge the 131-128 loss they suffered last year in
Baguio City.
That triumph handed the North a 4-3 win-loss
advantage over the South in their running battle since the league
adopted the North vs. South format of the annual showtime that
started in 1989.
And it looks like Fernandez’s chargers have
what it takes to turn the tables this time by virtue of their home
turf advantage and the presence of several homegrown boys in their
roster, including the Philippine Cup champion Sta. Lucia Realty
mentor himself, who hails from nearby Villadolid town.
Besides Fernandez, the Southerners also boast of
Purefoods’ James Yap, the 2005 MVP who was born and raised in
Escalante City, Reynel Hugnatan, who hails from this city, and John
Ferriols, whose mother comes from here.
But if the Southerners have an axe to grind over
their North counterparts, so are the Luzon All Stars, particularly
coach Gregorio, on whose expense Fernandez won the Philippine Cup,
and Marc Pingris, who was still a Purefoods Giant then before moving
to sister team magnolia.
“Yes, gusto rin namin ni coach na makabawi kay
coach Fernandez sa pagkatalo namin sa Philippine Cup,” emphasized
Pingris during Friday’s press conference where the lineups of the
two rival teams were announced jointly by PBA commissioner Sonny
Barrios and Mayor Bing Leonardia of Bacolod.
-- Eddie G. Alinea
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