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JAYJAY
Helterbrand continues to sizzle and so do the Barangay
Ginebra Kings.
With
their ace playmaker maintaining his razor-sharp form of
late, the Kings have notched their fourth-straight win,
keeping them on track for a coveted slot in the
Smart-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta
Conference.
Along
the way, Helterbrand was also adjudged as the Smart/Accel-PBA
Press Corps’ Player of the Week for the period June 23
to 29.
It was
the third such citation in four weeks for the
five-foot-11 point guard, who was also chosen for the
period from June 2 to 8 and 9 to 15.
No
other player has earned the scribes’ nod more than once
in the season-ending conference and Ginebra coach Jong
Uichico believes it is all because of Helterbrand’s
mindset.
“I am
really happy for him that he is playing the way he is,”
said Uichico.
“His
focus and concentration in the mental aspect of the game
has improved his being a better player.”
This
was stressed no end in Ginebra’s 100-89 victory over
Talk ’N Text on Sunday, where Helterbrand erupted for a
game-high 30 points, seven assists and three steals.
It was
the Kings’ first game in two weeks after their game
against Alaska on June 22 was rescheduled due to Typhoon
Frank.
No
rust was evident in Helterbrand’s game, nor in his
focus, notwithstanding the distractions caused by the
often highly physical and sometimes even rugged plays.
As a
result, the perennial crowd favorites, who were
languishing near the cellar early in the tournament,
improved their win-loss record to an even 8-8, good for
sixth place and just half-game behind Alaska and
Coca-Cola, at joint fourth with identical 9-8 slates.
The
top two teams after the 18-game elims are rewarded
automatic berths in the race-to-four semis, with the
Nos. 3 to 5 seeded outright to the best-of-three
quarterfinals.
Teams
ranked sixth to ninth figure in the knockout wildcard
phase, where, experts agree, anything can happen.
It is
with that similar belief that Uichico wants his charges
to keep on striving for the wins in their last games
against Welcoat (July 4) and Alaska (July 6) that would
give them a higher placing and possibly an automatic
quarterfinals berth.
“We’re not yet out ofthe woods. We still have to look
forward to our last two games,” Uichico said.
With
Helterbrand’s heads-up plays of late, Mark Caguioa
regaining his old fiery form, import Chris Alexander
establishing his dominance and the rest of Ginebra’s
crew fulfilling their roles, there’s little reason to
doubt the Kings will achieve their goal. |
