MANILA: Two determined title contenders clashed at the start of the 2011 Philippine Basketball Association's Governor's Cup Saturday night with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters plastering the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados 95-82 in a road game at the Tacloban Convention Center in Tacloban, Leyte. Highly touted import Arizona Reid exploded for 36 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Painters' charge. Reid totally outclassed his Derby Ace counterpart Stefhon Hannah who struggled all night long, contributing only eight points for his team. After a tightly fought first quarter, the Painters began asserting their might to lead 44-31 at halftime. The Llamados tried to keep the game close but could not keep pace with the hot-shooting Painters led by Reid. The loss stunned the Llamados who were the favorites before the game following their acquisition of former Alaska Aces hotshot Joe Devance and the return of James Yap from sick bay. Yap led the Llamados with 17 points while Devance and P.J. Simon chipped in with 14 markers each. Derby Ace actually played with a crippled lineup as four key players have been sidelined by injuries led by starting center Kerby Raymundo, who suffered a foot injury during a tune-up game in Cebu last Saturday. The other Llamados in the injury list are guard Roger Yap (back spasm), Rico Maierhofer (ACL) and Rafi Reavis (shoulder). Despite this handicap, basketball analysts regarded Derby Ace as a serious threat to Talk N Text bid for a grand slam this year. “With Devance, James Yap, Marc Pingris, Kerby and their import, Derby's got the strongest lineup today,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes. The PBA Governor's Cup is a short tourney with nine teams figuring in a single-round-robin elimination. Six teams then advance to the semifinals. The six semifinal qualifiers then play another round. A team that wins four of five games in the semis gains an outright playoff crack at the second finals berth. If no team gains the special incentive, the top two automatically advance to the best-of-seven Finals of the season-ending PBA tournament. On Sunday, the crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra Kings open their championship bid against the Powerade Tigers while the Petron Blaze Boosters (formerly the San Miguel Beermen) and the Meralco Bolts collide in the curtain-raiser.
