Roger Yap a giant in Purefoods' drive to the finals

Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio could not be faulted for maintaining that his chief playmaker, Roger Yap, is playing his best basketball in his entire career. With the crafty nine-year veteran coming up with solid all-around figures, the Giants were able to beat favored San Miguel Beer in three straight games to advance into the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

“He was really the brightest star who played with an incredible will to win," said Gregorio of Yap, who was named the undisputed KFC/Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period Feb. 15 to 21. It was the second such distinction given the 32-year-old Cebuano, who was also cited – with teammate James Yap – in the week of Jan. 25-31. This time, he alone hogged the limelight due to the vital role he played in powering Purefoods to a 4-2 win in the best-of-seven semifinals duel with the Beermen. In leading the Giants’ drive to 97-84, 94-82 and 87-78 victories from Games 4 to 6, Yap was simply irrepressible, averaging 17.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists. In the six-game semis, Yap emerged with averages of 14.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists while making 23 of 27 free throws to rank within the top 10 in all four categories. Not bad for a 2001 draftee whose previous best season was in 2004-05, when he normed 9.0 points while still with the now-disbanded Shell. “Roger was consistent in the whole San Miguel series," noted Gregorio. “He hit his open jumpers, broke down the defense with his penetrations and played solid defense." Yap is also finally playing without the injuries that have hounded his career of late and Gregorio expects him to play another pivotal role in their best-of-seven championship series with the Alaska Aces. “He is one of the senior players in our roster but he still has youthful spring on his legs," said Gregorio. “Truly, he is playing his best basketball in his entire career." - GMANews.TV