Two Negrenses will be on the spotlight when the best-of-seven Philippine Basketball Association All-Filipino finals begin on Friday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Purefoods ace gunner James Yap, who hails from Escalante City , will be testing the wits of Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez of Valladolid town in the finals, after both their teams hurdled Red Bull and Alaska , respectively Sunday night.

And four days before the series tips off, Fernandez has already raised the alarm on a possible offensive explosion from Yap, the 2005-2006 season Most Valuable Player.

“We can only stop Purefoods, if we stop James Yap,” Fernandez, a former Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod Red Eagle, told the DAILY STAR last night in a telephone interview.

Fernandez and Yap's appearance in the finals did not come easy.

Fernandez, a wily streak-shooting point guard during his heydays, is only in his second conference as Sta. Lucia coach and admits being surprised by the progress made by his team.

“Our team was not really expected to be here (in the finals). So, at least, we are proving to our detractors that we're worthy to be in the finals,” he added.

“It's a great achievement for me so the pressure of winning will always be there,” said Fernandez, who steered the franchise to a record eight-game winning streak en route to the semifinals.

“The players have embraced my system so I also give credit to them,” he added. “We are now a defensive-running team”.

Fernandez said their entry to the finals is a proof of the work ethic of his players and their acceptance of their different roles in the team.

Yap , on the other hand, shrugged off knee and groin injuries to power Purefoods to the finals.

For his feat, he earned his fourth player of the week award.

“My mindset is really to play if I can still shrug off the pain,” Yap said a day after posting 28 points to lead the Giants to an 83-71 win over the Bulls.

The explosion came after he registered 25 points in a close 96-95 escape in Game 5, where he admitted being bothered by a strained groin he suffered after favoring his left knee that was badly bruised the Sunday before.

“My team needed to win so I had to give it my all,” he said.

His coach, Ryan Gregorio praised Yap for “rising to the challenge even after an injury”.

“Just when people thought that he might have ran out of gas, he surprises everybody with an amazing display of basketball skills in the most important game of the conference,” Gregorio said in the PBA website www.pba.ph.

Yap hopes to lead Purefoods to a fifth All-Filipino crown.

Both Yap and Fernandez acknowledged the long and arduous road to the finals.

“It was difficult getting here so we have to give our best now that we're here,” Fernandez said.

But Yap thinks he has more reason to win Game 1 on Friday.

His wife, actress Kris Aquino, celebrates her birthday on Valentine's Day and he turns 26 on the day of the finals.

“It will be the perfect birthday gift for us,” he said.*CPT

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