The Burger King Whoppers and the Rain or Shine Elastopainters each booked a seat to the PBA's final four last night, joining early qualifiers San Miguel and Ginebra.

In the first game, Burger King manhandled an ailing Sta. Lucia Realtors team by 48 points, 120-72, taking advantage of the absence of all-stars Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes. Williams had missed the second half of the conference with a rare blood disorder, while Reyes injured his hamstring in the recently concluded SEABA tournament while playing for the Powerade Team Pilipinas aiming to qualify for the FIBA-Asia Championships in August.

This was just a single game, but it further bolstered my suspicion that Reyes, in the grand scheme of things, is more important to the Sta. Lucia cause than former PBA Most Valuable Player Williams, even though the latter is the team's most talented player (and perhaps the most gifted athlete in the whole league).

For one, Reyes anchors the Sta. Lucia backcourt. He allows them to run and gun when he plays the point because he's murder on the open floor. He's the only guard with good size on a team in a backcourt rotation that also includes Denok Miranda, Joseph Yeo, Paolo Mendoza, and Christian Coronel, who all stand below 6-feet tall, so he's usually forced to play shooting guard and take on the best scorers on the other team (i.e. James Yap and Mac Cardona).

But more than that, he's the embodiment of Boyet Fernandez's team, the engine that keeps the team ticking, a rugged, physical player who doesn't quit on defense and who plays heady basketball on the offensive end. It's really too bad that he has been hurt a lot this year.

After the jump, I talk about the second game, where Ryan "The Genius" Gregorio led the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants to another excruciating loss (or as I like to call it, The Ryan Gregorio Special), against the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 93-89.

It was a gutty win for Rain or Shine--the Elastopainters missed the services of starting point guard Sol Mercado and whose import, the mammoth Jai Lewis, played with the flu--and the franchise sealed its first trip to the PBA semifinals.

The game was close throughout, with the Elastopainters making big plays in the clutch while Purefoods superstars Kerby Raymundo and James Yap took a page out of the Orlando Magic playbook by each muffing two free throws in the clutch. Big props too, to TY Tang, the former La Salle ace who started in place of Mercado all series and played above his head in each of the team's two wins over the Giants.

Things took a turn for the weird when Gregorio benched the hotheaded Marquin Chandler for the whole second half, even though the import was neither injured nor in foul trouble. PBA courtside reporter Patricia Hizon tweeted after the game that the directive to sit Chandler came directly from upper management. It probably came from "The Boss" Danding Cojuangco himself, who was in attendance.

Still, as poorly as Chandler might have behaved, there's no denying that the whole Purefoods coaching staff, from Gregorio to assistants Koy Banal and Ronnie Magsanoc, has done a poor job all season long on the Purefoods bench. Of course, I am expecting Gregorio to use Chandler's behavior as an excuse, because he uses everything as an excuse, as he is wont to do. And the media usually gives him a free pass because he's buddies with reporters and gives them soundbites for the shitty articles that they write.

Fact is, the team is really poorly coached. They're the worst offensive team in the league even with Yap, Raymundo, and Peter June Simon in the lineup. Their offensive sets are a mess. Their defensive rotations are lousy. They never execute well after timeouts. Half the time, the players look like they're thinking about where to eat after the game while on the court.

Hey, here's an idea: since Danding Cojuangco is so keen on giving out instructions, why not go ahead and take over coaching the team himself? I mean, Manny Pangilinan's been kicking his ass all over the boardrooms, and politics hasn't been going too well either (the NPC is a mess, he had a falling out with his favorite Gibo Teodoro, so he might be stuck with Chiz Escudero), so why not make himself useful? He could not possibly be worse than Ryan Gregorio. At the very least, KG Canaleta might start sprinting up the court instead of loafing around if Danding threatens to have Canaleta beat up by his goons.

By the way, you think I'm kidding, but there was actually a precedent for this. In 1992, Purefoods coach Ely Capacio (who led Purefoods to the 1991 All-Filipino crown) stepped down, and team manager Ding Panganiban, who had no prior coaching experience, took over. With Alvin Patrimonio and Jerry Codinera, Panganiban took the team back to the finals of the 1992 All-Filipino conference, losing to San Miguel and eventual MVP Ato Agustin.