No rest for the weary

Alaska and Barangay Ginebra will report for their second battle in three days at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight with the reward for the winner a ticket to the semifinals in the PBA Philippine Cup.

It’ll be a painful exit for Alaska if the Aces bow out because of their twice-to-beat advantage. Since 1996, there have been 99 pairings where the higher seed enjoyed a twice-to-beat edge and only 11 lower seeds survived by winning two in a row. Ginebra was the lower seed in three of the 11 survivals, beating Mobiline in the 1999 All-Filipino Cup, Purefoods in the 2001 All-Filipino Cup and Rain Or Shine in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup. Alaska was never involved as a victor or victim in any of the 11 upheavals.

If Ginebra beats Alaska tonight, it’ll be the fourth time a No. 7 seed bowls over a No. 2 seed with a twice-to-win disadvantage. TNT did it to Sta. Lucia Realty in the 2002 Commissioner’s Cup, Ginebra to Rain Or Shine in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup and Air 21 over San Miguel Beer in the 2014 Commissioner’s Cup. For the record, only two No. 8 seeds managed to upset the top seeds in history. Ginebra was first to accomplish the feat over Mobiline in the 1999 All-Filipino Cup then Powerade repeated in shocking B-Meg in the 2012 Philippine Cup.

Ginebra’s L. A. Tenorio had the most minutes of any player on either side in last Sunday’s thriller where the Barangay came back from a 17-point deficit to win, 85-81, at the jam-packed Ynares Center in Antipolo. Tenorio logged 42:39 minutes. No other player breached the 40 minute mark.

Tenorio overcame a sluggish start to finish with 16 points, two rebounds and six assists. He was 0-of-9 from the floor in the first half. Tenorio said in the dugout at halftime, San Miguel Corp. sports director and Ginebra PBA governor Alfrancis Chua calmed him down. “Boss Al told me to settle down, to relax,” said Tenorio. “It was obvious I was trying too hard. Playing against Alaska, it’s hard to relax. They’re disciplined and well-coached, they work hard, that’s the Alaska culture. We were in a do-or-die situation because of our twice-to-beat disadvantage so we couldn’t lose. We had to win so we could play them again.”

Tenorio said coach Tim Cone encouraged him to keep shooting. “I was too gigil in the first half, too eager,” he said. “Luckily, my shooting came back in the second half but I was still missing free throws. One thing about Alaska, they just refuse to lose, they keep fighting. Take Jvee (Casio), for example. What he did was expected because he’s been playing so well lately. So we just have to play harder, play better, outwork them.”

Tenorio said he never prayed harder. “Sobra ang dasal ko,” he said. “I prayed to God to give us one more chance, one more game. With God’s grace, our prayers were answered. When Sol (Mercado) missed those two foul shots, Japeth (Aguilar) got the offensive rebound and gave us another possession. Then late in the game, we missed a shot and the long rebound went to Sol. When we play again, we’ll be praying even harder but so will Alaska.”

Tenorio said from Antipolo, he had dinner with friends at Katipunan and got home at about 11:30 p.m. He didn’t get to sleep until about 3 a.m. “It’s hard to sleep when your adrenalin is still pumping,” he said. “I was so tired but couldn’t fall asleep right away. It happens all the time after a game. I woke up at about 10 so I got a good rest before practice at noon.”

Tenorio said for sure, Alaska will play more aggressively tonight. “It doesn’t look like Joe (De Vance) will play because of the tear in his ligament in the foot,” he said. “That means, we’ve all got to step up. We’ve got to start strong because it takes so much from us to come back from a big deficit.”

Ginebra assistant coach Richard del Rosario said with De Vance unlikely to play, Cone will decide whom to replace him in the starting lineup. Alaska will probably deploy a bigger frontline to take advantage of De Vance’s absence. Del Rosario said Ginebra will prepare for that eventuality.

“Maybe, coach Alex (Compton) will go more with Sonny (Thoss) at five, Vic (Manuel) at four and Calvin (Abueva) at three instead of Sonny at five, Calvin at four and Kevin (Racal) at three,” said Del Rosario. “Racal was matched up against Scottie (Thompson) last Sunday. The key to defending Vic is not to allow him deep position at the post, make him take two or three steps away from the low block. Japeth is a natural helper so we’ll use Dave (Marcelo) as our post defender against Vic. Our rotation in the frontline will be limited without Joe but the good news is Aljon (Mariano) is back and we expect him to play (tonight).”

Del Rosario said veterans Mark Caguioa and Jay-Jay Helterbrand remain major contributors to Ginebra’s cause. “Before Sunday’s game, coach Tim reminded the guys to be ready,” he said. “What you like about Mark is he’s not your typical superstar who’ll sulk on the bench if he doesn’t get minutes. He’s our No. 1 cheerleader. But like Jay, he’s always ready to play when his number is called. Last Sunday, both Mark and Jay played quality minutes. When you’re coming back from a big deficit, you need the crowd behind you and there’s no better combination than Mark and Jay to get the fans going. They give us a lift, a push and the rest of the guys follow their lead.”

Del Rosario said to win, Ginebra must play smart and aggressive. “It’s okay to play with emotion but we’ve got to keep our emotions in check,” he said. “We need to start strong. We can’t play on pure emotion alone. We can’t play out of control.”

Tenorio said he’s looking forward to surviving one more do-or-die game. “If we beat Alaska, the next stage is playing the winner of the Star-Phoenix series and that’s a best-of-seven series so at least, we won’t play in another do-or-die for a while,” he said. “For me, it’s better to get this over with. One more do-or-die for both our team and Alaska.”

In last Sunday’s game, Alaska led nearly 70 percent of the way and sprinted to a 23-13 lead in the first period. But after erecting a 17-point cushion, the Aces went cold as Ginebra tightened the screws defensively. Alaska was held to only 13 points in the third period as Ginebra fired 33. The Aces, however, were in the thick of the fray until the dying seconds.

Defense did the trick for Ginebra as Alaska was limited to 38 percent field goal shooting and only two Aces scored in double digits – Abueva with 20 and Casio with 16. Ginebra missed 14 free throws and Alaska, only three but still had more hits from the line, 19-11 with the Aces whistled for 12 more fouls. Ginebra had more rebounds, 52-42, assists, 19-15, second chance points, 24-10, fastbreak points, 12-3 and bench points, 29-24 but couldn’t win by more than four points, indicating Alaska’s resiliency despite the numbers.

Compton will make adjustments for the game tonight, particularly as De Vance isn’t expected to suit up. The Aces could attack more ferociously inside with Thoss, Manuel and Abueva teaming up to put pressure on Aguilar. Once Alaska gets Ginebra’s interior attention, that will open up things for shooters like R. J. Jazul who was 0-of-5 last Sunday, Dondon Hontiveros and Casio. It should be quite a battle tonight.