Common denominators spice up F2-Petron PSL finals
December 12, 2017 | 8:47am
MANILA, Philippines — A chain of connections hounds F2 Logistics and Petron, making their Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix best-of-three finals doubly exciting.
Aside from having two of the country’s most exciting playmakers in national team members Kim Fajardo and Rhea Dimaculangan, the Cargo Movers and the Blaze Spikers also have brilliant coaches who share a common background.
F2 Logistics head coach Ramil de Jesus and Petron chief tactician Shaq Delos Santos both acquired their coaching chops from legendary coach Florentino “Kidd” Santos at Far Eastern University.
In a previous interview, Delos Santos admitted that he shares the same coaching style with other former Tamaraws like de Jesus, George Pascua of Cignal and Ronald Dulay of Generika-Ayala.
“The most important thing that we learned from coach Kidd is the value of preparation,” said Delos Santos, who guided the Blaze Spikers to the All-Filipino Conference title last July.
“He instilled to us that the harder we prepare, the easier for us it is to compete in actual games. That piece of advice is golden.”
There was also some sort of a swap between the star middle blockers of Cargo Movers and the Blaze Spikers.
Aby Marano used to don red and blue, leading the Blaze Spikers to a clean 13-0 sweep of the All-Filipino Conference two years ago.
On the other hand, Mika Reyes used to play for de Jesus at De La Salle Univeristy and was part of the Cargo Movers’ title run in the All-Filipino Conference last year before moving to the Blaze Spikers this year.
The similarities between these two elite teams do not end there.
F2 Logistics import Maria Jose Perez and Petron reinforcement Lindsay Stalzer were teammates in the Indonesian Proliga and led powerhouse Jakarta Elektrik PLN to the title early this year.
Both of them were supposed to suit up for Cocolife, but due to various reasons, Stalzer decided to sign up with Petron while Perez ended up with F2 Logistics.
Petron’s Japanese libero in Yuri Fukuda is also regarded as one of the best backline defenders ever to play in the country will also be going up against Asia’s 2nd Best Libero in Dawn Macandili.
But the most glaring similarity is the number of national team players for F2 Logistics and Petron as both of them have four.
The Cargo Movers have Fajardo, Marano, Macandili and Kianna Dy while the Blaze Spikers have Dimaculangan, Reyes, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Frances Molina.
True enough, this edition of the Grand Prix finals is going to be a perfectly even match with nobody having a clear-cut advantage over the other.
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