MANILA, Philippines - The keenly awaited Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup Final Four action begins today with Alaska Milk and GlobalPort breaking the ice in their side of the best-of-seven semifinals at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
It’s an interesting showdown between the league’s second winningest ball club versus a three-year-old PBA franchise out to carry over to the pros a fabled history in the amateurs.
Both are well rested and should be well prepared as they clash at 7 p.m. disputing the head start in the race-to-four-games series.
It’s a battle of two distinctly different teams – Alaska, bannered by seasoned frontcourt players, and GlobalPort, led by young, dynamic backcourt guys.
The Aces have the advantage in size and experience while the Batang Pier have the edge in quickness and hunger.
In 12 head-on duels since GlobalPort’s entry in the league in 2012, the two teams are squared up with six games apiece.
It could be a question of desire and determination as they set out for their first ever playoff matchup.
“Both teams pose separate problems for each other. They shoot a higher volume of threes and have the ball in their hands a longer time. We run a motion offense where guys move a lot and we throw the ball inside a lot,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.
And though knowing GlobalPort will bank a lot on Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle, Compton expects “our defense to be incredibly challenged.”
Both are touted scorers with a whopping combined average of 45 points a game. Romeo also norms 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists while Pringle also puts in 8.0 boards and 4.2 dish-offs an outing.
Their key backups are Jay Washington, Joseph Yeo, Doug Kramer, Keith Jensen, Billy Mamaril, Rico Maierhofer, Anthony Semerad and Jonathan Uyloan.
GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio plans to manage the playing time of his two stars, wary of the balance of the Alaska roster.
“It’s a long series. Baka hindi kami tumagal especially as we face the non-stop pressing defense of Alaska,” said Jarencio.
Alaska is really a well-balanced team with its second group playing as many minutes as the first stringers.
Vic Manuel and Calvin Abueva, Alaska’s new version of Bruise Brothers, thrive playing off the bench. Manuel averages 16.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 steals while Abueva norms 13.4 markers, 8.6 boards, 2.1 dish-offs and 1.4 steals.
With their key roles at Alaska are Sonny Thoss, Jvee Casio, Cyrus Baguio, Chris Banchero, RJ Jazul, Dondon Hontiveros, Eric Menk, Tony dela Cruz, Rome dela Rosa and Noy Baclao.
In Manuel, Abueva, Thoss, Menk and Baclao, Alaska has a frontcourt that could really be tough to break for the Batang Pier.
But how can the Aces matchup with Romeo and Pringle?
“Defending Stanley and Terrence one-on-one is a real issue for us. On the other side, we’ve got guys who can score inside. I think their bigs are hardworking, but Sonny and Eric pose problems for them,” said Compton.