Game Wednesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – San Miguel vs Ginebra
MANILA, Philippines – There have been enough of surprises that both the San Miguel Beermen and the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings brace for a real battle as they break their one-game standoff at the resumption of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.
The Beermen and the Kings could be done sizing up one another and could be due for a dogfight in Game Three set at 7 p.m.
“We caught SMB by surprise in Game One and they caught us by surprise in Game Two. I don’t think there will be many surprises going into Game Three. Both teams will be out there to grind out a win,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“I expect our team to be on pins and needles because we know coach Tim Cone is a great coach. He’s one of the greatest coaches that the PBA has with 20 championships. But I think we’re going to be prepared. We’re going to try to prepare as well as possible so we could be adequately reinforced,” said San Miguel ace guard Alex Cabagnot.
The two teams are back to square one after Ginebra fashioned out a lopsided 127-99 win in Game One, then San Miguel came out as dominant in hacking out a 134-109 rout in the next game.
But, no doubt, the two teams will still be engaged in a series of adjustments.
“I’m glad that we made the right adjustments and it worked (in Game Two). (But) not necessarily it’s going to work on Wednesday so we still have to stay ahead of the learning curve,” said Cabagnot, SMB’s biggest hero with his 33-point game Sunday.
SMB coach Leo Austria pointed to their outside shooting and the dominance at the paint by June Mar Fajardo and Renaldo Balkman as the most crucial factors in their Game Two triumph.
Obviously working on SMB’s favor was Cone opting to play Greg Slaughter off the bench.
Cone is likely to tinker with his starting five while Austria is expected to stick with his three-small-and-two-big combination.
“They’re trying to look for a mismatch for June Mar while trying to avoid a collision between June Mar and Greg Slaughter. Same thing with us,” said Austria.
Ginebra’s big problem in Game Two was that Joe Devance wasn’t as successful as he was in Game One.
“Game One was Joe Devance’s day. He scored against anybody that we put on him then,” said Austria.
Then there’s the Beermen’s energy and intensity that they hope to bring over to the next game.
“It looked like we went out there just for a walkthrough in Game One as we allowed them to execute their play. In Game Two, we came out to play a championship game,” said Austria.