Never on Sunday

San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra gained a Sunday break after disposing of their quarterfinal opponents in a single game with a twice-to-beat advantage in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium last Friday. A loss by both teams would’ve sent their pairings to a winner-take-all showdown today. But instead, the PBA will take a rest with the semifinals set to start on Wednesday. Meralco and Converge bowed out of contention in the process.

San Miguel had no difficulty taking care of Meralco in a wire-to-wire electrical outage. The Bolts, however, went down slugging. After trailing by 18, Meralco fought back to trim the gap to two in the third quarter but couldn’t sustain the surge. San Miguel had too much firepower as six Beermen finished in double figure points to eliminate the defending Philippine Cup champion, 108-97.

Ginebra encountered some early rough sailing as Converge opened a seven-point lead to start the second quarter. But it didn’t take long for coach Tim Cone to adjust defensively and before long, Ginebra was safely in the driver’s seat, holding the FiberXers to 15 points in the second period after giving up 26 in the first. Ginebra went on to breeze, 88-80.

With their victories, San Miguel and Ginebra advanced to face off in the semis. The last time they battled in a best-of-seven series, Ginebra won, 4-2, in the Governors’ Cup semis this season. Terrence Romeo, Vic Manuel, Kyt Jimenez and Simon Enciso were still on San Miguel’s lineup with EJ Anosike as import. Ginebra’s import was Justin Brownlee with Paul Garcia and Joe DeVance on the roster.

In the just-ended Philippine Cup elims, San Miguel downed Ginebra, 104-93 with six Beermen scoring in twin digits. CJ Perez, the league’s leading scorer, and JuneMar Fajardo combined for 41 points to spark the demolition. San Miguel outshot Ginebra from the floor, 51.9 percent to 42.5, delivered more bench points, 43-27, had more perimeter points, 52-34 and dished out more assists, 26-21. The numbers provide a hint of what to expect in the semis.

It’ll be a battle of offense versus defense. San Miguel wound up the elims topping the league in offense with a 108 clip while Ginebra was No. 2 in defense, yielding 88.8 a game. San Miguel averaged 114 points in eight wins and 92 in three setbacks with a disparity of 22. If it’s high-scoring, San Miguel has the advantage but if it’s low-scoring, Ginebra will hold sway. Ginebra is No. 1 in assists and turnover points. Cone’s troops thrive in ball movement and efficient execution out of the triangle. But their secret is a swarming team-reliant defense. San Miguel plays a methodical half-court offense anchored on Perez and Fajardo. The Beermen are No. 1 in field goal percentage, paint and second chance points. Coach Leo Austria has expanded San Miguel’s repertoire to involve more players in stretching his rotation. It’ll be an exciting semifinal showdown with the opposing coaches playing a tactical chess match from game to game.