PETRON BLAZE – SAN MIG COFFEE BATTLE ROYALE UNFOLDS The coaching match-up is a clear mismatch. But that’s about the only thing that favors the San Mig Coffee Mixers in the PBA Governors’ Cup championship series. Game One of the PLDT-Telpad Best-of-7 Finals commences at 8 p.m. Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena, with Petron Blaze mentor Gee Abanilla looking for a head-start against his illustrious San Mig counterpart Tim Cone. Abanilla is on his first conference as a head coach while Cone is seeking his 15th title which will allow him to pull abreast with his idol, legendary coach Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan. If Abanilla succeeds in pulling off the biggest feat of his your career, he would go down as only the seventh PBA coach to win a title on his maiden conference. But Cone isn’t expected to hand it to him on a silver platter. Combined, the two franchises have won 28 championships, with Petron (known as as San Miguel Beer back then) targeting its 20th title in 33 final appearances and San Mig Coffee zeroing on its 10th. San Mig currently stands at No. 4, along with Toyota, in the all-time list behind San Miguel, Alaska (14) and Crispa (13). The title showdown marks the first time these two franchises will be meeting since the 2000 Governors’ Cup Finals which Petron’s predecessor (SMB) won in five games over Purefoods (as San Mig Coffee was once called). Among those still around from that series are Danny Ildefonso, who won the first of his consecutive MVP awards that season, and a little known assistant to Purefoods’ Derrick Pumaren named Gee Abanilla. By his own admission, the amiable Abanilla says he is “now living a dream.” Pulled off the De La Salle Green Archers barely a week before the UAAP tournament to take over the Boosters this conference following the stepping down of Olsen Racela, Abanilla went on to steer Petron to an 8-2 win-loss record. “One of those two losses came in their first game,” Cone brought up during Wednesday’s pre-finals press conference. Cone must have been reminding himself as well, knowing that Abanilla has done wonders with the once fragmented Boosters. Both teams are under the corporate umbrella of San Miguel Corporation but their personalities, styles and character contrast like fuel and coffee. Petron adores open court attacks, with 6-foot-10 Junmar Fajardo clearing the rebound, firing the outlet pass to Alex Cabagnot, who then has the pick among import Elijah Millsap, Marcio Lassiter or Arwind Santos in transtion. San Mig, on the other hand, prefers to set it up with the offense preached by former NBA coach Phil Jackson, running defenders into screens and leaving shooters open or bigs rolling free to the paint. The big question in Game One is how San Mig plans to neutralize Fajardo’s size advantage. Cone has spoken of his plan “to build a house inside the key and have Junmar go around it” but that would be easier said than done – even in jest since Fajardo, as of late, had shown confidence in his short perimeter game to complement his offensive rebounding. The Boosters have the option to shut down James Yap, Joe Devance and Peter June Simon and allow Mixers import Marqus Blakely, a demon shot-blocker, to do all the hard work offensively, hoping to wear him down before the fourth quarter. San Mig will also have to deal with the red-hot Lassiter, whose 7 three-pointers and career-high 27 points against Rain of Shine in Game 4 would open up the Mixers’ defense for Fajardo, Millsap, and Santos to exploit if an encore takes place. (WJRHT) pba.inquirer.net/32379/petron-blaze-san-mig-coffee-battle-royale-unfolds?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook #adminbubbles
Posted on: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 15:43:34 +0000