Games today:
(Mall of Asia Arena)
3 p.m. — Magnolia vs Phoenix
6:30 p.m. — San Miguel vs Ginebra
The last time San Miguel Beer faced Barangay Ginebra in a Philippine Basketball Association best-of-five semifinal series, the Beermen got swept.
Now, the tables have turned and the Beermen are ready to go for the kill when they battle the Kings anew in Game 3 of their Commissioner’s Cup semifinal duel today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Game time is set at 6:30 p.m. with the Beermen looking for a victory that will send them to the best-of-seven finals series against the survivor in the other semifinal battle featuring Magnolia and Phoenix Super LPG with the Hotshots also shooting for the clincher at 3 p.m.
At first, the 2-0 leads that the Beermen and Hotshots are enjoying look imposing.
But it’s not a reflection of how tough and tightly-fought their respective finals duels had become. And against the desperate and hungry Kings and Fuel Masters squads, the road to the finals will not be easy for both the Beermen and the Hotshots.
San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent and his boys have a golden chance of bringing out their brooms to complete the sweep but they refuse to get complacent knowing that Kings have a history of coming back from huge deficits.
“We’re talking here of a champion team. A champion team that is well-coached,” said Gallent, referring to Ginebra, which once came back from a 1-3 deficit before turning back Shell in the 1991 First Conference.
Aside from that, Ginebra is also being coached by Tim Cone, the winningest coach in PBA history with 25 titles and the only mentor to win two grand slams.
The last time the Beermen and the Kings clashed in the semifinals was in the Governors’ Cup last year in which Justin Brownlee and Ginebra swept the Beermen powered by Cameron Clark.
Now, the Beermen have a chance to flip the script and finish off the Kings, but Gallent doesn’t want to look past their upcoming game.
“That means you cannot let your guard down. We’ve worked so hard in our first two wins and there’s no reason for us to work less now that we’re up 2-0,” Gallent said.
It’s a similar mentality coach Chito Victolero and the rest of the Hotshots would be bringing when they face the Fuel Masters, who were just five minutes away from leveling the series until they lost their composure in the endgame.
“It’s the hardest game, the close-out game,” Victolero said.
“I’ve been there before.”
“All I know is we need to lock in now. There’s no reason for us to celebrate because we haven’t achieved anything yet. We’ve to come out more prepared and avoid losing that double-digit lead that nearly cost us the game.”
