source: philstar.com
San Miguel Beer, Barangay Ginebra and Alaska Milk, among the teams expected to do well in the new PBA season, launch their campaigns in the 2009-2010 KFC PBA Philippine Cup today, figuring in an exciting twinbill at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen and the Kings clash in an early rematch of their Fiesta Conference title duel at 7:30 p.m. while the Aces – losing finalists in the last all-Filipino tourney – collide with the Barako Bull Energy Boosters earlier at 5 p.m.
The Beermen, the Kings and the Aces, together with the Talk n Text Tropang Texters and the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants, are among those fancied to figure prominently in the fight for the Philippine Cup championship.
SMB is highly touted as it is bringing back the core of the Fiesta Conference champion team boosted further by the return of Danny Seigle and the addition of Arwind Santos, Denok Miranda and Mike Holper.
Ginebra has kept the nucleus of the team that narrowly lost the Fiesta Conference crown to San Miguel, and the Kings are boosted by Mark Caguioa’s comeback and the arrival of Rico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez, Celino Cruz and Kevin White.
Alaska hardly had changes but reactivated Ariel Capus from the reserve list and enlisted Fil-Am rookie Mike Burtscher.
Barako Bull is a team that embarked on a massive buildup in the off-season, opting for young players all raring to show their worth in the pros.
Among the new players at Barako Bull are Aris Dimaunahan, Gec Chia, Gilbert Lao, Ogie Menor, Benedict Fernandez, Bruce Viray, Yousif Aljamal and Brian Faundo.
The Beermen and the Kings are expected to figure in a fierce battle as they did in their Fiesta Conference best-of-seven title showdown, which hit the full distance.
With several new players coming in, Ginebra coach Jong Uichico has decided to apply a new system in his team, opting to pattern their plays after FIBA games.
“We’ll try to spread the ball around and give each one equal opportunity to score because we don’t have a legitimate real advantage in talent. We’re at a disadvantage compared to San Miguel, Purefoods and Purefoods talent-wise man-for-man,” said Uichico.
“The players are having a hard time adjusting to it. It’s a gamble but sometimes you have to take the risk if you think that’s the right way to go. We hope it works,” Uichico added.
Uichico, however, stressed there will still be their run-and-gun game.
Games on Wednesday (Araneta Coliseum)
5:00 p.m. — Alaska vs Barako Bull
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs San Miguel
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