After bruising series, tougher games ahead for Kings, Giants

source: Waylon Galvez | mb.com.ph

After surviving their respective quarterfinal series, the going gets tougher for both Purefoods and Barangay Ginebra.

The Gin Kings and the Giants start their Final Four showdowns this Wednesday against the top two seeds at the end of classification phase, the Alaska Aces and the San Miguel Beermen as the playoff continues in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

Purefoods and Barangay Ginebra will enter the semifinals carrying the momentum of their 3-2 victories in the best-of-five quarterfinals series against wildcard survivor Rain or Shine and erstwhile champion Talk ’N Text.

The Jong Uichico-mentored Ginebra came back from a 0-2 in the series with three straight wins including Game 4, which TNT forfeited with a walkout in the first period last Friday, and a convincing 113-100 triumph in the sudden-death Game 5 last Sunday.

The Kings will face the Aces and Uichico knows it’s going to be another tough series considering they are up against the No. 1 team.

“They have the offensive system, they can defend. As always, it’s going to be hard beating Alaska,” Uichico said.

Another thing that concerns Uichico is his roster, with Mark Caguioa and reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jayjay Helterbrand, as well as Eric Menk “not a hundred percent” after sustaining injuries early in the conference.

That’s the reason why he had to rely most of the time on second stringers like JC Intal, who proved to be a revelation in the quarterfinals as he averaged almost 25 points per game, Ronald Tubid, Cyrus Baguio, Celino Cruz, Willie Wilson, and Rico Villanueva.

Alaska will come into the series well rested and coach Tim Cone’s Aces led by former two-time MVP Willie Miller are eager to end a 10-year title drought in an all-Filipino conference.

As for Purefoods TJ, Ryan Gregorio’s team blew a 2-0 lead when Rain or Shine leveled the series with back-to-back wins, but the Giants, led by James Yap’s 28 points, scored a 95-85 win in the no-tomorrow Game 5.

Waiting for Purefoods though is San Miguel, which won twice its head-to-head in the classification phase and has the manpower to match the Giants’ firepower.

“They beat us in the elims, so we have to find ways to beat them,” Gregorio said.