Victory in Victorias is battlecry

Game Saturday (Victorias City)
5:30 p.m. — SMB vs TNT



VICTORIAS CITY — The Philippine Basketball Association is bringing war to the countryside. And the protagonists – Talk ‘N Text and San Miguel Beer – are all set to roll out their strategic plans, assorted weaponry and deathly resolve in Saturday’s Game One of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, an opening salvo that could dictate the outcome of the season’s titanic showdown.


San Miguel’s Jay Washington, neither a brash nor a blushing comrade, has already thrown a gauntlet down the Tropang Texters’ way by revealing that he harbors “animosity” against his former team for trading him three years ago.

All the elements for modern-day combat are present – gripping drama, mutual animosity, a burning desire for superiority, megabuck financing, and powerful behind-the-scene corporate top guns – and everything will come into play when the Tropang Texters and the Beermen clash at the start of the best-of-seven championship series at the Victorias City Sports and Amusement Center in Negros Occidental.

On paper, Talk ’N Text, with its fleet of swift and shifty point guards, holds the advantage in quickness and can be expected to use its burning speed to anchor its breathtaking running game. San Miguel, on the other hand, would be laying siege to the area surrounding the basket where it could ambush any marauding intruder.

But these tangible edges could go to naught once the heat of battle rises, tempers begin to flare up, and emotions reach fever-pitch mode.

Then all the intangibles – hunger, thirst, desire, motivation, incentive, fear, courage, resolve – kick in.



Chot Reyes, the TNT coach whose last word in 2008 sealed the fate of Washington, responded by saying that not one, but at least two players, will be dispatched to cool down the vengeful Beermen forward.

This arrangement could create numerous variables for both teams, from instantaneous offensive alternatives to retooled defensive match-ups, depending on the demands of the situation.

This marks the fifth PBA championship game to be held out-of-town but only the first in more than 10 years and the first to open a title series.

Previously, Game Two of the 2000 Commissioner’s Cup was held in Urdaneta, Pangasinan, with San Miguel beating Sta. Lucia Realty, 72-67; Game Two of the 1999 Governor’s Cup was played in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, with Alaska defeating San Miguel, 73-62; Game Three of the 1999 All-Filipino Cup was in Ormoc, with Shell beating Tanduay, 91-81; and Game Four of the 1998 All-Filipino Cup was in Cebu, with Alaska edging SMB, 89-84.

Since its implementation in the 1982 Reinforced Conference, there had already been 84 best-of-7 series, 62 of them in the Finals, making this the 85th best-of-7 series, and the 63rd in the Finals.

How important is Game One in 84 previous best-of-7 PBA series?

Fifty-six of the 84 teams which took a 1-0 lead in a best-of-7 series went on to win the series for a 67 percent winning chance.

The last six opening winners of a best-of-7 and seven of the last eight all went on to win the series.

Most significant, nine of the last 12 Game One winners in the PBA Finals went on to win the title.

All these could be lost, however, if both teams start playing true to form, as the top seeds of the conference.

Focus will be on how SMB coach Ato Agustin, in his first final appearance right on his first conference at the helm, will deal with TNT’s backcourt – the heart and soul of its offense – especially ace playmaker Jimmy Alapag.

Veteran SMB point guard Olsen Racela said during the Finals press conference that solving the Alapag puzzle could mean solving one-half of the Texters riddle. But that could be easier said than done, given Alapag’s multi-dimensional game and varying speeds.
source: