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EYES ON RETURNEE CABAGNOT AS BEERMEN, TEXTERS GO TO BATTLE
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On his way out of the Smart Araneta Coliseum Tuesday night after Talk ‘N Text sent Barangay Ginebra San Miguel packing in the do-or-die playoff, Tropang Texters point guard Jayson Castro mentioned one name that he felt would be the difference when they face San Miguel Beer in the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-7 semifinals starting Friday: Alex Cabagnot.
“Malaking bagay yung pagkakadagdag niya sa San Miguel dahil mas mahirap nang mag-double ngayon kay June Mar [Fajardo],” said Castro, spelling out the main concern of TNT head coach Jong Uichico.
TNT beat SMB in the eliminations, 107-101, on Dec. 5 by relentlessly double-teaming the 6-foot-10 Fajardo, holding him to 7 of 15 shooting while leaving the Beermen playmakers open most of the time. Recent acquisition Jeric Fortuna did come off the bench to hit 3 3-point shots and finish with 15 points, but Chris Ross took just one attempt from the rainbow in 22 minutes – making it – while Sol Mercado was 1 of 5 from the field in 13 minutes with no trey.
The two combined for just 8 triples together with SMB.
Exit Mercado to GlobalPort for former Petron Blaze starter Cabagnot, who was traded by the Boosters for Mercado last season following a reported rift with star forward Arwind Santos.
Cabagnot drained 25 treys in his stint with GlobalPort.
SMB governor Robert Non brushed aside talks Santos and Cabagnot are warring instead of reconciling, insisting that whatever it was that they had argued about before, if there was any, has been resolved and put behind them.
“Sabay na ngang kumain yung dalawa after practice e,” said Non before the TNT-Ginebra game.
It that’s true, then it could mean more trouble for Castro and the Texters when Game 1 of their series with the Beermen kicks off Friday, 7 p.m., at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“Di naman sa hindi tumitira yung mga guwardiya nila noon, pero si Alex talagang shooter siya at saka magaling mag-set up ng mga kakampi; specialty niya yon,” said Castro, careful not to ruffle feathers.
In 10 games with GlobalPort this conference, Cabagnot averaged 15.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists, numbers the Texters will have to find answers to.
Castro said they have no choice but to rise to the challenge of a reinforced San Miguel.
“Mahirap pero I’m sure naman na me mga nakahanda rin kaming mga adjustments. Tulong-tulong na lang kami dahil pinapakinggan naman nina Coach Jong at Coach Tab [Baldwin] ang mga suggestions namin e.”
Uichico gave immediate sense of what they are up against next during the post-game interview after the Kings game.
“It will be hard playing San Miguel,” Uichico said. “They are well-rested and they have the advantage since we had to go through three knockout games. We’ll have our hands full but it’s a long series and we just have to try and find a way to achieve our goal, which is to get to the Finals.”
The winner between SMB and TNT will face in the best-of-7 Finals whoever emerges in the other series featuring Rain or Shine and Alaska.
It will be Uichico’s second clash with a former team, having led SMB to six championships in the ‘90s and Ginebra to two more after that before joining the Meralco Bolts two years ago.
Asked if it ever cross his mind that it would be by his hands that his two former teams might fall, Uichico said, “No, natapat lang na magkasama kami sa bracket. They’re just games we have to win to reach our objective.”
SMB coach Leo Austria, on the other hand, made no secret that they intend to use Cabagnot’s outside shooting to their advantage.
“The reason we got him (Cabagnot) is because we want to him to shoot from the perimeter. And I believe he’s one of the best point guards today. And since we have June Mar in the shaded area and in order for us to open up (inside), we need to surround him (Fajardo) with shooters,” Austria said.
“With Sol and Chris, most of the time na sila ang nasa loob, may opportunity ang kalaban namin to strengthen their defense on June Mar. But if you have Alex, they (Texters) will not gamble because if he’s open, there’s no hesitation for him to take the shot.” (WJRHT)
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