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SEMIS SPOTLIGHT
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We’re seeing a team on the rise and another making a miraculous run. A beast was unleashed in the series-clinching win against a powerhouse team while old warriors found their games being resurrected.
HITS
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel – The return of the Kings to the championship round was surprising indeed.
From being the seventh-ranked team entering the playoffs, the league’s never say die squad had to endure four knockout games combined in the quarterfinals and semis, needing to beat No.2 seed Rain or Shine twice in the quarterfinals and then battling back from 1- 2 deficit against Talk N Text.
And all these the Kings did without their superstar guard Mark Caguioa, who was still recuperating from a knee injury.
Alaska – We are now witnesses to the rise of Alaska in the post Tim Cone era. With a young coach at the helm and a mixture of young guys and veterans coming along together, the Aces were able to pull through in the semis against ironically a squad handled by their former mentor.
But before sealing their entry into the Finals, Alaska had to get the monkey off their backs. They lost their first eight meetings against Cone’s squad before winning their last three encounters, beginning Game Two of their best-of-five semis showdown.
LA Tenorio- The acronym LA is synonymous to showtime in basketball. So is Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s LA Tenorio, who dished out his own brand of game that certainly entertained the entire Barangay.
Tenorio averaged 22 points in the last two wins of the Kings, capped by his 28-point output in their series-clinching victory in Game Five.
With Tenorio in control, Ginebra waltzed its way to the last dance against his former team Alaska.
Calvin Abueva – The Aces have unleashed The Beast in bringing down the reigning champions.
Calvin Abueva stepped up, averaging 19 points in the last two games, including a double-double performance in Game Three that completed the Aces’ come-from-behind overtime win.
He had 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 104-101 triumph in Game Three. In Game Four, the rookie standout bucked a slow start by scoring 12 of his 14 in the fourth.
Kerby Raymundo and Jayjay Helterbrand – Good games are hard to come by for these two grizzled veterans this season, but they found ways to revive their slumping careers in the playoffs.
The former Letran Knight picked up his game at the right time. He churned up significant numbers in Ginebra’s last two wins, averaging 12.5 points and six rebounds.
Helterbrand, one of two former MVPs playing for the Kings, started to get going as early as the quarterfinal round.
He registered averages of 16.5 points in Ginebra’s last two victories, numbers which were enough to make up for the absence of Mark Caguioa.
MISSES
Denzel Bowles – Monster Bowles was tamed by Alaska’s airtight defense. In the first two games of the series, the reigning Best Import had career-low outputs, including only eight in Game Two’s blowout win by the Aces.
Bowles did perform decently in the next two games, but there were stretches where the 6-foot-10 slotman was thrown out of his comfort zone and couldn’t take over when needed.
James Yap, Jimmy Alapag, Ranidel de Ocampo – In a short best-of-five series, every game is important.
But Yap and Alapag, both former MVPs, and De Ocampo, Talk N Text’s most consistent frontliner, missed a game each in the series.
Yap continuously complained of his hurting back and finally decided not to play in Game Four. Without him, San Mig Coffee lost ground, failing to find a go-to guy down the stretch.
An injured calf which he suffered during practice with Gilas Pilipinas prior to the start of the PBA All-Stars forced Alapag to miss Game Four of their series with Ginebra, a game where his team narrowly lost. Although he had a cameo role in Game Five, it was De Ocampo’s turn to skip action in the fifth and deciding match.
Larry Fonacier – The Baby Faced Assassin was off target in the semifinal series’ last two games. The former Finals MVP had a combined field goal shooting of 2-of-11 and averaged only 3.5 points per game.
This came at a time when his offense was needed most following the absence of De Ocampo and Alapag on separate occasions – RJ
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EDITORS' PICK
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