IT’S GONNA BE A BATTLE
Two Grand Slam-winning coaches. Two teams that are loaded from top-to-bottom. And five games to decide who will take home the ultimate prize in the 2014 PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Both teams are aiming for a piece of history, as San Mig Super Coffee guns for its third straight title and Talk ‘N Text hopes for a perfect 16-0 conference, not to mention, its first hardware since winning last season’s Philippine Cup.
Will it be a nip-and-tuck affair? Or can one team make short work of the other?
GlobalPort forward Jay Washington shares his two cents’ worth.
“Talk ‘N Text has the edge because they look really good right now. They’re import is a beast,” he said, referring to Richard Howell, who has been a mammoth in his first tour of duty with the Tropang Texters and is now the favorite to win the Bobby Parks Best Import plum.
Ginebra’s Greg Slaughter also agrees with this argument, saying “Picking between the two is a tough one, but I think Talk ‘N Text has the edge because of their import.”
Meanwhile, Alaska coach Luigi Trillo says, “Talk ‘N Text owns a very slight advantage.”
Noting that the Coffee Mixers just went the full five-game route to advance to the championship series, fatigue is sure to be a factor once the opening buzzer of Game 1 sounds at the Big Dome on Friday.
“They are the fresher team. They also have the depth to match-up against San Mig,” he said.
But Trillo believes the Texters should be wary of the Coffee Mixers, what with the Tim Cone-mentored squad being a fixture in the last three conference Finals and having survived a number of no-tomorrow matches in the process.
He said, “San Mig, though, has so much experience and that is sure to play a factor in this series.”
Moments after Air21 bowed out of the conference, the Express’ Asi Taulava felt that with the way San Mig just outhustled his squad, the Mixers just might have that bit of an advantage.
“You just saw how they played tonight, right? It’s gonna be tough to beat that team,” Asi said.
But Taulava says that when the biggest prize is already at stake, you can take all those so-called advantages out of the window and the players will just lay it all out on the floor.
“Both teams are rich in championship experience. It’s gonna be an amazing end to the conference,” he said. “I think it’s gonna go five. It’s gonna be a battle down there.” (RL)
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