MIXERS START FINAL PLAYOFF PUSH FOR GRAND SLAM
To get a shot at the final jewel of the Triple Crown, San Mig Super Coffee will have to hurdle grand slam-holder San Miguel Beer and then, possibly, grand slam-winning coach Norman Black and his Talk n Text squad.
With hardly any rest after their last game in the eliminations Monday, the Mixers start their hellish ride in the PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs in battling the Beermen at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
As the playoffs fourth seed, serving the Mixers some comfort is their twice-to-beat advantage over the fifth ranked Beermen.
Probably resigned to the prospect of playing a second game in 24 hours, coach Tim Cone played his top guns limited minutes against Rain or Shine Monday night.
But in losing the match, the Mixers found themselves trekking a seemingly more treacherous path to complete a grand slam season.
First up for San Mig Coffee is the San Miguel squad which is fresher with a two-day rest and back with a healthy lineup with the return of Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter.
It’s a solid wall with one-time MVP winner Arwind Santos, MVP contender June Mar Fajardo and businesslike import Reggie Williams leading its formidable cast.
After being beaten by the Mixers in the deciding Game Seven of the 2013 Governors’ Cup Finals, the Beermen have lost just one of their next four matches with the Mixers.
On the endgame heroics of Williams, San Miguel Beer nipped San Mig Coffee, 92-90, in their elims faceoff last May 25.
The two teams finished in a heavy tie at third place with Alaska, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Air21 at 5-4.
After the application of the quotient system of breaking ties, the Mixers landed at fourth and the Beermen at fifth.
And in their same bracket in the playoffs are top seed Talk n Text and the much-improved Air21 team. (SB)
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