LEADERS CONTEST PLAYOFFS NO. 1 SEEDING IN PANABO
San Miguel Beer and Alaska dispute the postseason top seeding as they clash in the final offering of the Petron Blaze-sponsored road series in the PBA Governors’ Cup in Panabo City Saturday.
Pacing the field with an 8-2 mark and a 7-2 slate respectively, the Beermen and the Aces collide at 5 p.m. with the winner topping the elimination round and advancing to the quarterfinals with a twice-to-beat advantage versus the eighth and last seed.
The Beermen are unbeaten in their last eight games while the Aces ride the momentum of a three-game streak going into the match set at the Panabo City Tourism, Sports and Cultural Center in Panabo, Davao del Norte.
Win or lose, San Miguel is assured of a match-up against a team with a twice-to-win task in the Final Eight.
The Aces, on the other hand, need one more win in their last two games to formally secure the same privilege in the quarters.
The Panabo tiff is a topnotch match between the two teams that slugged it out in a stretch-out best-of-seven showdown for the Philippine Cup championship.
San Miguel outfought Alaska in their do-or-die match in the all-Filipino Finals, then the Aces scored some measure of revenge in their Commissioner’s Cup tussle, 107-100.
The two teams have been on the same course, bombing out of contention early in the second conference and now on strong comeback runs in the season-ending tourney.
The Beermen’s slump continued up to their first two games in the Governors’ Cup before finally getting back into the groove.
Coach Leo Austria and his chargers have been unbeaten for nearly six weeks now or after a 0-2 start in the tourney with losses to Kia (78-83) and Meralco (95-106 in overtime).
The Beermen have no plan of slowing down.
“You wanna improve everything. You can never be satisfied. When you’re satisfied, you get comfortable and when you’re comfortable, you lose,” said SMB import AZ Reid.
“We’re not satisfied with nothing. Our defense could be better, our offense could be better. I can make more shots, get more assists, get more stops but I didn’t. There’s always room for improvement,” Reid added. (SB)
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