Imports and all, Abueva and Fajardo will be Finals factors
Basketball may be a five-a-side game but you can count on two players to define how the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals will play out when San Miguel Beer and Alaska battle for the season-ending crown.
Reigning–and possibly still–MVP June Mar Fajardo will be the centerpiece of San Miguel’s blueprint. This may be an import conference, but don’t expect coach Leo Austria to veer away from dumping the ball down low to the 6-foot-10 star.
Going to the post with Fajardo actually opens up the Beermen’s vaunted offense. Alaska has the big men to go one-on-one with Fajardo, but if the big guy goes wild and the Aces start to camp their help defense around his waist, guys like Marcio Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot will get their looks.
For Alaska, the key local will be Calvin Abueva, the firebrand star whose numbers may not match up to those of Fajardo but whose hustle and general scrappiness make up for that.
Abueva buys Alaska extra possessions with loose-ball recoveries and tenacious defense. And a few of his antics have been known to spark Alaska rallies. If he impacts the Aces on both ends of the floor, the Beermen are in for a rough ride.
This may be an import conference, with Alaska’s Romeo Travis and San Miguel’s Arizona Reid leading the charge, but look to these two locals to make this series a continuation of their tightly fought Philippine Cup duel.
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