PBA GovCup Finals: BMeg vs Rain or Shine

Pisikalan at pagalingan sa pagtira ng tres

Prepare for war.

Though the Rain or Shine Elastopainters enjoy a 2-0 GovCup match-up advantage over the BMeg Llamados, it still wouldn't be wise to cast the Yeng Guiao-coached squad as the instant favorites. Not against a team that just came off a championship run, is peaking at the right time and has a certain individual named Tim Cone hollering Hall of Fame plays from the bench.

From an individual talent standpoint, the Llamados feature some of the league's best while the Elastopainters have guys who are solid but not great. Household names such as James Yap, PJ Simon and Marc Pingris command star power and much leeway from the referees which could ultimately decide the series. On the other side of things, Jeffrei Chan's outside sniping could very well be the key to the series-- how open he gets off brush and backdoor screens and makes his SG counterparts Yap and Simon work on defense.


PG Mark Barroca/ Josh Urbiztondo vs Paul Lee
It's pretty safe to say that at this point, there are not a lot of power PGs who are in the league of the Elastopainters' Lee. He can drive, is deceivingly quick and has great basketball IQ on both ends. Urbiztondo will have to pray that he makes his patented long threes in order to stay on the floor and help his team win. Barroca can't handle Lee. Best case scenario really is for Jonas Villanueva to come in for the Llamados and go at Lee.
Adv.: RoS

SG PJ Simon/ Jonas Villanueva vs Jeffrei Chan/ Ryan Arana/ Ronjay Buenafe
Simon will get his shots when and if he chooses, but it's going to be fun to see if he can keep Chan in check specially when the SMART Gilas 2 standout starts running through backscreens set by his horizontally huge frontline. Whatever offense Buenafe can muster will be a bonus. If you're a Llamados fan, you have to be wary of Arana who is a vastly under-rated, daig pa linta defender who has the speed and knows how to play D with every inch of his body.
Adv. Tied

SF James Yap/ JC Intal vs Gabe Norwood/ Jireh Ybanes
There's no way that Yap will finish this series without at least two 20 point games. For Norwood to succeed in trying to stop Yap, the lanky Fil-Am needs to play with a lot of energy from the get go. His length will be an advantage in trying to mess up the 2x PBA MVP's game off a bit, but don't expect it to happen anytime soon. Fortunately for the Elastopainters, they still have a solid defender on the bench in Ybanes.
Adv. BMeg

PF Marquis Blakely vs Jamelle Cornley
This is going to be fun, but if RoS wants to win big and set the tone-- Cornley should be asked to play more in the paint instead of receiving the ball up top for an isolation (which he's been pretty bad at). If Cornley plays like a brute and throws his weight around, Blakely will be sent to the bench faster than you can correctly pronounce Maria Regina Christina... For Blakely, it's all about hustling and out-jumping the burly Cornley. If Blakely can make Cornley put the ball on the floor and shoot jumpers, then this one's going to be a pretty short Finals. But that's a big IF.

Adv. RoS

C Marc Pingris/ Yancy de Ocampo vs Beau Belga/ JayR Quinahan
Pingris and YDO (and Rafi Reavis, Jerwin Gaco and even Ken Bono) are all high IQ basketball players down low. They're not superstars, but they are some of the best in what they do. They use their height to the hilt and crash the boards like hungry, bad ass mofos. Fortunately for the Elastopainters, the "Extra Rice, Inc." are no pushovers by any means. Belga is probably one of the smartest PFs in the league today (that, plus he has pretty much made Talk 'n' Text's Japeth Aguilar his chew toy the last two years) while Quinahan is just an intimidating presence down on the block who can hit the three ball when it's needed.
Adv. BMeg


Overall, we're surely going to be treated to a very competitive Governor's Cup Finals-- a fitting way to end another strong season for the league. For the Llamados to win it all, they need to run and rebound. For the Elastopainters, it's a little bit more complicated--they need Lee to control the tempo at all times. If their fastbreak opportunity dies, then so will their hopes of winning their first over title in the PBA. The Elastopainters should also always look for the cross matches on defense since Coach Tim has his guys rotating and trapping specially when defending the pick and roll-- they guard and rotate like wolves.

KKS' money's on Rain or Shine and their unpredictability.