PBA GovCup Finals: Family Feud

Like most family feuds,
it's going to be ugly
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

Did you know that the (established) San Miguel Corporation PBA franchises: Petron Blaze, San Mig Coffee and Barangay Ginebra have a grand total of 36 PBA championships among them? Petron Blaze is lording it over with an astonishing 19 titles while the little brothers—SMC and Ginebra are trying to create separation from the other with 9 and 8, respectively.

With Petron Blaze and San Mig Coffee being armed to the teeth (both possess arguably the most star-studded and star-heavy eight-man rotation in the whole PBA), it’s going to be mighty interesting how the series turns out. We explore the match-ups and who has the edge overall:

PG Alex Cabagnot/ Chico Lanete vs Alex Mallari/ Mark Barroca

It’s going to be Cabagnot’s heady play and clutch shooting taking on the ultra aggressive Mallari and the cerebral and efficient Barroca. Quite frankly, we’re not loving the match-up for Cabagnot since he’ll be asked to chase either of SMC’s guards against a bunch of brush and flare screens. Don’t be surprised if the Fil-Hawaiian point guard lands in foul trouble early or if we see Denok Miranda make some early appearances just to give Petron a different look.

Adv SMC

SG Ronald Tubid/ Chris Lutz vs PJ Simon/ James Yap

Here’s the problem: SMC can’t play Yap and Simon both at once since it will force their head coach Tim Cone to either sit their X-factor: DeVance (more on this later) or move him to the 4 spot where he’s at a disadvantage (against either Millsap or Santos). So for now, SMC will have to do pray that whenever one of their scorers are fielded in, that they deliver right from the start. Yap vs Tubid is going to be pretty interesting, since we’ve always argued that Tubid has all the tools to be star even when they were teammates in UE—just none of the “TV star factor.” We’re going to give this series to Petron, because Lutz is healthy, can make plays AND make stops oh, and that dude has “killer” written all over him.

Adv Petron

SF Arwind Santos/ Marcio Lassiter vs Joe DeVance

SMC’s biggest asset going into this series from the last one is that no one was able to shackle DeVance. At a limber 6”8, DeVance can bring the ball down the floor with ease, turn around and post up his defender or just shoot an easy (almost timid) jumper. This time around however, DeVance will have to do it against a more established (yet still shorter) defender in the wiry Santos and bloodhound-like Lassiter while also having to work his tail off on defending the two on the opposite end. For SMC to win, they need DeVance to be a presence on the floor which will lessen the pressure off Yap, Simon and Blakely.

Adv Petron

PF Elijah Millsap vs Marqus Blakely

Millsap is a beast. There’s no going around that. He is blue collar efficient with a bit of flair. Fortunately for SMC, Blakely’s been around this path before and faced an even bigger and more dominant opponent (Jamelle Cornley in last year’s Finals). The do-it-all import for SMC will have to be extra creative in not getting into any foul trouble in this series since he anchors the post defense opposite Pingris. So yeah, all Petron needs to really be doing is to keep on driving into the paint and get Blakely out of the equation. Easier said than done, but they have the tools for it.

Adv SMC

C Junemar Fajardo/ Doug Kramer vs Marc Pingris/ Rafi Reavis 

Pingris will fight with so much bravery and valor in this series that you’d actually turn into a big fan (if you’re still not a Ping-head that is) and pencil him in as your starting power forward for any fantasy Pilipinas national team no matter what. But a skilled, developing 6”10 center with a bunny hop will always trump a gutsy 6”4 power forward. For Fajardo to dominate this match-up, he needs to play facing the basket than having his back to it. Against a skilled defender like Pingris, Fajardo will be at an advantage if he is able to see the Fil-Frenchie rather than from his blindside. It should also be noted that during the course of this season, Fajardo has been able to keep himself off foul trouble fairly well unlike other traditional Filipino big men. Kramer is going to bicep shot the fukk out of Reavis.

Adv Petron

For SMC to win, Tim Cone will have to dig deep and coach the hell out of his Xs and Os and make the key adjustments. We expect Petron to be the initiator and instigator. Coach Gee Abanilla also has that NBA scout turned ABL champion coach turned “I’m not Rajko” consultant Todd Purves a.k.a. Cone’s #kalokalike at his disposal to draw up plays

Prediction: Petron Blaze in 6.