PBA GC QF: (1) Alaska vs (8) Ginebra

Whichever team controls the paint,
controls the series
(Photo credits to Sports5)

This is not going to be pretty.

For the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel faithful, there's no harm in entertaining thoughts of an upset. Basketball is a fair and just sport-- the ball is round, shots can go in or out, players can get sick/ hurt/ cause drama on any given day. There is always a chance of winning.

But in this series? Versus a healthy and well-oiled Alaska Aces squad that quietly snuck its way atop the PBA Governor's Cup standings with arguably the most low-profile, no, under-rated import in Romeo Travis leading the way?

Slim to none. The chances are slim. To. None.

Sure, Ginebra has the so-called "Twin Towers" but man for man, pound for pound, even the most casual Pinoy basketball fan would take the pair of Sonny Thoss and Calvin Abueva versus Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. ANY FAN.

Why?

"Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard."

And body language on the court, hustle, rebounding, that grit-- well, we would never associate any of those words with Slaughter. Aguilar? Sure, but more on the gigil side than grit (although, Aguilar has played with a lot more focus and intensity versus Abueva and seems to rise to the challenge of facing The Beast the last few times).

So Ginebra, in this match-up, will have to look for Dorian Pena, Rodney Brondial and Dave Marcelo to get the job done. The Aces' traded away Gabby Espinas, which pretty much downsized their line-up, so Ginebra should still lord it over the paint with the three back-up centers mentioned above. Vic Manuel is going to beast the greenhorns Brondial and Marcelo in some spots sure, but The Muscleman will have his work cut out for him battling Pena for rebounds.

On to the guards.

If he plays his cards right, this is the series that would endear Sol Mercado to the Ginebra faithful. Who stands in his way? Jvee "slip n slide" Casio? RJ Jazul? Ping Exciminiano needs more upper body mass. Maybe Chris Banchero?

Maybe.

We're not going to talk about Emman Monfort and L.A. Tenorio here, because Casio almost always brings his DLSU God Mode-self when it comes to facing the two (probably sees Ateneo blue than Ginebra red).

So the locals are going to do their thing. Ginebra has some individual advantages with Mercado (bull strong combo guard) and Aguilar (athletic, 6"9 gazelle of a jump shooter) but the Aces have the overall advantage when it comes to teamwork and execution.

The imports?

Orlando Johnson dropped 50 on the Aces that one game they faced early this conference which they lost 99 to 108. Travis Romeo answered with a cool 34 points and 16 rebounds. Of the two, Romeo seems to be better equipped at playing both ends of the floor. Doesn't mean that he can stop Johnson, who is a gifted scorer, but he can keep an eye out on him, or even Mercado/ Mark Caguioa should things get out of hand.

And Dondon Hontiveros, the ageless one, is always up to the task of guarding whoever.

Ginebra needs to play their A game to beat Alaska.

The way the team has been this conference however, well, we'll give them a nod and say they can force a rubber match. But to beat the Aces twice in a row? Quite a tall order, even for the league's tallest frontline.

Prediction: Alaska