PBA PhC QF: 4 TNT v 5 GP

To be the Man, you have to beat THE Man
(Photo credit: smartgilasbasketball.com)

This match-up is going to be quite interesting: a re-calibrated championship team going up against young up-and-comers who want to take over the basketball world.

Ladies and gentlemen the PBA gives to you: 4th seed TNT Katropa versus the 5th seed GlobalPort Batang Pier. On one side is the King of the Jungle, FIBA Asia all-star guard Jayson Castro, and on the other stands the young lion, Terrence Romeo.

But if you are expecting a plain, old school shootout between the two, we doubt that TNT's going to be a willing dance partner given their spread-out, "collegiate" approach.

PG Matt Ganuelas/ Jayson Castro v Terrence Romeo/ Mike CortezAs good as Castro is, he has been coming off the bench this conference in a conscious effort to get his other teammates involved in the system. This has resulted in rather inconsistent outings, since there is a huge disparity in play between starter Ganuelas and Castro. On the flip side, Romeo has been balling as of late and when he tends to get out of control, GP head coach Franz Pumaren is always quick to send in his trusted point man Mike Cortez who by now could run any of Coach Franz' sets in his sleep.
Adv. GP

SG Ryan Reyes/ Larry Fonacier v Stanley PringleDoes Reyes have enough left in the tank to bottle up Pringle? Though the Fil-Am guard with Euro-basket credentials has appeared to have willingly taken a back seat to Romeo, there is no denying that he is arguably GP's best two-way guard. It's going to come down to a "pick your poison" approach for TNT, and maybe it would be wise at this point to dare Pringle to carry GP (something that, in theory, he could do, but hasn't).
Adv. GP

SF Roger Pogoy v Anthony SemeradLet's be honest here, they won't be guarding each other. Semerad is best left to try and stop TNT's avalanche of hybrid fours while Pogoy, much like in their Elimination round match-up, will be tasked to keep Romeo in check. To his credit, the rookie did more than just hound Romeo in that match-- he even top scored for TNT! Sure, Romeo still got his numbers, but he did it by forcing a lot of the action and taking too much time no thanks to Pogoy just being always around him.
Adv. TNT

PF Troy Rosario/ Ranidel de Ocampo v Nino Canaleta/ Rico MaierhoferThis is going to be ugly, it won't even be funny.
Adv. TNT

C Moala Tautuaa/ Kelly Williams v JR Quinahan/ Mick PennisiAnother one-sided affair. As good as Quinahan has been for GP, we've been RoS fans long enough to know that he just can't match-up with TNT's athletic bigs. Even if he has lost a ton of weight. They just jump higher, have muscles on muscles, and can run up and down the floor with relative ease. 
Adv. TNT

X-factor: Mike Cortez for GP, Kelly Williams for TNT
Troy Rosario will most likely put up stellar numbers yet again for TNT, as expected, same with Rosario. But if Kelly Williams, former PBA MVP, could join the fun, well, GP's going to have all sorts of problems. Cortez is our pick for GP, since Romeo and Pringle's mettle will obviously be tested here and they will need the veteran to keep them from trying to do too much (which often leads to abandoning team play) when the chips are down.

Prediction: TNT

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