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| At this point, I'm just surprised that The Dean hasn't given him a moniker yet. (Photo credit: Sports.inquirer.net) |
On one hand we've got the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, a powerhouse team on paper that continues to live up (or down, depending on which Kabarangay you're asking) to its glorious reputation. The team finished the PBA Governor's Cup as the 4th seed, starting a bit slow before turning it up in its last few games. On the other, you've got the Northport Batang Pier which was arguably on its way to packing its bags this conference following the injury to prized rookie point guard Robert Bolick before somehow landing national skipper Christian Standhinger (and prior to that, the trade that sent its other star guard-- Stanley Pringle to, well, Ginebra).
So we know what we're going to get with Ginebra. The offense runs through super import Justin Brownlee, and whenever he's around (like Meralco and Allen Durham), every thing just falls into place. Only, it was pretty obvious that they had a bit of a rough patch in trying to balance out the offense between Brownlee and Pringle. After those two guys, there's Japeth Aguilar, L.A. Tenorio, and a bit of Scottie Thompson.
Which brings our attention to the 8th seeded North Port. They recently made waves for that gruelling triple overtime upset of the 1st seed NLEX Road Warriors. Standhardinger is turning a lot of heads and making his case for Best Player of the Conference despite the fact that he was only recently traded to North Port by San Miguel. Their import, Michael Qualls, can do a little bit of everything and has the speed, length and athleticism to cover positions 3-5 in the PBA setting. Then there's the energizer bunny known as Sean Anthony, who, IMHO, is a modern day Rudy Hatfield.
This is going to be fun. The onus will be on who can dictate tempo from the get go. Also, if Ginebra can use its size to the hilt to really put the pressure on North Port with their height in the paint. The problem here is, North Port has the bigs, the bruising, elbows-out kind, that their Ginebra counterparts' are "allergic" to.
L.A. Tenorio vs. Nico Elorde
The pressure will be on Tenorio to once again lead Ginebra to victory. But it won't be easy versus Elorde, who is proving to be quite the tough defender who wears opponents down by simply sticking to them like a shadow.
Stanley Pringle vs Kevin Ferrer
Ferrer will get on Pringle's nerves in one of these games. But Pringle will need to make his presence felt enough for Brownlee and the rest to be able to operate freely and not be doubled. On paper, North Port has a few other big/ long guys like Sol Mercado and Paolo Taha to throw at Pringle just to give him different looks.
Scottie Thompson vs Sean Anthony
As good as Thompson has been for Ginebra as a relentless junkyard dog type, he's going to probably find himself matched-up against a mirror image in Anthony (if Coach Pido doesn't waste Anthony on Brownlee). Anthony can do just about everything Thompson does for Ginebra, only, he's bigger and has better range.
Justin Brownlee vs Michael Qualls
The thing about Brownlee that we've always found impressive is that, and maybe it's because he's been wearing the red, white and yellow for so long, he's no longer just a "scorer."
Japeth Aguilar vs Christian Standhardinger
We love Aguilar like the next guy, and have grown to appreciate what he brings to the Ginebra cause. But Standhardinger is cut from an old school, no excuses, no b.s. kind of cloth that every single Ginebra fan has been wanting to see from their own collection of bigs (everyone from Aguilar to Joe DeVance to Greg Slaughter). The kind of player who, as we say in Filipino, "nakikipagpalitan ng mukha" just to score a basket/ grab a rebound/ make a play. Sure, CSH flops and flails, but he also plays with a lot of passion and purpose. This isn't as simple as when Ginebra guards the 5x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo with Slaughter (bigger) or Aguilar (longer) as he tries to back them up. CSH forces the issue and often gets those guarding him in foul trouble by simply bulldozing his way inside. Major problem.
Prediction: Ginebra is going to be in a lot of trouble. A team that doesn't always appear to be playing at 100%, going up against a team that is hungry and has a lot of burning desire to prove their critics wrong. Should Ginebra go big? They have the tools for it, but chances are North Port steps on the gas and leaves Slaughter et. al. behind. Also, it takes away Thompson who does a lot of things for Ginebra.
X-factor: Pick any one of the ex-Ginebra guys who are all going into this match-up with huge chips on their shoulders. Kevin Ferrer might sink a few treys. Jervy Cruz is going to throw some elbows.
Gut feel? North Port. But my brain says Ginebra.
Your thoughts? @kilikilishot on Twitter
