Beermen, Ka-Tropa begin semifinal tiff
THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS San Miguel Beermen and the TNT KaTropa begin their PBA Philippine Cup best-ofseven semifinal battle today with Game One set for 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Taking care of business in their respective quarterfinal pairings, the Beermen and KaTropa barged into the final four where they will now try to take their championship bids in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament deeper.
San Miguel finished the elimination round waxing hot, winning its last nine games and winding up as the top seed with a 10-1 record to earn a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
In the quarters, however, the Beermen saw no need to use the incentive given them as they eliminated the eighth- seeded Rain or Shine Elastopainters at the first instance, 98-91.
Leading best player of the conference contender June Mar Fajardo continues to be a dominant force for San Miguel with numbers of 19.4 points and 15.8 rebounds per game in the Philippine Cup.
Veteran guard Alex Cabagnot has been good for 16.3 points and 4.1 assists while Arwind Santos is tallying 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Sweet- shooting Marcio Lassiter, for his part, is gunning 13.6 points per outing for San Miguel, which won the title last year in historic fashion, coming from a 0-3 series deficit to win over the Alaska Aces in seven games.
In their lone game in the Philippine Cup elimination round, San Miguel got the better of TNT, 98-94.
CONFIDENCE
Knowing that they are up against a powerhouse team like the Beermen, the KaTropa, the fourth seed after the elimination round, are banking on the collective confidence they were able to gain after an impressive showing in their quarterfinal pairing with number five-team Global-Port Batang Pier, where they swept the latter in their best-of-three series.
“San Miguel as we know is a powerhouse team. We know that the focal point is June Mar (Fajardo) but other players are capable of playing well for them as well,” said TNT coach Nash Racela after their Game Two win over Global-Port on Monday night.
“It will be a tough series playing them. But I think what’s good about this series against Global-Port is that our guys are starting to play together and I think that gives us confidence heading into the semifinals,” he added.
In their last game against Global-Port, veterans Ranidel De Ocampo, Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams took charge.
Mr. De Ocampo finished with a game-high 25 points while Mr. Castro had a near double-double of nine points and eight assists.
Mr. Williams had 10 points, including a key basket in the closing moments that put the game away.
Meanwhile, Paul Lee of the Star Hotshots is the reigning PBA player of the week for the period of Jan. 31 to Feb. 4.
Mr. Lee, whose Star team is alreadythrough to the semi finals, averaged 18.5 points ,4.5 assist sand three assists in victories over the Meralco Bolts and Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters during that stretch.
In winning the weekly plum, Mr. Lee beat his teammate Allein Maliksi, Barangay Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson and Sol Mercado, San Miguel Beer’s Fajardo, Santos and RR Garcia, and TNT’s Castro, Larry Fonacier and Mo Tautuaa.