Second chance

Entering the Finals, San Mig Coffee has a 10-5 record. The Mixers opened the conference on the wrong foot and scrambled back from a 1-3 start to close out the eliminations with five straight wins. San Mig Coffee, enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage, was forced to a winner-take-all showdown by Alaska before disposing of Meralco in the best-of-five semifinals. Key contributor Allein Maliksi suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the Alaska clincher, underwent surgery last Monday and will sit out the Finals. Without Maliksi, Cone will lean on a local nucleus made up of James Yap, Mark Barroca, Marc Pingris, Joe DeVance, Alex Mallari, P. J. Simon, Rafi Reavis and Yancy de Ocampo. Mallari, who played for Petron in the Philippine Cup before moving to the Mixers in the Commissioner’s Cup, has been a pleasant surprise for Cone with his allcourt hustle. In Game 3 of the Meralco tie, he erupted for 23 points in San Mig Coffee’s 94-87 victory.

Petron’s record is 12- 2, its only losses to Meralco in the conference opener and to Rain Or Shine in Game 3 of the semifinals. With Abanilla at the helm backed up by one-time ABL champion coach Todd Purves, the Blaze Boosters rolled to an 11 game winning streak and are determined to go all the way. With Jay Washington and Joseph Yeo gone, Abanilla is counting on holdovers Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot, Chris Lutz, Chico Lanete, Ronald Tubid, JuneMar Fajardo and Ildefonso with newcomers Doug Kramer and Mark Isip to make short work of the Mixers. Defense has been Petron’s trump card all conference long and it’s what Abanilla will use to shake up the Mixers.

Both squads scratched and clawed their way to the Finals. Now that they’re in the Last Dance, expect a fierce war for the ultimate prize.