THE SEMI-FINALS: Featuring the ROYAL BATTLE between the Alaska Aces and the Ginebra Kings and the EPICAL WAR between the San Miguel Beermen and the Purefoods TJ Giants.
The concluded TOP 4 of the El.-Phase was eventually hailed as the FINAL FOUR of the current Philippine Cup in the Season 35 of the PBA.
The primary plot of the upcoming series is all about reliving the old-rivalries; and this must be CLASSIC & EXCITEMENT AT ITS BEST!
ALASKA vs GINEBRA
| THE TEAM | ALASKA | GINEBRA |
| HEAD-HEAD CONF's WIN/s | 1 | 1 |
| OFFENSIVE-STYLE: | Deliberate Half-Court | Run & Gun |
| (Triangle) | ||
| DEFENSIVE-STYLE: | Box-and-1; Man-to-Man | 2-3 Zone; Full-Court Press |
| STRENGTH: | Chemistry & Stability | Confidence & Speed |
| WEAKNESS: | Speed (Fastbreak) | Stability (Bench Pts.) |
| The Breakdown of S/W: | ||
| a) Asst. to T.O. Ratio |
1.36 (21.0/15.5) |
1.15 (18.4/15.9) |
| b) Ave. 3pt-made & 3pt% | 6.33/game (34.34%) | 7.55/game (32.8%) |
| c) Ave. Pts. per Game | 95.44 | 94.96 |
| d) Off. Rebs. & Tot. Rebs | TR = 47.28 | TR = 48.54 |
| e) Fast Break Pts. | ||
| f) Tot. FG% & FT% | fg 45.8% & ft 68.8% | fg 42.1% & ft 66.4% |
| g) Bench Pts. | ||
| h) Blks & Stls | B= 3.22; S= 5.11 | B= 3.23; S= 6.09 |
| THE PLAYERS | ||
| Team's Conf.'s BPCs/Leaders | MILLER & TENORIO | TUBID & INTAL |
| a) Combined PPG | 31.34 | 29.14 |
| b) Combined APG | 8.39 | 3.28 |
| c) Combined RPG | 10.84 | 11.27 |
| d) Combined BPG+SPG | 2.06 | 2.27 |
| e) Combined TOpg | 5.89 | 3.00 |
| f) Combined 3pt% | 37.75% | 37.2% |
| g) Combined TotFg% | 44.1% | 43.2% |
| h) Combined FT% | 77.8% | 69.6% |
| Runner-Ups: | Reynel Hugnatan | Cyrus Baguio |
The intact lineup of the Aces in this conference had propel them to lead the league at the young stage of the conference. The FAMILIARITY & CHEMISTRY within the team and amongst the players have been the sound fundamental of their 13-5 W-L record at the El.-Phase.
While on the other side of the deck, the Kings had made some key adjustments on its lineup releasing their veteran long-limbed and tall defensive-machine in Rafi Reavis and thus acquiring Enrico Villanueva in exchange. Even they let go of some of their point-guard surplus (Pacana & Lanete) they were able to hire the services of the veteran point-guard Celino Cruz and a promising rookie Kevin White (w/c in my opinion, a good move for them) which obviously in return, have helped the team to surpass the struggle of not having their premier-pg JJ Helterbrand.
The BGK's road to the Semis was never easy. Their team had been continuously mauled by injuries (JJ & Mark and etc.); they even resorted to allow the "Flying A" to make its flight on the hard-court again (w/c somehow helped them and ang galing! andun pa rin ang bangis ni Idol).
They (AA & BGK) have 1-1 record in between them in the El.-Phase but they will go back to square-1; 1-0 is nothing 2-0 is an advantage but not an assurance of a Final Stint. One team might shake-off some rust on Game 1 coming off a long break while the other team will have to heal some heels on that game due to the grueling games it had to surpassed during Quar-Finals and this is a 7-game series so anything can & will happen.
These teams have a bleak spot of similarities and one of the few is they both got Former-ATENEAN Players on their team who have made HUGE impact in this conference. L.A. Tenorio for the Aces and J.C. Intal for the Kings; and both these men have been named POW in this conference.
This series is undoubtedly will be well-fought; it will be a Battle of the Masters [for me these two teams have the #1 & #2 Best (Active) Coach (their no. of Championships would agree on my opinion)], a battle of PRIDE & DETERMINATION.
I am excited to see the ROYAL BATTLE and may the BEST TEAM... WIN!
SAN MIGUEL vs PUREFOODS
| THE TEAM | SAN MIGUEL | PUREFOODS |
| HEAD-HEAD CONF's WIN/s | 2 | 0 |
| OFFENSIVE-STYLE: | ||
| DEFENSIVE-STYLE: | Man-to-Man | Zone |
| STRENGTH: | Scoring | Defense |
| WEAKNESS: | Familiarity (T.O.) | Consistency (3pt-made & ft%) |
| The Breakdown of S/W: | ||
| a) Asst. to T.O. Ratio | 1.06 (20.67/19.34) | 1.01 (17.35/17.21) |
| b) Ave. 3pt-made & 3pt% | 7.44/game (31.3%) | 4.61/game (33%) |
| c) Ave. Pts. per Game | 97.84 | 89.49 |
| d) Off. Rebs. & Tot. Rebs | TR = 50.06 | TR = 48.08 |
| e) Fast Break Pts. | ||
| f) Tot. FG% & FT% | fg 43.5% & ft 69.7% | fg 45% % 64.5% |
| g) Bench Pts. | ||
| h) Blks & Stls | B= 4.57; S= 7.77 | B= 3.99; S= 5.21 |
| THE PLAYERS | ||
| Team's Conf.'s BPCs/Leaders | SANTOS & HONTIVEROS | YAP & RAYMUNDO |
| a) Combined PPG | 32.00 | 32.3 |
| b) Combined APG | 3.44 | 5.39 |
| c) Combined RPG | 15.06 | 10.29 |
| d) Combined BPG & SPG | 2.17b & 2.115s | 0.72b & 1.07s |
| e) Combined TOpg | 4.67 | 5.20 |
| f) Combined 3pt% | 25% | 33% |
| g) Combined TotFg% | 47% | 41% |
| h) Combined FT% | 68% | 67% |
| Runner-Ups: | Mike Cortez | Roger Yap |
These two teams had a lot of similarities.
Both teams have prop up their roster during the off-season.
The Beermen acquired Arwind Santos a prolific scorer and a proven multi-dimensional player and added another one red-labeled point-guard (Denok Miranda) on its congested POWER-HOUSE CAST in the back-court. They are simply OVERLOADED!
While on the other edge of the table the TJ Giants on this season, was reunited with its old warriors Marc Pingris and Paul Artadi who have happened to be instrumental to the Purefoods' Championship in Phil. Cup 2005-2006. They also able to signed Rafi Reavis and Rico Maierhofer to bolster their frontline (they now have Allado, Adducul, Reavis, Salvador, Raymundo, Pingris, M'hofer and Canaleta... ang tangkad!)
The SMB had a 0-2 start in the conference then shifted the gear to 6th and made 9-consecutive wins. Though they had ended the El.-Phase on a low note with a loss against Talk N Text the strings of wins they had in this conference s just enough to let them take the 2nd spot after the El.-Phase (in fact they even became the team to clinched the 1st-slot in the SEMIS).
And on the PF's side they had an inconsistent R1 in the El.-Phase and gradually peaking up their games on the latter part of the El.-Phase just in time to be rank at #3.
Will Danny I. and PJ Simon get ready to infuse more fire-power on their respective ball clubs this Semis?
The series will gonna be tightly-contested; I don't see huge advantage of one team over the other despite the outcome & stats of their El.-Phase matchups. Veterans of both squads will surely be a huge factor in the series (Roger Yap's overall game & Rafi Reavis' defense for PF and Mike Cortez's steady scoring & masterful orchestration & Danny S. & I.'s).
It will be a WAR-ATMOSPHERE once again. A full-house arena and a GLORIOUS PBA!
Rambulan na!
*Yung mga nakasaad po sa S/W ng 4-teams ay base lamang sa aking sariling obserbasyon; di ko pa makumpleto yung stats.
@SMBweaklings hinde lng po si miller at LA ang alaska noh!! IT'S ALASKA TEAM!!!!! kayo ang dehado BGK!! pero tignan nlng nten mahirap mag salita ng hinde tapos bilog ang bola bro!!
ALASKA WILL WIN!!!! GO! gO!!