SMB, Ginebra eye Final Four slots against Meralco and Converge

Games on Friday
(Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
5 p.m. – Meralco vs San Miguel
7:30 p.m. – Ginebra vs Converge
*San Miguel and Ginebra with twice-to-beat advantage

IF there’s a key takeaway from the initial salvo of the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals last Wednesday, it’s that regardless of rankings, any team could beat any team.

And so after No. 7 Rain or Shine and No. 6 TNT outplayed No. 2 NLEX and No. 3 Magnolia, respectively, to drag their twice-to-beat foes to a sudden death, top seed San Miguel Beermen (SMB) and No. 4 Barangay Ginebra are now even more determined to finish off their lower-ranked opposition right away.

The Beermen seek a quick disposal of No. 8 holder Meralco — a result that would not only send them to the semifinals but also give them the satisfaction of being the ones to dethrone their conquerors in last season’s finals.

The Gin Kings, for their part, aim to cash in on their win-once edge against No. 5 Converge and swiftly proceed to the Final Four.

It’s an early playoffs faceoff for the Beermen and the Bolts after their tough dispute for the league’s crown jewel a year ago, which the latter won, 4-2.

“I think it’s a different ballgame now. Past is past but syempre, we have to redeem ourselves also,” said SMB star CJ Perez ahead of the 5 p.m. encounter.

Embattled Meralco is in survival mode.

“We’re ready,” said Bolts mentor Luigi Trillo, who expects his charges to rise to the above adversity like they did in beating their last three opponents at the end of the elims, including NLEX and Ginebra, to advance despite a woeful 3-5 start. “We’ve been here a lot of times so I think we’d really respond well in this first game. But you have to get to one before you get to two.”

Gin Kings tactician Tim Cone isn’t looking past the 7:30 p.m encounter with the FiberXers.

“Bottomline is, we’re just going to prepare ourselves and try to go out and just win one game. That’s really what we’re thinking about, one game, not twice-to-beat. We’re just thinking about one game and winning that,” he said.

The rubbermatch for this side of the Last-8 will be played on Sunday, a day after the double KO duels involving the Road Warriors against the Elasto Painters and the Hotshots versus the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G. — Olmin Leyba