Beermen vs Gin Kings kickstarts PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals; TNT clashes with Rain or Shine

Games on Wednesday
(PhilSports Arena)
5 p.m. – San Miguel vs Ginebra  (Semifinals Game 1)
7:30 – Rain or Shine vs TNT (Semifinals Game 1)

THE PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal stage is upon us and for the last four teams standing, it’s time to dial up the performance and effort levels to 11.

On one hand, it’s defending champion TNT against Rain or Shine (ROS) in an explosive clash of squads that emerged as topnotchers in the two groups of the eliminations. On the other, there’s Barangay Ginebra against San Miguel Beer, sister teams but fierce rivals when it comes to chasing greatness.

While TNT and ROS meet for the first time in the conference having been slotted in different brackets pre-playoffs, the Gin Kings and the Beermen have faced twice before in Group B, where they finished 2 and 3 behind the Elasto Painters.

Ginebra prevailed in the first round, 108-102, then the Beermen struck back hard with a 131-82 rout in Round 2, which marked both the largest winning margin ever for SMB and the most lopsided loss in franchise history for the crowd darlings Gin Kings.

Beermen coach Jorge Gallent quickly dismissed any notion of psychological edge from this 49-point beatdown of the Gin Kings.

“That’s a thing of the past,” Mr. Gallent said after completing the semifinal cast with a tight 109-105 victory over Converge in Sunday’s Game 5 di-or-die.

“This is back to zero. It’s a series so now it’s adjustments, adjustments,” he added.

The Beermen averted a disastrous meltdown after blowing a 2-0 lead and even trailing by eight in the fourth of the decider against the FiberXers. This kind of showing, stressed Mr. Gallent, won’t suffice against the Tim Cone-coached Ginebra, which swept Philippine Cup holder Meralco, 3-0.

“It’s well-coached and it has great players so we just have to play our A-game for us to have a chance to beat them.”

Like SMB, the Elasto Painters went through a grueling five-game quarterfinal series before marching versus TNT, which advanced earlier after a 3-1 dispatching of NLEX.

“We’re playing a tough team and they’re the defending champions,” said ROS coach Yeng Guiao.

TNT counterpart Chot Reyes tasked his troops to continue sharpening up, especially on defense.

“The only way we can go deeper into the playoffs is if everyone on the team really elevates their game. What got us here will not get us to where we want to be,” he said. — Olmin Leyba