Giants' defense, Aces' triangle highlight finals

History-seekers Purefoods and Alaska are ready to unleash their potent weapons once they step onto the court at the start of their Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup best-of-seven series Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum. The Giants will try to impose their newly-found defensive strength at will while the Aces will find a way to execute their “Triangle Offense" to perfection against the best stoppers in the league. “Against Purefoods in the finals, I haven’t really figured what our advantages are at this stage as we have yet to see how we can execute our Triangle against their tough defense," said Alaska coach Tim Cone, the longest-tenured mentor in the PBA. "I hope we can execute well so as to increase our chances of winning. In the end, I believe defense will dictate the series. I hope we can match up stop after stop," he added.

Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, whose team opted to spend more time inside the viewing room than expend their energy on practice, believes defense will still win the championship for any team. His team’s defensive prowess, however, will be tested to the limit against a team whose execution was “as sharp as razor." “I’ve warned my players that they should not come close to them (Aces) because they might get cut. That’s how sharp Alaska’s game has become," Gregorio said Monday during the press conference for the finals at the Gateway Suites. "To my mind, I think that team has become more solid wits nine-man rotation." So impressive was Alaska that it swept the Ginebra Gin Kings in four games in their semis match and became the first team to secure a finals seat. And Gregorio is well aware that Alaska has become more than just a Willie Miller team. “All of a sudden, Tony dela Cruz has become Mr. Double-Double, Sonny Thoss has stepped up his game a notch higher, LA Tenorio has played an MVP-type of game and Jeff Cariaso comes off the bench to produce great numbers," noted Gregorio. Purefoods surprised everyone when it barged all the way to the championship round. “It’s hard to believe we’re in the finals now and of all the teams, we beat San Miguel Beer," said Purefoods team captain Kerby Raymundo. Cone, who was making early preparations for a meeting with San Miguel, suddenly changed plans the moment the Giants seized the momentum after tying their best-of-seven series against the Beermen, 2-2, and eventually winning in six games. “Honestly, I’m more prepared facing San Miguel because we expect them more to enter the finals," said Cone. “But when Purefoods started winning Game 4 and eventually led the series at 3-2, that’s the time we started to prepare more against Purefoods. Purefoods’ feat was remarkable considering that it closed out the series with three straight wins, the same thing when we won four straight over Ginebra in our own semifinal showdown." Cone saw how the Giants dismantled a team known for its tremendous firepower. “They (Giants) really did a great job taking San Miguel’s game away. I’m sure a lot of people thought that San Miguel didn’t play well in the series against Purefoods, but in reality, Purefoods was the reason why San Miguel wasn’t playing well. They confused San Miguel with their variety of defenses." History History beckons for both Alaska and Purefoods. Cone and the Aces will have a chance to match Crispa’ 13 overall championships - the second best in the league - with another championship. Gregorio is trying to become the first Purefoods coach to win multiple All-Filipino championships. Chot Reyes won two championships for the franchise, but in different conferences. Baby Dalupan, Ely Capacio and Eric Altamirano had one title each. Purefoods is also seeking to join the legendary Crispa Redmanizers for the most number of All-Filipino titles with five while Alaska is trying to end a 10-year title drought in this tournament. Head-to-head, this will be the third time Gregorio and Cone will meet in a best-of-seven series, having faced off in the 2002 Governors Cup finals and in the 2006 Philippine Cup semis. On both occasions, the youthful Tender Juicy Giants mentor prevailed over the league’s coaching great, both via come-from-behind victories. Down 0-2 in the 2002 import-flavored conference, Gregorio and his team backstopped by imports Derick Brown and Kelvin Price rallied and won four of the next five games to beat Alaska. Four years later, the Giants were teetering on the brink of defeat anew, 1-3, but pulled the rug from under Cone and the Aces to become the second team since Ginebra to fight back from such deficit. - GMANews.TV