Four teams begin Philippine Cup quarterfinals duel

Matched against a team it hasn’t beaten in a series the past two seasons, Barangay Ginebra is taking a cautious approach in its PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals duel with Alaska. In the words of Kings coach Jong Uichico, “no room for mistakes." The Kings and Aces duke it out in Game 1 of their best-of-three series starting Friday at the Araneta Coliseum, with the league’s most popular ball club still smarting from the twin defeats inflicted on it by Alaska one conference after the other last season. The long-time rivals square off at 7:30 p.m., serving as the main game of a double quarterfinal offering that kicks off with an intriguing clash between defending champion Derby Ace against former coach Ryan Gregorio of Meralco. The Kings had the Aces as their playoffs foe shortly after the Bolts edged out the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 125-124, in a hard-fought, triple overtime game on the final day of the All-Filipino eliminations. And what an opponent Alaska would be. Despite entering the quarterfinals as the No. 6 team, the Aces appear to have the Kings’ number whenever the stakes are high. Alaska beat Ginebra in the best-of-five quarterfinals that went the full route in the last Fiesta Conference, which the Aces eventually won. A conference before that, the Aces swept the Kings in the Philippine Cup semifinals, 4-0. And if that’s not enough bad news for the Ginebra Kings, coach Tim Cone declared his Aces battle-ready for the playoffs, having swept their last two games in the eliminations opposite San Miguel (89-86) and Powerade (86-78). “We feel that we can take on anybody right now," said Cone in the post-game interview following his team’s win over the Tigers Wednesday night. “We are a playoff-tough team, and we believe that we are on even terms with anybody and we also feel that we have a good chance no matter who we play." The Kings finished its classification campaign as the third-seeded team in the playoffs with a 10-4 (win-loss) record. Of the 10 wins, one came at the expense of the Aces, 79-68, in a game Ginebra didn’t clinch until outscoring Alaska in the final period, 25-12. Still, Cone feels good about his team’s chances against a squad loaded with deadly shooting guards. “Needless to say, Ginebra is a team we’d rather see later in the playoffs," he said. “But we knew we would have to see them at some point, so why not now? They are playing with great balance and it’s hard to pick one or two guys to focus on. We’ll need to be extra solid defensively." As interesting as the Alaska-Ginebra contest is the one taking place at 5 p.m. between Derby Ace and Meralco. The series, also a best-of-three encounter, is expected to be an emotional one as Gregorio will be up against the same team he steered to three championships in the past, including this same season-opening tournament last year. “We are facing the Giants," said Gregorio. “On paper, it looks impossible for us to beat them. But we will work as hard as we can and we are determined to fight toe-to-toe with them for us to have a chance of making it to the semi-finals." The Bolts finished the franchise’s first-ever conference campaign with an even 7-7 card to land in a tie with the Llamados and the Aces. But the quotient system had Meralco ending up as the fifth-ranked team, just a rung below the fourth-seeded Derby Ace. One thing going for the Llamados, however, is their two-game sweep of the rookie team in the eliminations. But the numbers won’t keep Derby Ace coach Jorge Gallent too comfortable. “Meralco is a very dangerous and well-coached team. We cannot afford to relax on them and we must contain their big men," said Gallent, Gregorio’s one-time understudy. – JVP ,KY, GMANews.TV