This won’t be friendly at all.
Thus declared San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone as his Mixers square off with sister squad Petron Blaze in Game 1 today of the PLDT Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup Finals at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“We’re sister teams, but we’re not friendly,” Cone said of the series opener slated at 8 p.m. today. “I’m surprised at how much rivalry they have going on here. There’s no relationship among them (players) at all.”
This best-of-seven series will mark the first time in 13 years that both squads will clash for a title, and this will be the first for them since becoming sister squads starting in 2002.
The Petron/San Miguel franchise has a 5-1 edge in their head-to-head Finals duels and the Boosters have been installed as the slight favorites. The Boosters are also shooting to win their 20th overall title.
Petron has lost just twice in the tournament and had an 11-game winning streak in the eliminations that carried over to the quarterfinals and the Final Four. And this is what made Cone label his wards as the underdogs.
“Petron has had smooth sailing (in the tournament) and nothing has really bothered them,” Cone, who is seeking to tie the legendary Baby Dalupan for most titles won with 15, said. “They handled us pretty easily the first time we played them. We are the underdogs in this thing, but we will be ready.”
The Boosters scored an 89-83 decision in the elimination round with Elijah Millsap shooting 31 points that went with 16 rebounds and six assists.
“We had a good run in the eliminations,” Gee Abanilla, the rookie Petron coach, said. “Surviving Rain or Shine (in the Final Four) toughened us up. In this series, it’s about having that desire. We’re in a position to win this. And we will do everything we can to do it.”
San Mig, incidentally, will be coming into the series with a lot of things to prove, the memory of being beaten in seven games by the Elasto Painters—who didn’t have eventual Rookie of the Year Paul Lee in the last five—still fresh in its mind.