San Mig coach Tim Cone (sixth from left) and his Rain or Shine counterpart Yeng Guiao (ninth from left) flank PBA chair Mon Segismundo and commissioner Chito Salud in yesterday’s PBA Finals press conference. They are joined by five of each team’s mainstays. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines — San Mig Coffee workhorse Marc Pingris put the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup Finals pitting the Mixers against Rain or Shine in perspective: “It will be a battle between coach Tim (Cone) and coach Yeng (Guiao).
“Our job as players is to just execute their game plans,” Pingris said in Filipino during Friday’s official launch of the best-of-seven championship series at Sambo Kojin Restaurant in Eastwood City.
With rosters that are practically evenly matched in depth and recent championship experience, Cone and Guiao have been thrust into the spotlight starting with today’s Game 1 at 8 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
The only advantage that Rain or Shine has in the series opener is it will be coming into the game fresh from a week’s rest, although some contend that the Mixers will be sharper.
San Mig conquered Barangay Ginebra in lopsided style Wednesday night, its 110-87 victory in front of a record 24,883 fans standing out as the most one-sided Game 7 in the 39-year-old history of the PBA.
“We had a week’s break to recover, heal our bodies and clear our minds for a few days and then put our energy to what we need to do,” Guiao, seeking his first all-Filipino and seventh title overall, said at the packed press launch.
“There are no personal goals here,” Guiao said when asked about his quest for his first Philippine Cup title. “I have a lot of confidence in my team, though San Mig really presents a problem for us. They’re more balanced.”
Rain or Shine will come into this series the winner of 12 of its last 13 games, including a 4-1 plastering of highly fancied Petron Blaze in their Final Four duel.
Cone hardly had a chance to savor his latest Game 7 triumph, and he will come into a series against a team that dealt him his last Game 7 defeat.
“They’ve had our number so far,” Cone said, referring to a loss in the Governors’ Cup Finals two years ago to Rain or Shine and a 0-2 record this conference against the Elasto Painters, counting a 77-101 loss last Dec. 29.
“We haven’t had a chance to prepare for this series yet,” Cone said after coming from Game 7 at close to midnight and having to push yesterday’s practice to late afternoon to be able to attend the press conference.
“We are motivated because we know how good they (Painters) are,” he said. “It’s going to be incredibly tough and it’s good that it’s a seven-game series. We will go out there and hopefully pull out a surprise tomorrow (Friday).”
Pingris could spell the difference in the series since he will be the toughest match-up for any Painter thrown at him.
The 6-foot-5 forward can defend all positions and can defend anyone.
But unlike in the series against Ginebra—where he declared after Game 6 that they will win the series—Pingris talked with a lot of caution this time.
“Whoever is hungrier, whoever plays with the bigger heart will win,” he said.
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