SMB disputes lead with ROS

SAN Miguel big man June Mar Fajardo (left) is expected to assert himself tonight against Rain or Shine’s slotmen. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Defending champion San Miguel Beer, with June Mar Fajardo as dominating as ever, slugs it out with Rain or Shine for the solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup even as Meralco and lightweight Blackwater try to break the ice at Mall of Asia Arena Wednesday.

The Beermen and the Elasto Painters take the floor at 7 p.m. with the winner breaking out of a four-way logjam at the top that includes idle Alaska and the surprising NLEX Road Warriors.

Meralco, meanwhile, sets out as the odds-on pick to defeat Blackwater in the 4:15 p.m. contest and pin a third straight loss on the Elite, who came close to chopping down Alaska last week only to sputter in the end.

The Beermen’s loaded lineup augurs well for their title-retention bid, especially with Fajardo—obviously recovered from a plantar fasciaitis injury on both feet that kept him out of the Gilas Pilipinas pool—wreaking havoc in the shaded lane.

Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter combine with Fajardo to form the Beermen’s rock-solid core.

Rain or Shine has been labeled as one of the pretournament favorites, but the Painters will likely still be without their super point guard Paul Lee. His absence is expected to create such a vacuum on the Rain or Shine lineup that several people would have to step up.

One of them is rookie Maverick Ahanmisi, whom the Painters selected third overall in the last Draft to the surprise of many pundits.

Ahanmisi has the stage all to himself with Lee out because of an injury. And whether or not Rain or Shine made the right choice in picking him so early in the rookie proceedings will be answered by how well he holds the team together.

Lee’s absence also deprives Rain or Shine of one of its two most accurate outside gunners, enabling San Miguel’s defense to concentrate more on the inside where it can make life easier for Fajardo.

Fajardo will, as usual, be the main problem of the Painters, whose biggest man in the middle is the reedy 6-foot-8 Raymond Almazan.

Another Painters slotman, Beau Belga, is as beefy as Fajardo but a lot shorter.

With this handicap, the Rain or Shine coaching staff is expected to find ways to clamp down on the 6-foot-10 San Miguel Beer cornerstone once he gets his touches inside the paint.