BECAUSE Alaska Milk has Vic Manuel and San Miguel Beer continues to miss June Mar Fajardo.
This pretty well sums up why Alaska is within a game of sweeping defending champion San Miguel Beer in their best-of-seven championship showdown for the Smart Bro Philippine Cup and avenge its loss in the Finals of the league’s most prestigious tournament last year.
With their 3-0 series lead as of this writing, the title has been conceded to the Aces, who were also swept by the Beermen in their title meeting last year in the Governors’ Cup. While they needed a lot of scrambling and the heroics of Manuel to stay unscathed in three games, the Aces have reached a position in the playoffs that has not been sullied so far.
And it is highly unlikely that Alaska will lose four straight games and allow San Miguel to become the first team among 43 finalists to emerge victorious from a 0-3 hole.
From a reliable guy off the bench, the 6-foot-4 Manuel has become the big difference for the Aces in their three come-from-behind victories. He was the leading scorer for the Aces while outshining the certified Alaska stars like Cyrus Baguio, Sonny Thoss, Jayvee Casio and Calvin Abueva. He was the team sparkplug and more.
In Game 1, he unloaded 14 of his team-high 24 points in the last quarter, including a layup that broke a 91-91 tie and ignited a 9-point run in the last 1 minute and 46 seconds to seal a 100-91 win. In Game 2, he again topscored with 18 points capped by two free throws with 1.7 seconds left that secured an 83-80 victory. His free throws came just seconds after he blocked an undergoal attempt by Yancy de Ocampo, who was going for a follow-up of a miss by Ronald Tubid.
Although RJ Jazul delivered the two baskets that sent the Aces off to an 82-75 win in Game 3, it was Manuel who unwittingly ruined the composure of the Beermen early in the last quarter. He drew a flagrant foul from Jay-R Reyes who knocked him down with an elbow to his jaw, and the most effective San Miguel player during the game was thrown out. Manuel unloaded 11 of his team-high 17 after the incident.
It was a tribute to the big fighting heart of the Beermen, who remained highly competitive despite the absence of Fajardo, the 6-foot-10 cornerstone of SMB who was a cinch to get the Best Player of the Conference award. Injured in Game 6 when the Beermen ousted the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to reach the Finals against the Aces, Fajardo has been rested by coach Leo Austria, who refused to field him unless he is completely healthy.
“We won’t risk his future by fielding him prematurely. Anyway, there will be more championships for him to win,” Austria said.
San Miguel not only missed Fajardo’s average of 26 points and 14 rebounds in the playoffs, but also the superb support of Arwind Santos, whose average of 15.1 points dipped to 7.6 with Fajardo out of action. A deadly quartercourt sniper, Santos has scored only twice in 19 three-point attempts in the playoffs. Santos is best remembered for hitting the shot that sealed SMB’s Game 7 victory over Alaska here last year.
A win will be the first for Alaska mentor Alex Compton, who once played for Austria as an import and served as his assistant with Welcoat. Alaska’s last title came in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup under coach Luigi Trillo after the departure of Tim Cone.