Titanic showdown

Leo Austria described this as the best series of the conference. He even thinks this could pass for the PBA Philippine Cup championship.

Austria and San Miguel Beer open their best-of-seven Final Four series with TNT KaTropa on Wednesday night, with the Beermen bracing for their toughest fight as they go for the franchise’s first hat trick in what is regarded as the most prestigious title of the season.

TNT counterpart Nash Racela somewhat agrees with Austria’s view, but doesn’t want his Texters to get ahead of themselves as Game 1 tips off at 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“I think it’s a fair statement, especially for us because they are the defending champions,” Racela told the Inquirer over the phone. “Not taking anything away from the other teams (in the other Final Four series), but it’s like this, if you want to be No. 1, you have to get past the best team, the titleholders.”

The Beermen are playing great and are, hands down, the hottest team in the tournament with victories in their last 10 games.

“They are playing very well,” Racela said. “It will be a really tough series.”

San Miguel came very close to losing one of those games against this very same TNT side, 98-94, on Jan. 28 in Antipolo. Apart from that, very few teams have really threatened the Beermen since Phoenix Petroleum posted a 92-85 upset last Nov. 30.

On paper, San Miguel has the strongest lineup, with TNT considered to be a very close second in terms of balance and experience.

Austria, though, has June Mar Fajardo, the 6-foot-10 reigning three-time MVP who is a match-up problem for any team because of his size, agility and ability to break down defenses by using the medium range jumper when double-teamed underneath.

He will be Racela’s main concern, and it would be safe to say that TNT will not try to defend him on a one-on-one basis because the Texters simply don’t have a single player who can match up with Fajardo physically.

The Texters’ strength lies in their running game, and how Jason Castro can explode on any given night even against any defense.