Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
San Miguel Beer left little doubt that it remains the biggest stumbling block to any team wanting to win the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
But Barangay Ginebra just might have something to say about that.
The Beermen turned their quarterfinal matchup with Phoenix Petroleum into a virtual cakewalk Tuesday night, leading by as many as 28 points en route to a 115-96 ripping of the Fuel Masters for the first Final Four seat.
The Gin Kings later took the Smart Araneta Coliseum floor and booked their own semifinal seat by destroying GlobalPort, 96-85, frustrating even the Batang Pier’s usually cool franchise player, Terrence Romeo, into ejection.
In an utter show of force, six players tossed in 11 points or more for the Beermen, who forged the rout even with Best Import candidate Charles Rhodes taking a back seat and letting the locals do most of the damage.
“We’re happy to meet the expectations of so many people,” coach Leo Austria said as he awaits the winner of the Star-Rain or Shine series. “I have to commend the players; they wanted to make the semifinals right away.”
Marcio Lassiter scored 11 points in the first period when the Beermen set the tone, and then dropped the same number in the third when second-ranked San Miguel pulled away as the title favorites forced the eighth-seeded Fuel Masters to an unceremonious exit.
Leading Player of the Conference candidate Alex Cabagnot fired 20 points and had eight rebounds and six assists for the Beermen, whose rousing Philippine Cup triumph over Barangay Ginebra stirred Grand Slam talk early in the season.
June Mar Fajardo, the reigning three-time MVP, also didn’t need to work that hard and finished with just 15 points and eight boards in 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, TNT KaTropa and the Hotshots try to close out their respective best-of-three series on Wednesday when they clash with Meralco and defending champion Rain or Shine also at the Big Dome.