San Miguel-ALAB PH, Thai 5 begin duel

Alapag: Elims games don’t matter anymore —ABL.COM

The elimination round sweep of Mono Vampire of Thailand counts for nothing as far as San Miguel Alab Pilipinas coach Jimmy Alapag as the Filipino club hosts Game 1 of the best-of-five Asean Basketball League (ABL) finals on Sunday night at Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Laguna.

Alab won both meetings with the Thai club, which meant it will also hold homecourt advantage in the Finals as Alab tries to become the third Filipino club to win the regional crown after the inaugural champions Philippine Patriots in 2010 and the San Miguel Beermen in 2013.

“All the elimination round stuff goes out of the window (in the finals),” said Alapag. “We will have to come out and continue to play the way we did in the semifinals against Hong Kong [Eastern]. As good as we played against Hong Kong, Mono was just as impressive in beating (Chong Son) Kung Fu.”

Alab dethroned 2017 champion Eastern via a two game-sweep capped by a 79-72 win in Santa Rosa on Sunday, before Mono overcame Kung Fu, 83-80, to also win their best-of-three semifinal series.

For Alapag’s players, there will be plenty of motivation on top of winning the title.

Puerto Rican import Renaldo Balkman will be looking to complete his redemption campaign in the finals, while Bobby Ray Parks Jr., whose late father Bobby Sr., coached San Miguel to a second-place finish in 2012, aims to get the job done this time.

Balkman, whose lifetime ban from the PBA was lifted recently, starred in the semifinals against Hong Kong, joining forces with Justin Brownlee.