Stakes raised in semis clash

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

There’s a lot at stake for both San Miguel Beer and Alaska when they start their best-of-five Final Four series in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday night, with the Beermen having a dynasty to protect and the Aces needing to bury a haunted past.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s a motivation, but it’s in there,” Alaska coach Alex Compton told the Inquirer recently when asked if that fateful 2016 Philippine Cup title series, where the Aces blew a 3-0 lead to lose in the best-of-seven playoffs, is still in their minds.

“Would it be sweet beating them (Beermen)? Yes, simply because they’re the best team in the league. And for us, that’s enough motivation,” he said.

Alaska has never gone this far in a tournament since that debacle, and this has been a sweet campaign for the Aces considering all the adversity they have gone through.

It also is a validation that this team is not Calvin Abueva’s alone, with Alaska finishing the elimination round as the No. 2 seed even with their superstar power forward on indefinite suspension by management.

“Nothing has changed,” Compton replied when asked if there’s a chance Abueva suits up in these playoffs. “I will let you know once something is up. But as of now, nothing has changed.”

The Beermen, meanwhile, shoots for a chance to defend its title and get another crack at completing an elusive second Grand Slam.

Ever since June Mar Fajardo came of age, no team has been rated higher in any tournament than San Miguel.

And because of that, coach Leo Austria knows that he and his boys come to every game with the proverbial bull’s-eye on their backs, which doubles the pressure in every outing but makes every conquest all the more fulfilling in the end.

“For sure, they will come out hard,” Austria said a couple of days back after sweeping TNT KaTropa in their best-of-three quarterfinals and sealing this clash with the Aces. “Everybody wants to beat San Miguel and I am sure that (the 2016 Philippine Cup Finals) is still in their minds.”

Fajardo, the reigning four-time MVP, will continue to be a worry of the Alaska defense.

The 6-foot-10 cornerstone is a matchup problem for any team with his agility, size and intellect. Alaska has no one to stop Fajardo one-on-one and this will make import Diamon Simpson’s job all the more difficult with Fajardo and Renaldo Balkman posing a two-pronged threat.

And while there’s no doubt that San Miguel has the edge in manpower in every position, Austria still believes that the things that have given the Beermen this much success of late are the intangibles.

“The composure, the experience and the willingness to win,” he said. “Pride will prevail in this series.”

Compton didn’t give his charges any time to catch their breath even after wrapping up their quarterfinal clash with the Magnolia Hotshots after just one game.

“Diamon has been with us for just over 10 days, and he needs to learn the system more,” Compton said.

The winner of this series will advance to the Finals opposite the survivor of the Barangay Ginebra-Rain or Shine playoffs that start on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.