Cone had talked the past weeks that he would like his wards to play as often as they could just to keep riding the momentum they have gotten going since the elimination round.
With an eight-game winning streak and coming off a lopsided victory in the series opener, the Kings were installed as solid picks to take a 2-0 lead and keep the Elasto Painters guessing since the second game was to be played after just a day’s rest.
Instead, Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia will have an extra two more nights to figure things out and try to whip his Painters back to the form that made them the No. 1 team in the elimination round.
Meanwhile, defending champion San Miguel Beer goes for a sweep of an overmatched Alaska side Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao. A win—coupled with the cancellation of the other Final Four’s Game 2—will give the Beermen several days to freshen up for the title series.
Coach Leo Austria said on Monday night that they are not even thinking of the best-of-seven title series at this time and that they will take things as they come, even if this series drags on to a Game 5.
But the way the Beermen have beaten the Aces in the first two games has certainly dented the psyche of Alaska, which led comfortably until the middle of the third period of Game 2 before San Miguel pulled out another authoritative win.
Austria had already paid tribute to his counterparts at the Alaska bench, giving everyone the impression that the Beermen are going in for the kill and making the Aces sorry footnotes of another triumphant campaign.
“You can see, everyone is saying that we are a super team and yet they (Aces) keep fighting back. So I just have to admire the work that they do,” Austria said. “Maybe because of the superior talent that we have, that’s what’s prevailing.”
The last time Alaska and San Miguel were in a series was in the 2016 Philippine Cup title playoffs, one that will live in infamy as far as the Aces are concerned after they bungled a 3-0 lead to lose in Game 7.