INQUIRER Photo/ August dela Cruz
MANILA, Philippines—Big Chill and Freego Jeans vie to complete a semifinal sweep of their fancied opponents and arrange what had seemed as an improbable championship showdown.
As the Superchargers try to finish off defending champion NLEX, the Road Warriors also have to deal with more bad news in Game 2 of the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup semifinals Thursday.
Still reeling from a shockingly lopsided Game 1 loss, the top-seeded Road Warriors must do without the suspended Calvin Abueva in the 2 p.m. duel at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The Jeans Makers, similarly aiming to build on their Game 1 upset win, hope to send the second-ranked Cebuana Lhuillier packing in their own series at 4 p.m.
“We were told before that it might be impossible against NLEX, but we’re still going to play them hard and do our best,” said Big Chill coach Arsenio Dysangco.
“We have a shot at making it to the Finals, that’s really our focus now, and we’ll keep it that way.”
The Road Warriors will play minus Abueva, who will serve a one-game suspension after getting ejected for a flagrant foul category 2 in the series opener.
“We really had a bad game,” said coach Boyet Fernandez after his Road Warriors got routed by the Superchargers, 83-66, last Tuesday.
“But we’re not giving up. They still have to beat us one more time and we’re thinking positive.”
Cebuana Lhuillier coach Luigi Trillo also noted that “the series is not over yet” and his Gems aim to address their slow start and poor defensive game.
The Jeans Makers stunned the Gems in Game 1, 57-56, with Roider Cabrera hitting the game-winning triple at the buzzer.
“We expect it to be another tough game,” said Freego coach Leo Austria, who hopes to draw big games anew from Lester Alvarez, Eric Camson and Bacon Austria.
“There’s no tomorrow for them, so they’ll do everything they can. We expect Cebuana to play physical from the start.”
Unlike NLEX’s star-studded cast led by RR Garcia, Garvo Lanete and Ian Sangalang, Big Chill has a less stellar cast that includes Jessie Collado, Alex Mallari, Jerry Glorioso and Jewel Ponferrada.
“It’s just all hard work,” said Dysangco. “But knowing NLEX, they’ll come out ready to play. We expect a hard and tough match.”