With their heels cooled and a lot of battered bodies from both squads getting the much-needed rest, Alaska and Magnolia open up their best-of-seven series for the PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday night.
And Hotshots’ coach Chito Victolero calls Game 1 “the start of a dogfight.”
The league took a two-week break to give way to the Philippine campaign in the Fiba World Cup Qualifying series, and it served the two sides well with both nursing injuries to key men, and Victolero was thankful to have gotten a complete roster in their last six days of practice.
Even import Romeo Travis has become healthier and, like Alaska’s Mike Harris, will be a vital element in the season-closing championship playoffs that will crown a new titlist and end a long championship drought for either team.
“This is going to be a dogfight,” Victolero told the Inquirer over the phone Tuesday night after plotting their game plan with his staff for the 7 p.m. tussle set at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. “Even the fans see it as an even series.”
Magnolia hasn’t won a title since its Grand Slam season of 2014 under Tim Cone, while the Aces’ last crown came in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup under Luigi Trillo.
“In terms of personnel, etc., it looks very even,” added Victolero. “I guess it will all boil down to execution.”
Travis played through a hamstring pull in the Final Four series against dethroned champion Barangay Ginebra.
“He told me that he’s feeling better now,” Victolero said of his left-handed import. “And from the way he practiced in the last four days, I didn’t see anything wrong with him.”
Chris Banchero and JV Casio are also ready to suit up for the Aces.
Alaska’s heady guards had a string of rehab and therapy sessions during the break to correct a groin injury for Banchero and a hamstring pull for Casio. But both, according to head athletic trainer Gus Vargas, “are ready when needed.”