Meralco’s Aaron Black (right) and San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo will be front and center in their teams’ semifinal bid. —PBA IMAGES
All the powerhouses are here—save for one—with the party-crasher having the chance to prove its worth against the yardstick all teams have been measured against in the PBA Philippine Cup in recent years.
Meralco took out the team the crowd loves most via a thrilling quarterfinal series victory, and at the start of the Final Four on Wednesday, has a shot at doing the same against the side that is feared the most: The Bolts collide with mighty San Miguel Beer at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
But the Bolts have said that they are up to the challenge. And they have all of seven games—if needed—to back up their words.
“I’m confident in our guys that we can put up a good fight,” interim coach Luigi Trillo said Sunday night after bundling out Barangay Ginebra and asked about their upcoming series against the Beermen, the consensus team-to-beat way before the centerpiece conference opened with June Mar Fajardo back to 100 percent health.
“Meralco has never been to the finals in the all-Filipino so we can use that as motivation,” said Chris Newsome, the best two-way player of the Bolts. “We recognize that we still have more history that we can make.”
It’s that piece of history that has actually motivated the Beermen to topping the eliminations and making short work of their quarterfinal foe.
San Miguel won this conference an unprecedented five straight years before the turn of the decade. Losing it only when Fajardo suffered a shin injury in the preseason and wasn’t able to suit up in the bubble in 2020 where the Gin Kings triumphed.
And with Beermen coach Leo Austria admitting that he’s got the most dominating player of the modern era back in full strength, the eight-time champion mentor coolly declared that they are out to “claim what is ours.”
The other half of the semifinals will pit PBA defending champion TNT against Magnolia, their Game 1 taking the lid off of the Final Four at 3 p.m., before the SMB-Meralco clash at 6 p.m.
Magnolia also went through the wringer to dispose of NLEX in the quarterfinals and will be facing a rested Tropang Giga crew that is also back to full health.
Hotshots coach Chito Victolero, who for three times in the last four seasons came up short in the Finals, is also on a mission and wants to get a shot at the title no matter who they encounter along the way.
“That has been the target since before the season started,” he had told the Inquirer. “We know what it feels [to lose in the championship series] and that is one of the motivations for the whole team.”
Although the Tropang Giga will be clashing with the same squad they closed out in five games for the crown last year, TNT coach Chot Reyes knows that Magnolia is carrying all the momentum it needs coming into their series opener.
“We’re playing the hottest team in the league—winners of nine of their last 10 games,” Reyes said. “It will take our very best to be competitive [against them].”