Beermen, Aces start Finals duel

PROTAGONISTS: San Miguel Beer’s prolific slotman June Mar Fajardo (left) and Alaska’s do-it-all stalwart Calvin Abueva are locked in an interesting side struggle for PBA Player of the Conference honors. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Alex Compton of Alaska and San Miguel Beer’s Leo Austria have dissimilar views on the opening game of their PBA Philippine Cup championship series.

The Aces and the Beermen clash at 7 p.m. today for first blood in their best-of-seven championship showdown at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“I don’t believe too much in the importance of Game 1,” Compton said on Monday afternoon.

“What’s important is who gets the four wins,” added the amiable American, who took the Aces to the Finals in just his second conference as a head coach in the league.

Alaska is gunning for a first title since the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup while San Miguel Beer is looking to nail just its sixth all-Filipino crown in a long, storied participation in the league.

“Game 1 is very important because it can boost the morale (of the team) and your self-confidence,” Austria said, also on Monday during the official launch of the championship series that took a very light atmosphere owing to the closeness of the two coaches.

“It (winning Game 1) can dictate the tempo of the series,” said Austria, who is calling the shots for the Beermen for the first time while practically making no secret that he will go to 6-foot-10 cornerstone June Mar Fajardo when the chips are down.

While Fajardo remains to be San Miguel’s top gun, Alaska will be going to the swarming defense that got the Aces this far, something which they were very successful at.

Of San Miguel’s only two losses in the eliminations, one came at the hands of Alaska in a game where the Aces held the Beermen to a paltry 63 points while also shutting down Fajardo by taking him out of his sweet spot.

But that, Austria said, is now farthest from the minds of his Beermen.

“All stats and records are now set aside because this is a different ball game,” Austria said.

Austria has every right to talk that way, especially since his squad lost to Alaska before San Miguel was able to work out a trade that brought back perennial all-star Alex Cabagnot from Globalport for Sol Mercado and a couple of Draft rights.

Since coming over for the playoffs, Cabagnot has proved to be another offensive threat. His natural point-guard skills have made the Beermen even more formidable, with their offense now being handled better than in the very recent past.

Calvin Abueva, who nipped Fajardo for the Rookie of the Year award in 2012, will be the energizer for the Aces on both ends as Alaska plays as the underdog yet again in its chase to nail down a 16th title.

He and Fajardo are locked in a race for the Best Player of the Conference award.