ALASKA and Meralco clash in a battle of unbeaten teams in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Aces and the Bolts, both holding identical 2-0 slates, collide at 4:15 p.m. Pido Jarencio, meanwhile, hopes to get another victory that would help cement his post as head coach of GlobalPort as his Batang Pier face defending champion Purefoods at 7 p.m.
Alaska and Meralco were impressive in their first two games with the Aces beating tournament favorites Hotshots and Talk ‘N Text, while the Bolts survived two overtime games against Barako Bull and Blackwater.
Probably the most impressive win so far was Alaska’s 100-98 thriller against the Tropang Texters the Aces sealed with a buzzer-beating lay-up by Calvin Abueva that capped his 22-point, 22-rebound performance.
“Alaska has shown its strength by taking out Purefoods and Talk ‘N Text. This will be our biggest challenge so far this conference,” Meralco Head Coach Norman Black said.
“The keys are we have to do a good job against their pressure defense and we must control our defensive rebounds, keeping Calvin Abueva off the offensive boards will be important,” he added.
Abueva, called by Alaska Coach Alex Compton as the “Tazmanian Devil,” was all over the court against Talk ‘N Text and did most of the damage off the offensive boards to help the Aces come back from a double-digit deficit.
Compton said the new system gives his players more room to shine compared to the vaunted triangle offense.
“Ang sistema namin, run lang para mabigyan ng chance at kumpiyansa ang lahat,” the Tagalog-speaking American said. “Mas pabor sa akin ito kaysa sa mga set play. Kaya rin siguro gumaganda ang takbo ng laro naming. Tumatakbo kami at di alam ng kalaban ’yung gagawin namin.”
The game also marks the first time that the Aces are facing their former coach Luigi Trillo, who stepped down just after two games of last season’s Governors’ Cup.
The 2013 PBA Coach of the Year agreed to become one of the assistants of Black with the Bolts.
Meanwhile, Batang Pier (1-1) gun for its second straight victory against the undermanned Purefoods (0-2).
With his job on the line, Jarencio led GlobalPort to a 91-81 victory over the Energy, giving him a new lease on life—at least for a couple more games.
“Kahit saan naman may pressure. Ang sabi ko lang sa players, laro lang tayo at sundin ang game plan,” Jarencio said.
Franz Pumaren is rumoured to be on the winds to replace Jarencio.
Jarencio will be up against two-time grand slam Coach Tim Cone, whose wards lost their last two assignments, the last one an 80-87 defeat to San Miguel Beer.
Joel Orellana
Image credits: PBA Image