The four teams that finished third to sixth in the elimination round of the PBA Philippine Cup are glad to be in the best-of-three series rather than face the daunting task of having to beat either the top seed or the No. 2-ranked squad in the quarterfinals.
The Star Hotshots face the Phoenix Fuel Masters while TNT KaTropa battles the Globalport Batang Pier in the two best-of-three encounters given to the teams that finished the middle portion of the eight-team quarterfinals of the league’s second-opening conference.
Star went third after the elims with a 7-4 record after winning its last four games while TNT, Globalport and Phoenix posted identical 6-5 slates for fourth to sixth, respectively, despite enduring an up-and-down campaign.
San Miguel topped the elims at 10-1 and is armed with a twice-to-beat advantage over the winner of last night’s playoff between Rain or Shine and Blackwater for the eighth seed in the quarters.
The other team with a twice-to-beat is No. 2-ranked Alaska, which went 7-4 and won the tiebreaker over Star for the said bonus. The Aces look to maximize that advantage against seventh seed Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
The two best-of-three affair are expected to start today at the Mall of Asia Arena, but the league at presstime has yet to make the playoff schedule official. The two other quarters matches are set tomorrow at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Star emerged as the surprise No. 3 team in the quarters after a late-season turnaround led by Allein Maliksi, who has become the team’s go-to-guy that saw him average 28 points per game in the last three games.
“They are excited. Mentally and physically, they are ready,” said Hotshots coach Chito Victolero. “Ito yung pinaghirapan namin the last two months.”
TNT reached this point despite plenty of dilemma that has made Nash Racela’s PBA coaching debut pressure-packed.
Racela has been trying to emphasize on using younger players instead of the veterans, but that system has yet to reaped its rewards.
The KaTropa face a Batang Pier led by Terrence Romeo, the dynamic guard who led the league in scoring after the elims with 28.7 points and was second in assists at 6.2 per contest.