Cebuano stars Fajardo, Slaughter renew rivalry
By JONAS TERRADO
Game Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – San Miguel vs Ginebra
Defending champion San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel begin their best-of-seven semifinal series in the PBA Philippine Cup tonight with the question of whether Greg Slaughter would be available to play the role of a great equalizer against reigning four-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo will be known or not.
Slaughter remains doubtful for the 7 p.m. contest at the Smart Araneta Coliseum due to an ankle injury that prompted him to miss the Kings’ quarterfinal sweep of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Coach Tim Cone is hopeful that his 7-foot center, who also dealt with a hamstring problem during the midway point of the eliminations, can suit up and resume his decade-long rivalry with fellow Cebuano Fajardo.
“We just hope we don’t fall too far behind without him, whether he can make an impact,” said Cone. “That’s the big thing for us, whether Greg can play. That would really help us equalize San Miguel. He’d be the great equalizer.”
Fajardo is coming off a dominant showing in San Miguel’s 106-93 quarterfinal victory over TNT KaTropa Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena when he scored 35 points on 15-of-19 shooting.
But Ginebra has shown that it can be successful defending Fajardo even without Slaughter as evident in their lone elimination round meeting last Jan. 28 that saw the Kings prevailing, 100-96, at the Big Dome.
The Kings came back from a huge deficit in the first half with seldom-used Raymond Aguilar and Jervy Cruz sharing the role of containing Fajardo, whose 33 points and 11 rebounds in that contest went for naught.
Japeth Aguilar is also seen as another key factor in the series despite dealing with a back problem. The 6-foot-9 veteran had 27 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in Wednesday’s series-clinching 99-91 win over Rain or Shine.
Joe Devance and Sol Mercado, who seemed to have regained their form after recovering from injuries, are seen as major factors in the series along with heady playmaker LA Tenorio and energetic Scottie Thompson.
Meanwhile, coach Leo Austria will also parade Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos as the Beermen enter another difficult obstacle in their bid for a fourth straight title in the PBA’s preeminent tournament.
“Kahit alam namin na kaya naming akyatin agad sa taas, hindi kami pwedeng mag-shortcut doon,” said Santos. “Marami kaming dadaanan na hagdanan, alam naming na itong semifinals mabigat pa rin. Kailangan naming respetuhin at paghandaan pa rin sila.”
It will be the fourth time since 2016 that San Miguel and Ginebra will meet in a playoff series. One of those battles came in last season’s Philippine Cup with Ross leading the Beermen to a five-game finals win over the weary Kings, who dug deep after placing seventh in the elims.
