By REYNALD MAGALLON
San Miguel Beer faces an inspired Meralco team while TNT and Magnolia are set for a titanic collision as the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals begins Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
So welcome to another Ramon S. Ang of San Miguel Corporation – San Miguel Beer and Magnolia – and Manny V. Pangilinan of MVP Group – TNT and Meralco – showdown.
For sure, it’s going be another big, entertaining show.
The Tropang Giga resume their title retention bid against the Hotshots – the same team it beat to claim the all-Filipino cup crown last season – in the opening game at 3 p.m. while the Beermen aim to make a return trip to the finals for the first time since 2019 against the Bolts at 6 p.m.
TNT looks to make a repeat of the Philippine Cup finals last season where it took down Magnolia, 4-1 behind a scintillating display from Mikey Williams who bagged the Finals MVP award.
Williams is expected to lead the charge against the Hotshots anew especially after exploding for 22 of his 26 points in the second quarter of TNT’s 116-95 crushing of seventh seed Converge in the quarterfinals.
Eager to put a stop to the high scoring guard are the three-headed backcourt of Magnolia in Paul Lee, Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon.
The trio provided pivotal contributions in the Hotshots 2-1 series win against NLEX Road Warriors.
Barroca unloaded 24 points to lead the way in the series opener while Lee drilled an overtime-sending triple in Game 3 before Jalalon took charge to bag the series clinching win, 112-106.
Meanwhile, the Beermen will be banking on the Best Player of the Conference frontrunners June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez when they tangle against the Bolts who are riding the momentum from their breakthrough win against Barangay Ginebra in the quarters.
SMB however has flexed its might and depth in when it made quick work of the eighth seed Blackwater. Seven players scored in double digits with the likes of Vic Manuel, Mo Tautuaa, Marcio Lassiter and Simon Enciso providing solid contributions.
The win also ushered in the return of Chris Ross to the lineup who orchestrated the offense for SMB with 12 assists.
Meralco, however, had proven that it has the firepower to go toe-to-toe against powerhouse teams like Ginebra who it finally beat in the playoffs after six tries. Chris Newsome, Aaron Black and Allein Maliksi took care of the offense while Cliff Hodge and Raymond Almazan manned the paint to finally eliminate Ginebra in three games with a 106-104 win.
Unlike against Ginebra, Meralco had San Miguel’s number in their last playoff pairing with the Bolts eliminating the Beermen twice in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Governors’ Cup and 2020 Philippine Cup.