By REYNALD MAGALLON
Love is maybe in the air but there will be none even between sister teams San Miguel and Magnolia.
Both teams may have showered each other with nothing but good words and pleasantries during the press conference but that is expected to quickly turn into animosities as they begin the 2023-’24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals showdown on Friday, Feb 2.
The mouth-watering showdown tips off at 7:30 p.m at the Mall of Asia Arena with the two best teams at the end of the eliminations, looking to satisfy their hunger for success and glory.
The Hotshots for one have not tasted championship since 2018 and will get another shot at ending that drought against the same team that denied them the title in the 2019 Philippine Cup.
“This is a very exciting series I think tulad ng sinabi, parehas gutom. I think magiging magandang series ito kaya dapat nating abangan. So madaming mga bago na compared to 2019 kaunti na lang yung payers na nandoon so magiging exciting ito,” said Victolero.
The Beermen, likewise, are looking to raise the Commissioner’s Cup title for the first time since 2019 and are eyeing to give tactician Jorge Gallent his first PBA championship as the team’s head coach.
SMB might have slowly emerged as the favorite for the championship following the addition of import Bennie Boatwright midway through the conference but Gallent believed Magnolia remained to be the team to beat due to their consistency in the past few months.
“Magnolia has been the number 1 team since I think four to five months ago. It’s gonna be hard for us to beat them but we’re kinda positive about it and we’re gonna try our best to get the championship this conference,” said Gallent.
Like their previous series encounters however the series is brewing to be another classic battle of firepower for the side of SMB and the defensive tenacity for the side of Magnolia.
Through the conference, the Beermen came out as the best scoring team with an average of 107 points per game but they will be tested against the Hotshots swarming defense which held its opponents to just 88.5 points.
Providing the tip to SMB’s spear though is its twin towers in Boatwright and June Mar Fajardo along with their star studded supporting cast in the likes of CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano and Terrence Romeo.
Magnolia’s defense though would be anchored on the boundless energy of Calvin Abueva, Ian Sangalang and import Tyler Bey along with the backcourt triumvirate of Paul Lee, Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon.
