Will a country weep or will a country leap after one team painstakingly diverted a sweep?
And yeah, I’m not talking about the Olympics.
Moments nearing the finish of the Ginebra-Air21 series, you have to wonder how the series will unfold.
First of all, Air21’s bench has been pretty weak compared to the Kings’ bench. The Express rely on their best eight players and the rookies have yet to make their marks prominently in the series. Even KG Canaleta has been struggling ever since he started coming in off the bench. We saw Marvin Cruz, JC Intal, and Doug Kramer scoring eight and more in their Game 2 encounter. Yes it was a route and they got their points off garbage minutes but these guys need to pile up their contributions.
One other thing for the Express is Ranidel de Ocampo. He has been contained the past two games and this proved as reason why the club is scoring 80 points and lower. Jong Uichico had it right to clog their offense but for a player averaging 11 points per game, fizzling when it matters is unacceptable.
Wynne Arboleda while struggling in offense, brings stability to the Express. Problem is though, he seems easily rattled. For a player poised to outclass Paul Artadi and Chris Pacana, he is committing to many careless mistakes that could down his team’s chances. Egay Billones is a second-rate playmaker who’d rather score than set so the Snatcher must weave out of his slump. This is where Marvin Cruz needs to capitalize. Despite error-prone, he has the ability to shock the Kings. Actually amongst the rookies, he has the best chance to shine in this series.
Gary David and Arwind Santos will lead the locals. David will likely score in double figures while Santos will use his skills to dish another complete performance. Homer Se? The guy is wily and while he has limited offensive skills, he is unafraid to hit the shots his teammates wouldn’t shoot.
In the battle of the imports, Chris Alexander remains superior to Steve Thomas but Thomas owns more scoring chances that the reigning Best Import. Alexander though, just got a thunderous performance. Bad news for the Kings because his 37-point game will never happen in Game 7.
Mark Caguioa, injuries and all, needs to exert his game for the Kings. No one can make the crowd giddy other than the Spark. For Uichico, I think he needs to depend more on Junthy Valenzuela. Valenzuela has been on a slump, but he is benching the Hitman in his quarter. We all know that Valenzuela thrives in crunch time. Favoring Ronald Tubid is a hit or miss possibility. The Rocket (formerly the Saint) is reckless more than fearless. I can see Tubid leading a fast break but he’ll probably mess up the half-court set.
Pacana was a revelation especially when doing the dirty work†but he has no sure-ball shot. Artadi, of all things, is a better scorer than him. Sure, putting the words Artadi and sure-ball in one sentence could still make people smirk, but Artadi is a better playmaker.
The biggest thing Air21 should be wary about is Ginebra’s crowd boost. Sure, they tried to “express†their disapproval that fan support will not be a problem, but the deafening howls of the Gin faithful could never be denied. Gary David has felt it. Ranidel and Wynne has felt it. Homer Se definitely hates it. I guess the only player that seems unfazed is Arwind Santos, but the MVP runner-up is having the toughest luck playing Mr. Do-It-All against an arena-packed of salivating hordes of Gin followers.
A superstar will give the Kings another crown while the Express needs to get support besides their Top 8.
All bets are off.
Title number one for the Express… or another gold for the legendary team.
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