Beermen, Aces eye semis

It’s hard to dissect whether Louie Alas was serious or joking but the Mobiline mentor, without batting an eyelash, uttered only four fighting words in answering queries on how his team could fare against the fancied San Miguel Beer team – "we will crush them."

Whether he meant it or not, one thing is sure, though – Mobiline is facing a gargantuan task versus San Miguel in its bid to make it past the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.

Many things are to be considered and practically everything points to the Beermen the outstanding favorite in their matchup which kicks off the playoff phase of the mid-season tourney at the Philsports Arena today.

San Miguel, being the top seed, has two cracks at booking a seat in the Final Four. Mobiline, which barely made it to the quarters via the backdoor, needs to beat San Miguel twice in a row to win their matchup.

Like San Miguel, Alaska takes its first of two shots at the semifinals as it plays Sta. Lucia Realty in today’s other game.

But unlike the Beermen, the Aces don’t enjoy overwhelming odds since original import Terrance Badgett is still in the injured list and the team is facing a rival which could give it a good run for its money.

The two teams actually finished with identical 5-4 win-loss records in the elims but the Aces gained the higher seeding on the win-over-the-other rule.

Alaska outlasted Sta. Lucia, 99-94, last June 20. Back then, the Realtors, however, were still playing with the off-form Ansu Sesay as their import, not the prolific Damian Owens.

The Beermen, meanwhile, simply outclassed the Phone Pals, scoring an emphatic 92-73 win last June 22.

Alas is confident they can avenge that loss with 6-foot-10 behemoth Asi Taulava now in better shape and the team riding a new wave of confidence following their 71-56 demolition of Shell in their knockout game Friday.

"Magsama-sama lang kami ng team ko, mayroon kaming pupuntahan," said Alas. "Try to look at our stats. Lahat naman ng laro namin panalo kami sa numbers pero natatalo dahil sa mga intangibles like hustles. Konting dagdag ng efforts at laban kami kahit kanino."

San Miguel coach Jong Uichico does believe Mobiline can give them a good fight with Alas having competent players in any position in his disposal.

"They have the height and speed kaya kami pa nga ang baka mahirapan mag-matchup sa kanila," said Uichico, whose team is seeking to take another big step towards attaining a possible fourth straight championship.

Indeed, the Phone Pals have the height with Taulava, Jerry Codinera and Vic Pablo their main men in their frontline rotation. Uichico will likely throw Danny Ildefonso, Nic Belasco and Dan Seigle against these players.