Battle of wits

Over 14,000 fans showed up at the Araneta Coliseum to watch Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals between Alaska and Purefoods last Sunday – an indication of the high interest generated by the series. And every single fan stayed in the Big Dome until the final buzzer.

Although Purefoods leads the series, 3-0, and is just a win away from wrapping up the title, nobody’s talking about a sweep because Alaska has as much of a chance to win Game 4 than the Tender Juicy Giants.

More than anything, the series has been a battle of coaching wits. Alaska’s Tim Cone and Purefoods’ Ryan Gregorio are locked in a dogfight. They’ve used different matchups, surprised each other by the combinations on the floor, deployed shock troopers without being predictable and employed different kinds of defense.

So far, we’ve seen Marc Pingris go head-to-head against unlikely matchups L.A. Tenorio and Willie Miller, causing serious problems because of his size advantage. Tony de la Cruz has slid from No. 3 to No. 2 to take on James Yap who has also been defended by Miller, Jeffrey Cariaso and Brandon Cablay. Roger Yap has engaged both Tenorio and Miller. Gregorio has sent in a combination of four bigs and a guard to throw off Alaska’s frontliners. Cone’s version of a big lineup features Sonny Thoss, Reynel Hugnatan and Joe DeVance.

Timing is critical in making matchup and defensive adjustments. That’s where coaching ability comes in. Pingris likes to soften up Tenorio, tire him out, before Paul Artadi checks in to add more pressure with fresh legs. De la Cruz moves in to shadow King James so Miller can conserve his energy for offense.

When to play a zone is crucial – and it usually happens to stop a team from scoring inside points or if the defensive team is in the penalty and wants to avoid picking up fouls or if the offensive team’s shooters are on the bench.

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Every game in the series could’ve gone either way. For Alaska, that fact is particularly painful because it means the Aces repeatedly failed to get the job done down the stretch.

In Game 3, for instance, Alaska had three unforgivable turnovers and a missed foul shot in the final few minutes and Purefoods held on to win, 79-78. In Game 2, DeVance was whistled for a phantom foul on Kerby Raymundo with virtually no time left on the clock and the score tied, 85-all. Raymundo sank the first free throw and deliberately missed the second to take away Alaska’s chance to call a timeout and set up a final play. In Game 1, Alaska dominated the boards, 52-44, and took 13 more field goal attempts but shot atrociously from the floor, .361, to lose an 81-77 decision.

Alaska ‘s inability to execute – because of Purefoods’ stingy defense – has been the key to every Giants win. The Aces have committed more turnovers than Purefoods from Game 1 to Game 3 – 14-13 in the opener, 23-13 in Game 2 and 20-16 in Game 3. The Giants never failed to capitalize, scoring more turnover points, 9-4, in Game 1, a whopping 30-12 in Game 2 and 18-16 in Game 3.

Alaska has also been slapped with too many fouls resulting in free throws – 14-7 in Game 1, 19-10 in Game 2 and 11-9 in Game 3. The margin of difference was particularly glaring in Game 2 where Purefoods went 21-of-35 from the line compared to Alaska’s 15-of-18.

In Game 1, Alaska’s lowly field goal percentage was its downfall. In Game 2, Alaska’s faulty execution led to 10 more turnovers as Purefoods shot 18 more turnover points and took 17 more foul shots. Despite the numbers, Alaska should’ve survived regulation and played in overtime if not for the last-second foul called by referee Maui Mauricio on what appeared to be incidental contact or no contact at all. In Game 3, Purefoods’ bench erupted for 36 points, compared to 16 by Alaska’s relievers, and the bigs hauled down 18 offensive rebounds, to Alaska’s nine, and delivered 15 second chance points to the Aces’ six.

Alaska’s bench was more productive in Games 1 and 2 but Purefoods’ second unit went to town in Game 3 with Niño Canaleta, P.J. Simon, Don Allado and Rico Maierhofer knocking down big baskets.

Thoss’ tendency to foul has been a problem for Cone. He fouled out in Games 2 and 3. Clearly, Purefoods’ bigs are aggressively powering their way to the hole to put pressure on Thoss who’s the fulcrum in Alaska’s triangle.

Fouls and turnovers are making life difficult for Alaska. In Game 2, DeVance and Hugnatan finished with five personals apiece. Worse, Hugnatan had seven turnovers, Miller five and Tenorio five. In Game 3, Miller picked up six turnovers, Tenorio four and Hugnatan three.

Even with the statistical discrepancies, Alaska had a chance to win the first three games in the series. And that should brighten up the Aces’ outlook for Game 4 tonight.

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For Purefoods to clinch in Game 4, the Giants must play even tougher defense to disrupt Alaska’s rhythm in the halfcourt - that means locking down on Tenorio. The bench must be as productive as it was in Game 3 and jumpers should be a low priority for the offense to show strong moves to the basket either through penetrations, cuts down the middle or post-ups.

For Alaska to extend the series to a Game 5 on Sunday, the Aces must foul strictly with a purpose, not unnecessarily giving away free throws, raise their assist-to-turnover ratio higher than Purefoods, be ready to hit the outside shots whenever the Giants play zone, pick up the pace to make it higher-scoring, clog the interior to force Purefoods to shoot from outside and focus on taking possession away from King James.

Make no mistake about it. The series ain’t over ‘til the Fat Lady sings, as the saying goes.