Beermen see tough title duel vs Warriors

MANILA, Philippines - The San Miguel Beermen and Indonesia Warriors – two of the hottest teams in the third AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League – figure in a best-of-three titular duel that’s full of firepower, subplots and character.

The Beermen, who have won nine of their last 10 games dating back to the elims, are out to carry the Phl pride as well as continuing the winning tradition they started in the Philippine Basketball Association.

The Warriors, riding high on a seven-game roll, are bent on sustaining their giant-killer tag and claiming the scalp of another fancied Filipino squad after semis victim, AirAsia Phl Patriots.

“Both teams match up well,” said SMB coach Bobby Parks, who will lean on an explosive pair of imports in Nick Fazekas and Duke Crews, reliable guards Chris Banchero and Leo Avenido against the Warriors’ reinforcements Steve Thomas and Evan Brock and Fil-Am Stanley Pringle as well as Rony Gunawan and Jerrick Canada. 

Although SMB enjoys a 3-0 head-to-head card against the Warriors in the regular season, the championship series that begins tomorrow at the Ynares Sports Arena is expected to be as close as it can get.

“They are not the same team we played before. They strengthened their lineup so we don’t expect this to be a cakewalk,” said  Parks. “But I have confidence in my team. We have to protect our homecourt.”

Matchup-wise, eyes will be at the point position, featuring SMB’s Banchero and Warrior’s Pringle. Banchero averaged 13.7 points and 10.3 assists an outing in the semis, including a new ABL record of 15 assists in their 111-104 overtime victory in Game 1 against semis victim Malaysia Dragons. Pringle makes things going for Indonesia and seems to favor playing at Ynares, where he averaged 22.5 points in two appearances in the Pasig City venue.

“Pringle is pretty much the motor of that team. If we can stop him, we can come out and win this game,” said the Fil-Italian Banchero.

The hunger factor, meanwhile, will come into fore as far as SMB’s Avenido and Warriors’ Mario Wuysang are concerned. Avenido is playing his third season in the ABL and had fallen short of the crown with previous teams Brunei Barracudas and Singapore Slingers. While Wuysang (12.27 points per game) was part of the Satria Muda Britama team that placed second to the Patriots in 2010.

“I’ve been on the losing end for the last two seasons but I hope I could win this season. It will take a team effort for us to bag the crown,” said Avenido.

“I think our team is peaking at the right time with the addition of Evan Brock and Stanley Pringle. Right time and right place. We are ready,” said Wuysang. “We are very excited to be here and can’t wait to get it started because we prepared very well for this series. We want to win that championship and that’s what we are playing for.”