Petron gassed up for critical game

MANILA, Philippines - Petron coach Gee Abanilla said yesterday he realizes the urgency of winning Game 3 from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-seven semifinal series and is confident that if there’s any team in the PBA capable of bouncing back in a big way, it’s the Blaze Boosters.

That’s the predicament facing Abanilla as Petron battles Rain Or Shine in Game 3 of their Philippine Cup tie at the Mall of Asia Arena starting 5 this afternoon. The Elasto Painters drew first blood, 103-95, last Monday and made it two in a row, 103-94, last Wednesday. Rain Or Shine has now won its last 10 games while Petron, five of it last 10.

A win in Game 3 will put Petron back in the thick of the fight. But a third straight loss will drop the Blaze Boosters into a deep, dark hole with Rain Or Shine gaining a foot in the door leading to the finals.

“We know our back’s against the wall,” said Abanilla. “But we’re staying positive, we know we can compete, we know we can beat them. Hopefully we’ll recover and bounce back. We controlled the majority of Game 2 for 3 1/2 quarters but we lost it in the end. I don’t think our guys were tired. I feel bad for our players because they worked so hard and played so well. We just missed open shots that normally fall in and Rain Or Shine did a good job of capitalizing. But we’re fired up. The guys want to win, we all want to win. We owe it to the fans and management.”

Abanilla said aside from Arwind Santos, JuneMar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter, he’s expecting guards Alex Cabagnot and Chris Lutz to step up in Game 3. “I know we can match up with Rain Or Shine,” he said. “We’ve got a very capable lineup. In Game 2, our off-the-bench guys delivered like Paolo Hubalde, Doug Kramer and Chris Ross. We expect other guys like Jojo Duncil and Yousef Taha to do the same in the next games. We’ve been through a lot of trials and injuries. We’re not backing off from the challenge of fighting back.”

Abanilla said the physicality in the series is brutal. “Rain Or Shine is a highly physical team,” he said. “We know that. JuneMar was elbowed by Larry (Rodriguez) and has taken a lot of cheap shots. We also know that if we lose our cool, it could cost us the game. The psy-war is outrageous and extraordinary. JuneMar is a gentle giant and I’ve never seen him lose his cool the way he did in Game 2. I’m not complaining but I’m just hoping the referees keep things under control. Sometimes, there are ticky-tack fouls called on our end but on the other end, guys get away with hard fouls. We know Rain Or Shine is a tough team and we’ve got to play hard for 48 minutes. The key is to be mentally tough. We have to be ready for their physicality by staying in focus.”

Abanilla said in Game 3, Petron will reestablish its identity as a team of character. “We don’t want to engage Rain Or Shine in a ping-pong battle,” he said. “We’ll settle things down. If we’ve got an opportunity to run, we’ll take it. But for the most part, we’ll go to our strength, our identity which is the post-up game. Sure, there’s pressure to win Game 3 but we’re taking it positively. We’re not losing focus. The physicality is a given, the challenge is adjusting to what the referees are allowing. This series is far from over.”

Rain Or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said he’s not taking Petron lightly even if the Painters are up, 2-0, in the series. “We have to sustain our energy,” he said. “The good thing about our system is nobody believes in pacing. Everyone gets a chance to contribute. You play six, seven or eight minutes in a stretch, put in a strong effort and earn your time. You get to rest on the bench when we’re doing our rotation. The freshness factor is big for us.”

Guiao said in Game 2, he didn’t even play starters Gabe Norwood, Rodriguez and T. Y. Tang. “We actually played better in the second quarter than in the first,” he said. “We were down by 14 at the end of the first period and only by three at the half. In the third quarter, we started Jireh (Ibanes) who hadn’t played at all because we know his capability and we wanted to complete our rotation. In the second half, I decided to play bigger guards to match up against Petron. I think Petron tried to play physical in Game 2 but that’s not their game. They played out of character and it showed in the end.”

Guiao said the Painters can’t match Petron in terms of talent. “Clearly, Petron is the more talented team,” he said. “So we just try to work harder and get everybody involved to keep our energy at a high level. We’re like the guest team in the semifinals, we’re only trying to survive the best way we know how.”