Phoenix, RoS eye early semifinals entry
Credit to Author: JOSEF T. RAMOS, TMT| Date: Sat, 06 Apr 2019 16:24:24 +0000
Top seed teams Phoenix Pulse and Rain or Shine gun for an early semifinals entry when they battle their respective foes today at the start of the quarterfinals of Season 44 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Top seed and armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, the Fuel Masters face No. 8 Alaska in the 6:45 p.m. second game. The No. 2 seed Elasto Painters, on the other hand, also armed with a twice-to-beat take on No. 7 Northport in the 4:30 p.m. opener.
A victory by the Fuel Masters will book them their first semifinal appearance since joining the league three years ago.
“Still, it’s the same Alaska team and we should not be outworked. So our attitude is that we’re going to treat the game without a twice-to-beat advantage,” Phoenix coach Louie Alas told The Manila Times.
Phoenix routed Alaska, 94-80, on March 1 in the elimination round but Alas said things are different now.
“It’s a different ball game now, so we are not thinking about that win anymore,” he added.
The Aces are coming from a morale-boosting 88-80 win over Northern Luzon Expressway in last Friday’s do-or-die playoff game for the eighth quarterfinal slot.
“We are basically playing ourselves. They run the same system as we do. They have the same coaches. It will be a good battle. They’re going to put the full-court press on us,” said Chris Banchero. “They have had time to rest and they are well-prepared. Hopefully, we continue to play good as we go into the playoffs,” added Banchero.
Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia said it’s all about the game plan.
“We just have to follow the game plan. It is very hard to lose the first game.”
The Batang Pier (5-6) wowed the crowd at the end of the elimination round winning their last three games to secure a quarterfinal slot.
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