Game on Friday
(Alcantara Civic Center)
7:00 p.m.-Talisay vs. Mandaue
MANILA – A slam-bang weekend awaits basketball fans this weekend as Talisay and Mandaue engage in the best-of-three Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Visayas leg finals at the Alcantara Civic Center in Cebu.
Both teams will begin their daily championship grind on Friday night while they face off again the following evening.
If necessary, Game 3 will be held on Sunday night.
All games will tip off at 7 p.m.
Talisay booked the first finals seat after sweeping the classification phase.
However, Coach Aldrin Morante insisted that the sweep is useless come the championship series.
“We’re back to 0-0,” Morante said. “Forget about 10-0. This is the finals and we need to stay hungry and we need to stay sharp.”
On the other hand, Mandaue secured the other finals seat after ousting Lapu-Lapu in the semifinals.
Armed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the semis, Mandaue bounced back from its tough 52-67 Game 1 defeat with a 74-64 win in Game 2.
Assistant coach Jabby Bautista hopes that Mandaue would carry the same intensity it unleashed on Wednesday night during the rubber match to the finals.
"If we just play our game, play like there is no tomorrow, play like how we played against ARQ (Builders) last (Wednesday), I think we can do it," he said.
Talisay is turning its attention to the Far Eastern University (FEU) alumni duo of Gryann Mendoza and Ping Exciminiano as its primary targets defensively.
Mendoza fired 25 points on Wednesday night during Mandaue's semis clincher against Lapu-Lapu.
On the other hand, Exciminiano, who Mendoza considers as a mentor dating back to their days with FEU, showcased his well-known lockdown defense by holding Lapu-Lapu's Reed Juntilla to only 13 points on 6-of-17 shooting on Wednesday night.
“We can’t be complacent on any of them and we have to limit their scoring since they’re the ones who give life to KCS,” Morante said. “KCS is a heavy-hitter and we all need to stay focused.”
While he is not known as someone who can score at free will, Mendoza looks up to Exciminiano as a leader for Mandaue in other aspects, such as providing energy for him and the rest of the team.
"Having Ping dito sa team namin, isa siya sa mga hinuhugutan ko ng lakas pagka-bad game. Tumitingin lang ako sa kanya, tapos okay na ko ulit. Having him cheering for us, malaking bagay na sa amin 'yun (Having Ping in our team, he is one of the players from whom I draw energy during a bad game. I just look at him and then I feel good again. Having him cheering for us is a big deal for us)," Mendoza said.
Meanwhile, Mandaue is setting its sights on another former University Athletic Association of the Philippines star, Paulo Hubalde, as the man to watch out for Talisay.
Hubalde, son of Philippine Basketball Association legend Freddie, averaged eight assists per game for Talisay in the preliminary round as his playmaking and leadership have been instrumental to the squad tipped as the heavy favorite to rule the Visayas leg preseason. (PNA)
