SAN Mig Coffee completely outplayed, outhustled, and outshot Alaska, 103-83, jumpstarting its PBA Philippine Cup championship bid on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Mixers, the former B-Meg Llamados, shot an astounding 64.4 percent (42-of-65) from the field, while holding the Aces – their pre-season tormentor - to a poor 30.7 percent (27-of-88) shooting en route to the lopsided win.
“Everybody played well, we moved the ball well, we defended well. And when you do that, everything clicks for you,” said winning coach Tim Cone.
Cone said they were expecting the worst prior to the game considering the Aces beat them twice during the preseason, including one in a pocket tournament in Cebu City two weeks ago.
“We lost to them twice in preseason. We weren’t 100 percent back then. But they haven’t had (rookie Calvin) Abueva yet. They just came in with great expectations before the game,” Cone said.
“So we just jumped the gun on them, and we were really shooting very well off our ball movement. I think that kind of discouraged them a little bit,” added the San Mig Coffee coach, who is gunning for a record-tying 15th PBA title this conference.
Legendary coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan, author of the first-ever Grand Slam in the league as Crispa mentor in 1976, holds the most number of championships won with 15.
The scores:
SAN MIG COFFEE 103 - De Ocampo 22, Yap 20, Barroca 16, Simon 16, Ramos 6, Villanueva 6, Pingris 5, Gonzales 4, Reavis 4, Gaco 2, Devance 2, Ponferada 0, Pacana 0.
ALASKA 83 - Hontiveros 14, Baguio 13, Baracael 12, Espinas 12, Dela Cruz 8, Cablay 7, Reyes 6, Thoss 6, Casio 3, Eman 2, Belasco 0.
Quarters: 34-25, 57-42, 75-56, 103-83.
Source: Richard Dy, SPIN.ph
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