San Mig Coffee try to open a huge two-game lead over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel when they take on the crowd favorite team today in the pivotal game 4 of their Manila Cl(–foul word(s) removed–)ico semifinal showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
photo credit: gmanetwork.com (KC CRUZ)
The first three outings suggest that a low-scoring and defensive-oriented matches favored San Mig thus expect that the Mixers, who are coming off another impressive 97-89 win over the Kings last timeout, to rely again on their defense anchored by Mark Pingris and Mark Barroca to notch the all-important victory.
Barroca, who was named player of the week by the PBA press core just yesterday, will again, conspired with pesky defender Justin Melton in doing the damage in the backcourt while Pingrisand Devance will man the lanes for San Mig.
However, the Mixers should still be cautious with Ginebra’s capability to get back and equalize the series right away as the Kings might put their never-say-die attitude on display yet anew in their 8pm engagement.
The Kings could not afford to lose; naturally they will definitely give their all in the game later to prevent their backs from hitting the ropes come the crucial game 5.
Ginebrawill live and die with their twin towers of Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, who had a breakout game in the game 3 with 29 points and 13 rebounds and also to veterans LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa to get the job done.
And since, the fast-pace and high-scoring battle are on their side, the kings should try to run and dictate the tempo of the game right from the get go and of course seek contributions in their loaded bench to match the intensity of the Barroca-led San Mig.