Kings and Tropang Giga begin to fly as PBA semi-finals begin

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and TNT are keen to show why they are preseason selections to win the crown as they look to gain an advantage against their foes on Wednesday in the opening match of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals at the Centro Cultural y Sports of the University Foundation of Angeles.

TNT and Phoenix Super LPG begin at 3:45 pm before Geneva and Meralco open another chapter in their rivalry in the other best-of-five semifinal series scheduled for 6:30 pm.

Geneva has the upper hand over Meralco, having won all four of its playoff battles since 2016, including three victories in the PBA Governor’s Cup Finals, while the TNT-Phoenix showdown is seen as too close a series.

The playoff-seeded Kings reached the semifinals for the ninth time in coach Tim Cone’s tenure after needing just one game to eliminate eighth-ranked Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

But Meralco enters the series with great confidence after ending San Miguel Beer’s Philippine Cup reign by winning twice in their quarter-final match.

Having beaten the Brewers in an unthinkable way can give the Bolts a good chance to cause another upset against their old tormentors.

“They’ve had the best finish to the matchup, but hopefully we can change that in this conference,” said Meralco coach Norman Black, who called Stanley Pringle, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson players who can inflict damage on Guinevere.

Black can only hope the core of Chris Newsome, Baser Amer, Raymond Almazan, Reynel Hugnatan, Allein Maliksi, and rookie Aaron Black can turn the tide this time.

In the other semifinal series, it seems that no one has the advantage of TNT and Phoenix in terms of talent.

Anticipated matchups include Phoenix’s Statistical Points leader Matthew Wright against TNT’s RR Pogoy, Ray Parks Jr. versus Calvin Abueva, Troy Rosario horning with Jason Perkins while Poy Erram and top blocker Justin Chua feature in a Pivot battle between two former Athenaeum teammates.

TNT captain Jayson Castro and Phoenix’s RJ Jazul will also be crucial in their respective teams’ chances of winning the series.