ONE side came up short to make the top two. The other salvaged sixth spot in a successful final assault in the elims.
And now the third-seeded Barangay Ginebra Kings and the sixth-ranked NorthPort Batang Pier are on equal footing as they clash for a spot in the Final Four in a best-of-three showdown starting at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
The Kings won their PBA Commissioner's Cup elims duel (122-105) and finished three full games ahead of the Batang Pier in the team standings.
Still, the Kings won't commit a mistake of lulling into complacency, especially as coach Tim Cone seriously considers the Batang Pier as a dangerous opponent.
Cone noted the Batang Pier as a team that has been playing well all tournament long, and he's wary of several former Kings who are motivated to show what they can do.
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"That's natural for a player to be motivated playing against your former team. And we have eight former players in that team. They know well what we're doing," said Cone.
Arvin Tolentino, part of the package Ginebra sent to NorthPort in exchange for Jamie Malonzo, top scored for the Batang Pier with 24 points in their elims tiff last Nov. 27.
Other ex-Kings doing well as Batang Pier are Kevin Ferrer, Jeff Chan and Prince Caperal.
Of course, the Kings also have players who are familiar with coach Pido Jarencio and his system.
But Cone insists NorthPort is a tough matchup for Ginebra.
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"They're a talented team. They are a tough matchup particularly for us because we like to play big and they like to play small and quick," said Cone.
"We had a tough time against them the last game," Cone also said, pointing out they were able to make a run only towards the end.
True enough, the Batang Pier have been very competitive with the firepower from the likes of Robert Bolick, Tolentino and Will Navarro and the defensive and rebounding might provided by import Prince Ibeh.
The Batang Pier could have been a lot better if not for the sidelining of Arwind Santos due to an injury.
In Ibeh, NorthPort has a tremendous rim protector that would make things difficult for Christian Standhardinger, Japeth Aguilar and Malonzo.
Nonetheless, the Kings set out as the faves in this matchup. (SB)
