(c) PBA Media Bureau
The flagship franchises of the two heavyweight conglomerates in the league will be disputing the 2017 Commissioner's Cup title.San Miguel will boast the better line-up, led by the reigning MVP, June Mar Fajardo. Nobody is talking about this but Fajardo is having one of his worst conference in a while, averaging 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in the elimination round.
On the other hand, TNT survived two import changes, and they may do one more, to reached this stage. This is only the 2nd conference of Nash Racela in the PBA but he is already on his way to his 1st PBA Finals.
A lot of storylines to talk about but what are the three things that will decide game 1?
1. Chris Ross
2. Free-throw shooting
3. Joshua Smith
Joshua Smith doesn't produced sexy numbers to hype himself up. Damn, there is nothing sexy about him. He is just big! As in so big that his size alone makes a gigantic difference. The picks and screens that he give are twice bigger than the average.
With The Kraken struggling, Smith could turn out to be a much bigger headache than expected. TNT could be in control of the boards in this series with the presence of Smith.
On the other hand, one Beermen went under-radar in the semifinals because of the monstrous production of Ricardo Ratliffe. Chris Ross went for two double-digit assist outings and two 23+ points production. Overall, he averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 4.3 steals per game!
TNT better look out for him because he is now the engine to the offense of the Beermen that he can ignite with his defense! TNT better not repeat Ginebra's mistake last conference, when they let Ross beat them.
A lot of storylines to talk about but what are the three things that will decide game 1?
1. Chris Ross
2. Free-throw shooting
3. Joshua Smith
Joshua Smith doesn't produced sexy numbers to hype himself up. Damn, there is nothing sexy about him. He is just big! As in so big that his size alone makes a gigantic difference. The picks and screens that he give are twice bigger than the average.
With The Kraken struggling, Smith could turn out to be a much bigger headache than expected. TNT could be in control of the boards in this series with the presence of Smith.
On the other hand, one Beermen went under-radar in the semifinals because of the monstrous production of Ricardo Ratliffe. Chris Ross went for two double-digit assist outings and two 23+ points production. Overall, he averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 4.3 steals per game!
TNT better look out for him because he is now the engine to the offense of the Beermen that he can ignite with his defense! TNT better not repeat Ginebra's mistake last conference, when they let Ross beat them.
Prediction
I don't think TNT will settle right away. San Miguel is playing much better basketball and TNT may find it hard to find ways to minimize Ross' effect. We are also not sure if Smith is 100% fine. So, the better pick is SMB.
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