There were a lot of things that already affected the 45th Season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), mostly because of a virus that created a pandemic.
But there’s one thing that will not be affected, something that the PBA Board of Governors made sure will happen despite the odds: the crowning of a PBA 2020 Philippine Cup champion.
Tonight, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and TNT Tropang Giga are the protagonists and will slug it out to determine who among them will hoist the PBA’s most prestigious crown jewel once the smoke of battle clears.
Game time will be at 6 p.m.
Both teams had to undergo a tough semifinal series against equally capable opponents, the Phoenix Super LPG for the Tropa and the Meralco Bolts for the Gin Kings, both series decided via a sudden-death game.
The Tropa dismantled the Fuelmasters last Friday, 91-81, behind the 26-point production of main man Bobby Ray Parks, Jr., while the Gin Kings survived a nail-biter against the Bolts, 83-80, courtesy of a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by guard Scottie Thompson.
Though being held under a unique (“bubble”) and historic format, the intensity of the combat between the finalists will not be diminished, even if there’s no roaring crowd and curious onlookers numbering by the thousands will be present tonight at the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) Sports Center and Cultural Arena in Angeles, Pampanga.
It will be just the players, their coaches, support staff, and PBA and AUF technical people who will be present inside the arena. They were the only ones allowed to enter under the strict health and safety protocols agreed upon between the PBA and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Kings’ coach Tim Cone would like to think that they are the slight underdogs, with the TNT playing exceptionally well the entire conference, with an excellent coaching staff led by coach Bong Ravena, and the unstoppable Asia’s Best Point Guard Jayson Castro, whom Cone calls the “difference maker.”
Ravena likewise acknowledged that playing against Ginebra will be tough, having been beaten by the Gin Kings during the elimination round. “We will do our best to play well.”
Though dominant in the last three seasons with their Governors’ Cup triumphs, the last time the Gin Kings hoisted the Philippine Cup (All-Filipino) trophy was during the 2006-2007 season when it defeated sister team San Miguel Beer.
For TNT, on the other hand, their last non-import conference victory was during the 2012-2013 season, the last of their three consecutive Philippine Cup crowns.
They are just one of two teams, San Miguel Beer being the other one, that have won the Philippine Cup more than three consecutive times.
So expect these two teams to be hungry after having experienced long droughts in winning the league’s most coveted crown as they try to succeed San Miguel Beer as champions.
(Photo credit: pba.ph)