I'm done with forecasts! My last NBA playoffs prediction post sucks. So for the Talk ‘N Text-Barangay Ginebra finals series, I’ll pass up on predictions. Let me just give you the intriguing match-ups of some of the players, the coaches, and fans as well. Read on.
Bonus: I’ll give you one key Yancy de Ocampo stat!
Fans
When was the last time a Philippine national basketball team was booed by the people they represent? Think about that for a moment and answer. Um, never!? That’s what Barangay Ginebra’s opponents get. Talk n Text is not a pushover team in terms of fan base. If you do Twitter, you’ll see TnT players having the most number of followers. In games, TnT fans are plenty and loud too. But against Ginebra, they’ll be outnumbered, out-heckled and out-booed. Advantage: Ginebra
Players
Backcourt rotation: Larry Fonacier, Ryan Reyes, Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro vs Mark Caguioa, Willie Miller, Ronald Tubid and Mike Cortez. The Ginebra guards got some miles but they were the ones who practically carried the team to the finals. Almost half of Ginebra's scoring comes from their explosive backcourt. Mark Caguioa is playing like "The Spark" of old (I expect him to be the best player of the conference). Ronald Tubid is playing the best basketball of his life. Willie Miller is, um, still Willie Miller. He can knock out teams all on his own (including his). Mike Cortez plays a steady game (7-4-4), and that’s a stabilizing factor when the other guys go cold. On the other hand, looking at TnT guards, they awesomely play team ball and when the need arises, Jimmy Alapag goes for killer stop-and-pop threes and Jason Castro short-circuits the offense and attacks the hoop for quick twos. When perimeter defenders leave Larry Fonacier open, count it. Same goes for Ryan Reyes. In fact, Ryan is a better three-point shooter than Larry plus he plays uber defense (averages two steals per game). As good as the TnT guards are, I wouldn’t bet against their Ginebra counterparts. Advantage: Ginebra
Frontline. This could very well decide the outcome of the series. Ginebra bigs must produce, well, big, or they’ll be in trouble. The duo of Ali Peek and Ranidel de Ocampo can consistently whip out 30 points and 15 rebounds per game in this series. I’m not sure if Ginebra's frontline (aside from the two mentioned below, Rudy Hatfield and Nate Brumfield) can produce that. Erik Menk is still in major pain. Rico Villanueva is still a hurting bull. In the semis, Billy Mamaril managed to register only three points and one rebound per game. Meanwhile, De Ocampo only registered one flying elbow in that Ginebra-Smart Gilas series. Mamaril and De Ocampo need to step up their game. Advantage: Talk n Text
Nate Brumfield vsPaul Harris. Interestingly, Harris played one of his “low” games versus Ginebra. Brumfield will be coming off a monster semifinals when he comes head to head with Harris. Meanwhile, Harris will be fresh and rested when the bell rings. These two are evenly matched in terms of physique and playing style. But I'm slightly picking Harris only because I can see TnT giving Brumfield different looks on offense. Additionally, TnT has players to throw to Brumfield in Kelly Williams, Ranidel De Ocampo, Harvey Carey and Harris himself. On defense, Brumfield will do work too as he’ll surely guard a superb TnT frontcourt rotation. Advantage: Talk n Text
Harvey Carey vsRudy Hatfield. This match-up is a dogfight. Statistically, Hatfield is better than Carey, but just by a hair. Hatfield will have more impact than Carey in this series – just because Rudy plays roughly 10 more minutes than Harvey. Advantage: Ginebra
Coaching
Chot Reyes vs Jong Uichico. Between these two coaches are 14 titles! Think about that for a moment (I love saying that). For fear of not having my photo taken with the two and because I am sucker for photo-ops, I’ll not publicly tell who’s better between Coach Chot and Coach Jong. (If you follow our Twitter, you’ll know who’s my pick). The sure thing is, titles don’t lie, and we’ll get to see high-quality coaching in this series. Advantage: EVEN!!!