And then there were four

There are only four teams left standing in the MBA Nationals, and the names and faces are very familiar: the LBC Batangas Blades, Andok’s San Juan Knights, Negros Slashers and Cebuana Lhuillier Gems. Each has taken a different path to the conference finals which start on Wednesday in Lipa, Batangas, and Bacolod.

In the north, the Blades struggled early before finally roaring to the top of the standings. After being eliminated by the Knights in the first conference, the Batangas boys got their wish, a rematch with the defending champions. Nash Racela’s gang has had its hiccups along the road, too, including losing power forward Stephen Antonio, who returned to the US after the September 11 World Trade Center bombing.

San Juan, for its part, had to endure the resurgent FedEx Laguna Lakers before stepping back into the conference finals. The Lakers won eight straight, and finally vanquished the ghost of Knights past with two straight wins over their rivals. Or so they thought. For the second time, San Juan swept Laguna in a best-of-three series.

For Batangas, the mission is twofold: do not allow the Knights to run early, and keep them off the glass. San Juan leads the league in Blitz Three’s, getting six against Laguna in Game 1 of their series. Also, Rafi Reavis cleaned glass in Game 2 with 22 rebounds, close to the league record.

The Blades have the advantage in the backcourt, with Tonyboy Espinosa, Alex Compton, Chuchu Serrano, Ralphi Rivera and Jeff Sanders providing a deep rotation. For San Juan, the guard line-up is a hand short, as the team finally dropped Kalani Ferreria, leaving Chito Victolero and Philip Newton to man the point.

In the paint, the key will be the performance of Romel Adducul, Eddie Laure and Peter Martin against San Juan’s stratospheric combinations of Reavis (6-8), Omanzie Rodriguez (6-6) and a platoon of wide-bodies bangers. Batangas becomes a really small team once Adducul sits down, and Philip Cezar knows this.

However, the Knights have not been shooting that well from the outside, and this has seen leading scorer Chris Calaguio’s numbers dip below 20 points per game late in the season. He and Victolero have to hit from the perimeter to keep double-teams away from their big men.

Against Laguna, it was San Juan’s polish and championship experience that saw them through. Will they be able to do the same against a maturing Batangas side on its home court?

In the south, the Negros Slashers have definitely grown up. Robert Sison’s troops are no longer the emotional coaster they’ve been in past seasons. Though they’ve been playing without a legitimate center, the Southern Conference champions have learned many lessons from two bridesmaid’s finishes in the Big Dance. John Ferriols has been consistent, and the relievers like Reynel Hugnatan and Leo Bat-og have been surprising, playing particularly well against their tormentors in the north, San Juan and Batangas.

But the surprise package of the Slashers has been point guard Dennis Madrid, who has come out of his shell to supplant Maui Huelar as the team’s starting point guard. Madrid has set the tone for the team, playing tough and hitting the big shots when needed.

The Slashers will be playing against perennial foe Cebuana Lhuillier, which has finally overcome the baggage of being abandoned by MVP candidate Matt Mitchell. This is finally the team that Peter Naron and Stephen Padilla will lead, and, their losing record notwithstanding, they’ve picked up the pieces and now have a legitimate shot at getting back to the finals.

For the Gems to get past Negros, they need their big men like Homer Se and Joey Santamaria to provide big numbers. Se has to play like he is this team’s center, not someone just handed big shoes to fill. And Cebu must keep the Slashers from getting off to a big start, or the crowd will take them out of the game.

For Tonichi Yturri, the secret may be as simple as having his team follow instructions. The Gems are, after all, parading new pieces late in the season, Santamaria, Bobby Jose and Chris de Jesus. They all have to stick to their roles, and not be intimidated by the college spirit of the Slashers.

One thing you can always count on, the MBA conference finals are always spirited, colorful, and emotional.