Giants vow to finish off Aces in Game 4

MANILA, Philippines - For the Purefoods Giants, the best way to complete their mission in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup finale is to stay focused on the job at hand to complete a stirring sweep of Alaska Milk at the resumption of their series tomorrow.

Coach Ryan Gregorio said their mindset would just be to play hard and hope to accomplish the mission they have set out to do all conference long.

With a three-game-to-nil lead, the Giants take their first of four cracks at wrapping up the crown in Game Four at the Araneta Coliseum.

“We don’t want to give them breathing room. We don’t want them to regain their energy,” said Gregorio, determined to finish off the embattled Aces.

“We’ve got the right formula (of beating Alaska). It’s a matter of doing the formula night in and night out. We can’t give them a good rhythm when they run their triangle (offense),” Gregorio added.

No team in league history has ever come back from a 0-3 hole in a best-of-seven series, but the Aces are not yet about to throw in the towel.

Alaska coach Tim Cone said he would only take his hat off to the Giants once they complete the series win.

“The first order of business is going out and trying to win Wednesday,” said Cone.

The Alaska coach isn’t losing hope, noting the first three games were all close with each one going down to final execution of play in the stretch.

“We’re not separated by a lot. It could all go either way if we had better coaching,” said Cone.

Cone’s biggest worry is how to solve the Giants’ tough defense.

“I don’t think the series is coming down to energy. It’s their ability to defend and execute,” said Cone.

“They’re making it hard for us to run our patterns, making it break down to one-on-one. It’s falling down as the same as the San Miguel-Purefoods series.