Attendance to kick up in PBA playoffs

MANILA, Philippines - The crowds will be thicker as teams go deeper into the playoffs of the PBA Philippine Cup and from all indications, the first conference will set an attendance yardstick for the season. PBA commissioner Chito Salud said the other day that pre-playoff attendance has gone up by 25 percent and sales by 16.1 percent from the comparable levels last conference. Now that the playoffs are underway, Salud said he expects even more fans to enjoy the excitement of the games leading to the Final Four and the Last Dance.

Ticket sales increased from P15.5 Million to P18 Million as of last week with attendance averaging about 6,100 paying customers a game. There were three playdates that brought in crowds of over 10,000 – Nov. 20 featuring Alaska-Shopinas and Barangay Ginebra-B-Meg, Nov. 29 featuring Petron-Alaska and B-Meg-Talk ‘N’ Text and Dec. 11 featuring Powerade-Barako Bull and Barangay Ginebra-Talk ‘N’ Text. The biggest attendance was registered last Nov. 20 with close to 15,000 fans. Six of the 70 elimination games were played out of Metro Manila.

Last Friday, some 9,000 fans were treated to an exciting start of the best-of-three quarterfinal series featuring Petron-Meralco and Barangay Ginebra-Rain Or Shine at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Tonight, B-Meg and Powerade face off in a winner-take-all showdown for the right to advance to the semifinals against the winner of the Barangay Ginebra-Rain Or Shine series. On Wednesday, the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo will host Games 2 of the two best-of-three series. If either or both of the series will require a rubber match to settle, Antipolo is ready to host again on Friday.

PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial said yesterday the Antipolo venue can accommodate up to 10,000 fans on a standing-room-only basis. “We’ve had games where we sold 10,000 tickets even if we were told the capacity is 7,000,” said Marcial. “We hope we won’t have to turn away fans on Wednesday but we’re expecting a big crowd because both Ginebra and Meralco are in a do-or-die situation. We’re grateful to Gov. (Jun-Jun) Ynares for inviting us to bring the playoffs to Antipolo during the Christmas season.”

The best-of-seven semifinals series featuring Talk ‘N’ Text against the Petron-Meralco winner and the B-Meg-Powerade survivor against the Barangay Ginebra-Rain Or Shine winner will start on Jan. 4 at the Cuneta Astrodome. The finals will also be a best-of-seven duel with Game 1 set in Digos, Davao del Sur. Marcial said Davao del Sur Gov. Douglas Cagas and Rep. Marc Cagas (1st district, Davao del Sur) are rolling out the red carpet for Digos to host the finals opener.

So far, Shopinas, Alaska and Barako Bull have been eliminated. One more team will be sidelined after tonight’s playoff.

Powerade coach Bo Perasol said the Tigers are inspired by the battlecry “Believe.” If Powerade eliminates B-Meg, it will be reminiscent of what the Golden State Warriors did to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006-07 NBA Finals where the No. 8 seed toppled the No. 1 seed in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. At the end of the eliminations, B-Meg finished No. 1 and Powerade, No. 8. “I have faith in what my team can do for as long as we perform to what we are capable of doing,” said Perasol. “If Gary (David) will have ample support, he will explode offensively. We were able to minimize James Yap’s big shots. However, Sunday is another game, another opportunity to believe in what we can do as a team.”

B-Meg coach Tim Cone said no team is hungrier than the Llamados. He’s on his first conference with B-Meg. The Llamados’ 97-86 loss to Powerade last Wednesday snapped B-Meg’s 8-game winning streak and spoiled Cone’s 54th birthday celebration. In the eliminations, B-Meg crushed Powerade, 97-80 – Cone is determined to do a repeat tonight.

Barangay Ginebra and Meralco will try to stay alive on Wednesday with their backs against the wall in their series. The Kings blew a 17-point lead and fell to Rain Or Shine, 112-105, in overtime in Game 1 last Friday. Their limited rotation burned out coach Siot Tanquingcen’s key players who lost steam down the stretch as the Elasto Painters rallied from scoring only 13 points in the second period to erupting for 43 in the fourth. Rain Or Shine’s bench had 59 points to Ginebra’s 38 and the Elasto Painters hit more free throws, 30-12. The absence of Jay-Jay Helterbrand, Ronald Tubid, Rico Maierhofer and Eric Menk hurt the Kings. J. C. Intal, who sizzled for 16 points, failed to report in the fourth quarter and overtime due to a hamstring strain, exacerbating Ginebra’s predicament.

Meralco will also try to stave off elimination. Last Friday, the Bolts couldn’t cope with Petron’s balanced attack. Five Blazers wound up in twin digits led by Arwind Santos’ 19 points and 12 rebounds. Chris Lutz added 18 and Alex Cabagnot compiled 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Meralco had 10 less free throw conversions, five more turnovers and three less triples in losing a 91-84 decision.

“We want to outwork them endlessly and hopefully, it’s enough to reach unchartered territory for our young franchise,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio. “Cabagnot and Santos are probably two of the best Mutt and Jeff combinations in the league. They’re the heart and soul of Petron. We acknowledge that and we are aware that we must disrupt their rhythm offensively to stymie their execution, Mac-Mac (Cardona) and Sol (Mercado) are starting to play good music together as evidenced by our over .500 record. They fully understand that they must learn how to work off-the-ball to make our offense more fluid. But the challenge is Sol’s defense on Cabagnot and Mac’s defense on (Joseph) Yeo. Asi (Taulava) is an inspiration to us. I have not seen him work this way and considering his age, it’s incredible. He’s playing in one of his best conferences in his career and towing us to greater heights with his work ethic. He’ll play a major role in the playoffs and his height, heft and experience will be of big use. Asi is our leader and he’s leading us by example.”