Final or bust for NLEX, Big Chill

MANILA, Philippines - Expect the NLEX Road Warriors and the Big Chill Super Chargers to battle for every inch on the floor when they face each other today for the deciding Game 3 of their semi-final series.

The winner of  the 2 p.m. duel at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City earns the right to a titular showdown against finalist-in-waiting Freego Jeans for the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup.

Coaches of both sides agreed their fourth meeting this conference will be fierce with a lot of physicality because neither of the two teams is going to back down.

“Yes, we expect a physical game, after all we’re playing for a finals slot,” Big Chill coach Arsenio Dysangco declared. “I feel the team who wants it more, who is willing to give that extra effort, has an advantage.”

The Super Chargers dominated the Road Warriors in Game 1, 83-66, and threatened to wrap up the best-of-three series when they rallied from a 24-point deficit in Game 2 only to come up short.

For a team whose modest goal was to just make the quarterfinals, the Super Chargers should be happy enough and with a sense of fulfillment no matter how this series would end.

But they are not yet done.

Dysangco said his troops are driven by their motivation to test their full potentials.

  “We want to find out how far we can go. We want to test the limits of our capacity. Its only by going too far can one find out how far one can go,” Dysangco stressed.

“Pressure doesn’t usually lie with the underdogs. We’re just going to play hard and give our best. We’ve worked hard and earned every game and somehow have earned the respect of basketball fans and pundits. We have nothing to lose.”

The Road Warriors are, no doubt, far more talented and more athletic of the two teams but their near meltdown in Game 2 cast doubt on their invincibility and ability to clinch their second straight championship.

Certainly, poise and experience will make a difference in Game 3 and the Road Warriors showed a lot of it to survive Game 2, 69-62, and forced a sudden death.

NLEX is 1-2 against Big Chill this conference but coach Boyet Fernadez firmly believes the Road Warriors will win the game that mattered most to make the finals.

The return of power forward Calvin Abueva  in the rotation after serving a one-game suspension also provides a shot in the arm for the Foundation Cup champions, who seemed to have a tough time containing Big Chill’s frontcourt led by Jewel Ponferrada and Jesie Collado.

“(Game 3) is a player’s game. I am confident my guys will get the job done. If we could play with the same kind of energy and resolve as we did (in Game 2) we’ll win this series,” Fernandez said.