Two must fall, two will rise

MANILA, Philippines - War, not peace, is in the offing in the PBA Easter Sunday presentation at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight with four teams figuring in a rare double knockout to determine the last two teams making the Commissioner’s Cup Final Four.

Alaska Milk and Barako Bull take the floor in the 4:15 p.m. curtain raiser, knocking each other out for the right to challenge defending champion Talk n Text in a best-of-five semifinal showdown.

B-Meg and Meralco meet in their own do-or-die faceoff at 6:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the semis versus Barangay Ginebra.

All four teams vowed to go all out, fighting with all their might with no turning back.

“It’s a knockout game. It will be tough; it will be intense; nothing will come easy. We’re ready to get physical and go to war,” said B-Meg coach Tim Cone, hoping to live on after surviving a first KO game Wednesday.

Meralco has survived two do-or-die games in the eliminations, making coach Ryan Gregorio confident they can do it again and stay in further contention in the tourney.

“We have been courageous fighting imminent death by simply refusing to give up. We will claw our way out of this rut by playing good defense and by merely fighting with all our might,” said Gregorio.

Meralco will be playing the game with its main man Macmac Cardona who escaped suspension and merely drew a fine of P6,600 for his technical fouls Wednesday.

The Aces and the Energy also promised to fight every inch of the way and each possession in their own KO match.

Alaska coach Joel Banal urges his troops to step up even more after their Game Two win, expecting Gabe Freeman to have a breakout game with Barako tonight.

“Gabe Freeman has just arrived when he made his debut with Barako. He had not practiced with them. For sure, he’ll already blend with them by the next game, and we have to be ready for that,” said Banal.

“We learned from our mistakes. We’ll try to contain LA Tenorio, Cyrus Baguio and Mac Baracael. We also have to match up well with their big men,” said Barako coach Junel Baculi.

The Llamados and the Bolts are the teams engaged in a matchup that is more rugged, intense and emotional.

The coaches themselves are not holding back their emotions.

“It’s not my habit to blame the referees after a lost game. I preach accountability in my team and as such, I want to get better on certain aspects in the game that we are in control of, specifically, free throw accuracy, shot selection and lock-down defensive consistency. Blaming the refs is an escape. We know better than that,” said Gregorio, obviously in response to Cone’s statement after Game One.

“Defense is our strength zone. It is something that we enjoy doing and we do excellently. Describing it as bordering to a wrestling or boxing match is a huge disservice to the kind of effort that we render to find ways to win despite our obvious lack of manpower,” Gregorio also said.

Cone hit the officiating after they lost the series opener, hinting the referees let go hard contacts by the Bolts on the Llamados.

“We play good basketball and win games by playing within our comfort level. It is with toughness, ruggedness on defense, but never dirty,” said Gregorio, also in response to Cone’s words.

On Cardona’s technical infraction on Bowles, Gregorio said they didn’t condone it.

Gregorio was quick to add, though, that Cardona’s “passion for winning is misconstrued as arrogance.”

“For me, I am so lucky to have somebody like him who is willing to do everything on the floor, one who does not hold back and back down,” said Gregorio. “We cannot win without him so I told him to always keep his emotions in check despite the roughhousing that he endures. He acknowledged that, and promised to respond with maximum restraint.”