Beermen vs Warriors: Locals hold key

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer hopes to lean on its deep bench and home court edge as it goes for the head-start against Indonesia in today’s opener of the third AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Finals at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

With imports on both sides expected to neutralize each other, the locals and other reinforcements are tipped to spell the difference between victory and defeat in the short title series.

“The winner will come from a team that has a deeper bench,” said Serbian and former national team coach Rajko Toroman, now San Miguel’s consultant, in yesterday’s press briefing at San Miguel Beer’s main office in Ortigas.

On paper, the Beermen have the edge as they boast of an explosive combination of Fil-Am Chris Banchero, 6-7 Junmar Fajardo, former pro Roger Yap and veteran guards Froilan Baguion and Leo Avenido.

Baguion interestingly was part of both the Phl Patriots and Chang Thailand Slammers, who ruled the first two seasons of the fledgling regional cage league.

The Beermen are also expected to cash in on the home-court advantage even as they enjoy a big psychological edge heading to their 4 p.m. encounter, having beating the Warriors three times this season.

SMB coach Bobby Parks, however, thinks it’s going to be an even series.

“Although we’ve beaten them three times, I think it’s a brand-new ballgame because we both made some changes in our rosters,” said Parks, a former many-time PBA Best Import.

Game Two is set on June 23 at the Mahaka Square, formerly Britama Arena, in Jakarta while Game Three, if necessary, will be held on June 30 back at the Pasig arena.

Indonesia coach John Todd Purves, for his part, maintains his team is the underdog although the Warriors have proved their worth by upending second seed the AirAsia Patriots via sweep in their Final Four series.

In contrast, the Beermen needed to go the route before edging the Malaysia Dragons.

“I’ve been saying from the start that San Miguel is a class above anyone and they have earned the right to be the favorites with the way they’re playing,” said Purves.

The Warriors have improved tremendously with the acquisition of import McArthur Brock and Fil-Am Stanley Pringle.

Brock has been the source of the Warriors’ inside strength aside from Steven Thomas while Pringle has given them one legitimate scoring threat and someone who can keep up with the explosive Banchero.

“They did the right moves in the past few weeks, they acquired players who can really help them so it’s really going to be tough playing them,” said Parks.