BIG PROBLEM: Undersized Rain or Shine grapples

BIG PROBLEM: Undersized Rain or Shine grapples | Daily Tribune

Games today:

(Mall of Asia Arena)

3 p.m. — Ginebra vs Meralco

6:15 p.m. — San Miguel vs Rain or Shine

Big man June Mar Fajardo has been a dominant force for San Miguel Beer throughout its title repeat bid in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

Already with 12 double-double outings in the all-Filipino Conference, all eyes will be on the decorated center when the Beermen go for a second straight win against Rain or Shine in Game 2 of the best-of-seven semifinals series today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Game time is set at 6:15 p.m. after the other semis battle between Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Meralco at 3 p.m.

Fajardo wreaked havoc inside the paint and was a matchup nightmare for the undersized Elasto Painters in the series opener won by San Miguel, 101-98, last Friday.

The Beermen turned to the seven-time Most Valuable Player to draw first blood as he finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds on top of five assists, three blocks and a steal.

Head coach Jorge Gallent expects more of the same from the 6-foot-10 behemoth for San Miguel to take control of the series.

“Definitely, we have to take advantage of what we have. We have June Mar so we have to take advantage of him,” Gallent said.

“We have to evolve around him and he’s doing great making his teammates better. That was the gameplan (in Game 1) give the ball to June Mar and let their big guys get into foul trouble.”

But the Elasto Painters also have other key San Miguel players to worry about aside from Fajardo as the likes of CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Don Trollano, Terence Romeo and Jericho Cruz are all ready to step to the plate at any given time.

Rain or Shine has yet to win a game against the Beermen in eight meetings spanning six conferences.

The Elasto Painters, however, have shown a good fight as they kept the series opener close until the last seconds in their first semis appearance since 2019.

In fact, Rain or Shine could’ve forced an extension if not for a botched last play that saw Andrei Caracut launching a hurried trey that bounced off the rim.

Young guns Gian Mamuyac, Santi Santillan, Jhonard Clarito and Caracut as well as veteran Beau Belga will need more help from the rest of the Elasto Painters to avoid getting buried in a two-game hole.

Meanwhile, the Gin Kings also seek a 2-0 series lead over the Bolts after taking the series opener, 92-88, last Friday.

Stanley Pringle was the man of the moment for Ginebra after nailing timely baskets that kept Meralco at bay in the closing stretch.

But head coach Tim Cone acknowledges that the job is far from done.

“It’s just nice to get the first one out of the way as it always is in a series you wanna get that one. You put the other team on a reactive basis. But the bottom line it’s just one game, we got a lot of games to play,” he said.

Cone will again bank on Christian Standhardinger, Ralph Cu, Maverick Ahanmisi, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson to back up Pringle.

After seeing its five-game win streak snapped, Meralco is raring to get back on the winning track.

However, the Bolts will need to double their effort to set the tone of the game early as they will be at a disadvantage playing the Gin Kings in a shootout.