BOTH RAIN or Shine and Magnolia have won Philippine Basketball League (PBL) titles in the past. Yet, the PBL Heroes Cup best-of-five finals series that begin tomorrow could still boil down to championship experience of which the Paint Masters have tons of it.
"Sila ang mas advantage because of their championship experience. I just hope we can keep up with them," said Wizards coach Koy Banal in the PSA Forum yesterday.
His Elasto Painters counterpart Caloy Garcia was also in the public sports program sponsored by PAGCOR and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and easily dismissed his teams’ edge as far as finals composure is concerned.
"I don’t see any advantage. Both teams are capable of winning the championship. Magandang match up ito," said the youthful mentor, who was also joined in the weekly session by wards Eugene Tan, JR Reyes and Magnolia players Gerard Jones and Joel Co.
In their only finals meeting before, Banal’s Wizards beat the Paint Masters (then carrying the brand name Welcoat), 3-1, to win the title on Garcia’s first conference as full-time coach.
But while Magnolia struggled the following conferences, the Wel-best franchise kept its winning form, advancing to the finals three more times before finally nailing the big one last conference behind a 3-1 win over Montaña for Garcia’s first ever league title.
Counting their latest trip to the finals, the Paint Masters are in a title series for the 12th time since entering the league in 1996. They are also the proud owners of six PBL championships.
"Kaya nga ‘yung finals appearances ang pinakaedge nila, samantalang kami parang rookie uli sa finals," said Jones, a member of the Magnolia team that won the 2004 Unity Cup crown.
Co, one of the veterans in the Magnolia roster, also pointed out to Rain or Shine’s tremendous experience as the major advantage going for the team while Tan, a solid fixture in the Paint Masters numerous title runs in the past, said the team which possess the bigger heart deserves to win.
Rain or Shine and Magnolia finished 1-2 after the eliminations and earned outright seats in the semifinals.
During the Final Four, both the Paint Masters and Wizards swept Harbour Centre and Granny Goose, respectively, although Banal and the rest of his boys had to go through two overtime games before disposing the hard fighting Snackmasters.
"We have to embrace that experience (overtime games). Pabaon sa amin ‘yun sa finals," said Banal, the architect of Far Eastern U Tamaraws’ championship run in the 2003 UAAP men’s basketball tournament.
"I don’t see the fatigue factor affecting them," said Garcia, also coach of the St. Benilde Blazers in the NCAA. "Nakapag-pahinga na rin naman sila. Besides, bugbugan din naman kami ng Harbour during the semis."
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