Bulls coach Yeng Guiao wants to use their semifinal victory over Ginebra as rallying point in their duel with the Giants.

"Sinabi ko sa mga players ko na kung nakaya nilang manalo against Ginebra in a knockout match and in a very hostile condition kaya rin nilang manalo against any team in this league," said Guiao.

The Bulls survived repeated rallies by the Kings to pull off an 83-79 victory in Game 7 of their semifinal series Sunday.

"Players of lesser stuff wouldn’t deliver under those circumstances where everybody is against you. My players delivered and I’m proud of what they’ve done."

Even his top gunner Lordy Tugade is teeming with confidence, saying in a television interview that the winner between the Bulls and the Kings will have the advantage in the championship series.

Their words are music to the ears of Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio and his Giants.

"I think the underdog tag is working to our advantage. Nobody expected us to go this far but we did," Gregorio said.

"I also relayed to my players ‘yung sinabi ni Lordy. I hope they will take that as a challenge."

Guiao couldn’t care less.

"Tapos na ako sa ganun. Thinking that you’re the underdog may help ease the pressure on your side but it really doesn’t matter if you know the real score," Guiao said.

The Giants beat the Bulls twice in as many meetings in the classification phase. They also took the shorter route to the finals by eliminating the Air21 Express in six games.

However, Gregorio is quick to point out that they beat a different Bulls team in the classification.

"They still have Quemont Greer then and nakita naman natin na mas gumanda ang laro nila nung pumalit si James Penny," said Gregorio.

Marquin Chandler is also playing good music with the Purefoods locals, making the import match-up pretty even.

Then there’s the face-off between two of the most dominant big men in the league today – Kerby Raymundo of the Giants and Rico Villanueva of the Bulls.

Raymundo, the leading contender for the Best Player of the Conference award, doesn’t want to make a fuss on who’s the better player.

"Ang focus ko kasi is matulungan ang team na manalo. Hindi importante kung mas maraming puntos ‘yung kabantayan ko," said Raymundo, a former Bull himself.

Villanueva thinks the same way.

"May binibigay na role sa amin si coach like sa Ginebra series ang role ko bantayan si (Chris) Porter. Basta gagawin ko kung ano ‘yung sinabi ni coach na gagawin ko."