Although San Miguel Beer and defending champion Barangay Ginebra are known for their firepower, coaches Jong Uichico of the Kings and the Beermen’s Siot Tanquingcen agreed that defense is the key to their success in the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup title series.

“In any playoff situation, the key factor is gonna be defense,” Tanquingcen, who is in his first finals as SMB mentor but is gunning his third title as coach, winning his first two with Ginebra, said. “I’m not saying they’ll gonna shut us down, or them shut us down.”

“Knowing coach Jong, he’s a very defensive-oriented coach. For this series, it’s going to be defense,” added Tanquingcen, who is facing Uichico for the first time in the Finals after serving him as assistant with SMB and Ginebra in the past.

While San Miguel ranks third on scoring with 101.3 points per game (Ginebra at fourth with 97.7 points), Ginebra surprisingly leads the league in holding down opponents to 92.4 points per game, while SMB is fourth with 95.5 points.

Uichico, who is gunning for his 10th coaching title and third with the Kings, admitted that his former San Miguel team enjoys a decisive edge in height.

The Beermen’s frontline is composed of 6-foot-5 import Gabe Freemen, 6-foot-6 forward Danny Ildefonso, 6-foot-7 wingman Anthony Jay Washington, 6-foot-9 center Mick Pennisi, 6-foot-6 power forward Dorian Pena and 6-foot-5 forward Marc Pingris.

Challenging SMB’s frontline are Ginebra’s own with 6-foot-5 reinforcement David Noel, 6-foot-7 center Rafi Reavis, 6-foot-5 forward Billy Mamaril, 6-foot-4 forward Willy Wilson, 6-foot-3 wingman Sunday Salvacion and 6-foot-4 forward JC Intal.  Eric Menk, the 6-foot-6 former MVP, remains a doubtful starter because of injury (calf).

While Freeman is averaging 23.2 points, 15.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.6 steals, Noel has put up an equally solid numbers with 19.6 points, 16.0 boards, 5.5 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.3 shot blocks.

But despite San Miguel’s tall frontline and explosive backcourt, Uichico said that “too much height, too much shooting... too much of everything is bad.”

“We have our strengths and weaknesses, so we have to minimize their strength and minimize our weaknesses.  We can’t stop them naman e, but there are things that we have control, so that’s what we’ll try to minimize,” Uichico said.

One of the Kings’ strengths is their quickness with point guard Jayjay Helterbrand, a leading contender for the MVP award and the Best Player of the Conference plum, leading the way. He’s averaging 17.5 points with four rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Backing him up in this series are guards Ronald Tubid, Cyrus Baguio, Paul Artadi and Chico Lanete.