The Alaska Aces and the San Miguel Beermen finally meet this conference in a crucial matchup this Wednesday. Read on for more about this showdown between traditional PBA rivals.
Catch this game live on September 22 at 6 pm, Manila time.
The Alaska Aces (3-6)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Mike DiGregorio
- SG: Maverick Ahanmisi
- SF: Jeron Teng
- PF: Rodney Brondial
- C: Abu Tratter
Alaska is playing set to play its fourth game in six days. Those legs are probably still fatigued for the Aces, but at least they got full two days of rest after losing to the Terrafirma Dyip, 105-89. Prior to that, the Aces also lost to the TNT Tropang Giga, 103-85.
Alaska, which is only 1-4, in its last five games, will come into Wednesday’s meeting with San Miguel averaging just 85.4 points per game. But that’s also partly because the Aces prefers playing a slow-paced style, one that gets them only 87.61 possessions per game.
So the key for the Aces is to control the boards against San Miguel, which isn’t an easy task, given the presence of Junemar Fajardo. That said, Alaska has Yousef Taha other big bodies to throw at The Kraken, with Rodney Brondial, Abu Tratter, and Kevin Ebona part of the Aces’ rotation.
The San Miguel Beermen (6-4)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Chris Ross
- SG: Marcio Lassiter
- SF: CJ Perez
- PF: Arwind Santos
- C: Junemar Fajardo
The Beermen are still unlikely to get Terrence Romeo back, but they can survive without him against Alaska’s leaky defense that couldn’t even contain Terrafirma’s attack. The Dyip shot 51% from the field and went 12-of-24 from behind the arc in the aforementioned win over Alaska.
Moreover, Alaska has allowed at least 103 points in two of its last three games. Given the short turnaround of their games, the Aces might also still be feeling weary when they take on the Beermen, arguably the last team anyone would want to face under such circumstance. San Miguel lost to the Magnolia Hotshots in its last outing, 100-90, but the Beermen still managed to touch 90 points against a top-five defensive team.
San Miguel is scoring 97.5 points per game, so far in the conference. The Beermen have seven players, including Romeo, who are averaging at least 11.3 points per contest.
PREDICTION:
Spread: San Miguel has won all of its last four meetings with Alaska. Take the Beermen to win, but Alaska to cover (+5.5).
Over/Under: Alaska finally got some much-needed rest, but the Aces wouldn’t want to burn so much energy by pushing the tempo the way San Miguel wants it. Take the Under (185.5).
