The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the TNT Tropang Giga collide in a marquee matchup this Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Will the Barangay extend their unbeaten run, or will the Tropang Giga secure their eighth win of the conference?
Catch this game live on Sunday, July 10 at 6:30 pm, Manila time.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (6-1)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: LA Tenorio
- SG: Stanley Pringle
- SG: Scottie Thompson
- PF: Christian Standhardinger
- C: Japeth Aguilar
Even with Tim Cone away on a trip to the NBA Summer League, the Barangay continued their dominance with an easy 106-82 victory over the Terrafirma Dyip last Thursday. That’s Ginebra’s fourth win in a row and sixth overall this conference. Over their current win streak, the Barangay have won by an average of 12.75 points, which is skewed by their blowout wins over the Dyip and the Converge FiberXers (105-89).
The emergence of Arvin Tolentino as a weapon that could create plenty of mismatches and provide Ginebra with size, rebounding, and a perimeter threat simultaneously has been a significant boost for Ginebra. While Ginebra is only seventh with 89.7 points per game, it is fifth with 101.5 points per 100 possessions and doesn’t really need to score a ton because it is holding opponents to just 92.7 points per the same amount of possessions.
The TNT Tropang Giga (7-3)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Brian Heruela
- SG: Mike Williams
- SF: Glenn Khobuntin
- PF: Kelly Williams
- C: Troy Rosario
The Tropang Giga saw their four-game win streak get snapped last Thursday, as they got ran over by the San Miguel Beermen in a 115-99 loss at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Kelly Williams led TNT with 20 points on 9/16 shooting from the field in a throwback performance. And while it was fun to see Williams still play at that level, it did not look too good for TNT that a 40-year-old was doing most of the heavy lifting, especially since the Tropang Giga had big hitters like Mikey Williams, RR Pogoy, and Jayson Castro. Williams shot just 3/14 from the field for 11 points against San Miguel, while Pogoy went 3/12 for 11 points.
Williams, however, is rarely cold, so don’t be surprised if he explodes this coming Sunday anew, even against Ginebra’s stellar defense. Prior to his dud in the SMB game, Williams averaged 28.3 points in the previous three TNT outings. The Tropang Giga’s embarrassing loss to San Miguel could also have TNT laser-focused in this game, as it’s going to be hard to stomach for the MVP group’s flagship PBA team to loss two times in a row to rival San Miguel’s teams.
PREDICTION:
Spread: TNT (+1.5) covers.
Over/Under: The Under (178.5) hits.
