The San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel split the season series, 1-1, and in the semis yet again. Who will draw first blood? Ginebra lost the first meeting, 108-102, and SMB fired back with a 131-82 beating.

Catch the game this Wednesday, October 9th, at 5:00 PM, Manila time.

San Miguel Beermen (0-0)

Projected starting five:

  • Jericho Cruz
  • CJ Perez
  • EJ Anosike
  • Marcio Lassiter
  • June Mar Fajardo

The Beermen will be coming off a grind out battle against the Converge FiberXers, who pushed them to the brink in the five-game series. It will now be interesting to see if that sapped their energy or ignited more fire.

As always, June Mar Fajardo towered over everybody as he averaged 20.5 points and 17.0 rebounds per game on 65.3% shooting in two outings against Ginebra. CJ Perez, meanwhile, was all-around with 18.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 2.5 steals. Scoring guard Terrence Romeo was in his usual role, providing 13.5 points across 23.0 minutes of action.

Import EJ Anosike will be meeting with Ginebra for the first time, and we’ll see how well he can take on a similarly deep lineup that also has a rabid crowd behind them.

Marcio Lassiter (18 pts vs. BGK on Sept 16), Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano, and Mo Tautuaa are also there to be the sudden boost. Each is capable of being the second scorer behind Fajardo any day of the week.

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Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (0-0)

Projected starting five:

  • Scottie Thompson
  • Maverick Ahanmisi
  • Stephen Holt
  • Justin Brownlee
  • Japeth Aguilar

Ginebra booted “rival” Meralco in the previous round to advance, though is it really a rivalry at this point? They should appear to have fresher energy as their matchup wasn’t as tough compared to what SMB endured.

In any case, all-time Justin Brownlee will be one to look out for. He dropped 51 points on 18-of-29 shooting in the win over SMB last August 27th, to go along 13 boards, five assists, and a whopping six steals. However, in the 49-point loss last September 16th, he was held to just 16 points, though maintaining his stat-stuffing ways (11 rebs, 6 ast 2 stl, 2 blk) was a silver lining. 

Japeth Aguilar figures to be Brownlee’s main help. The veteran big man put up 20+ PPG in the conference and had solid moments in the Meralco series. He had 21 and 15 points in their two meetings vs. SMB.

Like their sister team, Ginebra is deep, and it’s anyone’s guess who’ll be a sudden key contributor. Stephen Holt, former league MVP Scottie Thompson, rookie RJ Abarrientos, and Maverick Ahanmisi are in the mix, and it’s a really nice bunch.

PICKS:

Spread: Ginebra (+2)

Over/Under: Over (211)

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