PBA Governor’s Cup Finals: Youth vs. Experience

MANILA, Philippines – It’s the last finals series of the Philippine Basketball Association’s 2011-2012 season. 

The Rain or Shine Elasto painters will finally make its PBA Finals debut while the BMeg Llamados will be trying to win their second title of the season.

How do they stack up against each other?

Youth vs. Experience

The Rain or Shine franchise has never been to the finals since entering the league in 2006. They came close in the All-Filipino cup early in the season but Gary David and the Powerade Tigers had what many call a “cinderella” run and edge the painters for the Finals berth. 

BMeg is a storied franchise led by 2-time PBA MVP James Yap and now coached by one of the most succesful coaches in PBA history, Tim Cone. They won the PBA Commissioner’s Cup and are looking to bag a back-to-back championship.

Import Battle

The reinforcements of both sides are most effective in the paint. 

Rain or Shine’s Jamelle Cornley plays like a mini-Carlos Boozer. He has a very good back-to-the-basket game which the painters can go to when they badly need to put up points. He leads his team in both points and rebounds this conference with 23.14 and 10.79 respectively. Cornley’s post-up plays also opens up the floor for Rain or Shine’s long-range bombers.  

BMeg’s Marqus Blakely is an energy guy and can take over any game when he switches to ‘Beast Mode’. He likes to make a quick pivot to the baseline when he’s posting up his opponent and is almost unstoppable when he decides to attack the rim. He also leads the Llamados in every statistical category, posting averages of 24.21 points, 13.07 rebounds, 3.43 assists, 3.29 steals, and 2.71 blocks. 

BMeg’s Blakely has the definite advantage.

Big Men

The Rain or Shine frontline features the extra rice brothers – Beau Belga and JR Quiñahan. Both stand 6 foot 6 inches tall but are not afraid to stroke it from the outside. Despite their size, the duo has managed just a little under 10 rebounds per game this conference. 

BMeg’s frontline is lead by Marc ‘Sakuragi’ Pingris. Pingris, like their import, is an energy guy. He relentlessly goes up for every rebound and has averaged nearly 10 rebounds per game this conference. He upped his play, boosting his scoring from 7.29 in the eliminations to 13.40 in the semis. His combination with 6’9″ center Yancy de Ocampo has been deadly for the Llamados. 

Advantage, BMeg. 

Guards and Swingmen

The Rain or Shine backcourt is fittingly lead by rookie Paul Lee. The “Leethal Weapon” averages 14.23 points, 3.38 assists, and 2.77 rebounds and is the top-producing local for his team. But for the painters to beat the Llamados, sharpshooter Jeffrei Chan has to be on target. Chan has struggled to find his shot in the semis averaging just 20% from downtown. The painters also need to take advantage of Gabe Norwood’s height who plays point guard at 6’5″. If put in the right position, he can easily shoot over BMeg’s guards. 

BMeg will be lead by 2-time PBA MVP James Yap who averages 14.50 points, 4.43 rebounds and 2.29 assists in the conference. But the most important player in the Llamados backcourt is spitfire guard Peter June Simon. Coach Tim Cone has found a new role for the scoring guard on the defensive end of the floor. In their games against Ginebra, Cone assigned Simon to Commissioner’s Cup best player Mark Caguioa and the guard from North Cotabato has successfully limited the MVP candidate’s production. Simon will most likely be assigned to rookie Paul Lee. 

This one’s even.

Coaches

Perhaps the most interesting match-up in this finals series will be happening not on the court but in the sidelines.

BMeg’s Tim Cone and Rain or Shine’s Yeng Guiao, two of the brightest minds in Philippine basketball, have clashing coaching styles. 

Cone’s approach may seem more calculated. He uses the triangle offense and sticks to a 8 to 9-man rotation. Guiao, on the other hand, likes to mix it up and is not afraid going deep in his bench to surprise his opponent. This will be the first time the two coaches will face each other in a finals series. 

Both coaches are proven winners and it will be interesting to see which coaching philosophy prevails in a winner-takes-all series. 

Prediction 

Aside from youth vs. experience, this series will also be about offense vs. defense and as basketball pundits always say, defense wins championships. Rappler picks the BMeg Llamados to win the series in 6 games. – Rappler.com