A COLOSSAL battle is once again set to resume.
Just a month after their titular showdown in the Commissioner’s Cup, giants San Miguel Beer and TNT KaTropa are set to meet again in a grudge match, this time in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.
With the championship duel still fresh in their minds, the Beermen (1-0) and the Tropang Texters (1-0) are set to cross paths again. They will both aim at a second straight win in their battle at 7 p.m. in an anticipated clash at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.
Three hours prior, defending champion Barangay Ginebra (1-1) goes for a second straight triumph as well when it battles still winless Kia (0-3) at 4:15 p.m. in the curtain-raiser.
Following successful openers, San Miguel and TNT KaTropa now get to test each other to see who will retain a clean card.
The Grand Slam-seeking Beermen opened their campaign with a bang, waylaying Blackwater, 118-93, last Saturday as they picked up where they left off and reminded everyone which is the team to beat.
For the Tropang Texters, they shook off the cobwebs first before getting in the groove en route to downing Kia 106-96 last Friday.
In their heated finals confrontation in the Commissioner’s Cup, San Miguel Beer took the series and the championship with a 4-2 win in their best-of-seven campaign.
Obviously, the Beermen want to prolong their mastery over the Texters.
On the other hand, TNT KaTropa wants nothing more than to exact revenge. Just ask import Michael Craig, who registered a triple-double in his debut.
“We want to get back at them so badly. We’re really looking forward to meeting them again,” said Craig.
After losing its opening assignment to Meralco, Barangay Ginebra bounced back strongly by pounding GlobalPort, 124-108 last Sunday to register its first win.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone felt that the defending champions finally got their act together and he was impressed.
“We did better in this first win. We got our rhythm, played off each other and got going. We hope we can continue to get better as we go,” said Cone.
