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September 12 will a day of reckoning for 4 semifinalists. Only two will remain to dispute this year’s plum. Who will they be? Let’s take a look at the first two protagonists.

San Beda College Red Lions vs. Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals (0-2 elimination round)
Mapua Cardinals

The moment these 2 were matched up everybody conceded that the Red Lions will eat the Cardinals alive. Don’t trust your conscience yet. The Cardinals are peaking at the right time and they are learning to play as a team. Even Coach Frankie Lim acknowledged that Coach Leo Isaac is a good coach if not, in my opinion, an excellent mentor to lead the Cardinals to the land of milk and honey. The Cardnilas have yet to show their potential but they have to do it as soon as they hit ground with the Red Lions. The main man chores will definitely go to combo guard stud Kelvin de la Pena. De la Pena will be surrounded by supporting casts namely: Jerby del Rosario, versatile Sean Co, Neil Pascual and Hermes Sumalinog. Jonathan Banal is usually in Coach Isaac’s starter list but I reckon, Banal will most likely be the sixth man for the Cardinals for this series, in a game like this, the Cardinals will have to start strong and Coach Isaac might initially stick with his veteran core. Teree Guillermo will most likely get his chance to show how good a shooter he really is. The Cardinals cannot afford a let down on offense if they want to keep up with the Red Lions. But who knows, lady luck might be on thier side, and a possible upset looms over this series.

San Beda Red Lions

During the absence of Yousif Aljamal, the Red Lions have proven that they can win shorthanded. There is no doubt the Red Lions boasts of a formidable line-up this year. Coach Frankie Lim’s usual starting five combination of Borgy Hermida, Pong Escobal, Ogie Menor, Yousif Aljamal and Sam Ekwe, after 2 games of waiting, will be back in this series. I might be pushing the stock of the Red Lions too much if I ask you how can the Cardinals match-up with the Red Lions in this series. We already know the Red Lions can go 9 to 10 deep - Raymund Maggay, Garvo Lanete, Riego Gamalinda even Chico Tirona and Jay-R Taganas might be given some minutes to give the others some time off the court. Last year, other teams used to double team Ekwe and that paid a lot of dividends for the rest of his teammates. Since he has possessed an array of shots just a foot away from the shaded area, I believe, and Coach Lim and the rest of the coaching staff should be confident about this, that last year’s ploy to contain Ekwe with double coverage will work for the Red Lions’ advantage. And this will pose problems for the Cardinals’ defensive rotation.

Pick: San Beda College in one (1) game.

Tags: Be-Like-Mike, cardinals, mapua, ncaa, NCAA-Philippines, NCAA-Season-83, Philippines-NCAA, red-lions, Red-Wariors, San-Beda

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