by Jonas Terrado
Game Today (Southorn Stadium, Hong Kong)
8 p.m. – Hong Kong vs Alab Pilipinas
San Miguel Alab Pilipinas begins its best-of-three ASEAN Basketball League semifinal series against defending champion Hong Kong Eastern tonight at the Southorn Stadium with the belief it can make up for the disappointing results of their two meetings earlier this season.
Alab absorbed a pair of three-point losses to Hong Kong in the eliminations – 92-89 last Nov. 19 at the Mall of Asia Arena and 99-96 at Southorn – but coach Jimmy Alapag sees brighter chances in the semis opener set at 8 p.m.
“They’re the defending champs and we’re (a) much, much different team compared to what we were in the first half of the season,” Alapag said. “At the same time, they’re still the defending champs and they have the homecourt advantage.”
The arrival of Renaldo Balkman and Justin Brownlee have infused a high level of energy to an Alab team that began the season at 0-3 under original choices Ivan Johnson and Reggie Okosa, eventually securing a semis berth with a sweep of the Saigon Heat in the quarterfinals over the weekend.