A Preview of the TNT-Phoenix Semifinal Series

Matthew Wright versus Roger Pogoy

Calvin Abvueva versus Ray Parks

Phoenix versus TNT

That's the match-up that we'll be seeing starting Friday as the TNT Tropang Giga and the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters wrapped up their respective quarterfinal assignments on Saturday to book their seats in the best-of-five semifinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup. The Tropang Giga scored a 104-84 victory over the Alaska Aces while Matthew Wright's one-legged three-pointer propelled Phoenix to an 89-88 win over the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok when most people thought that Magnolia had a shot of forcing a winner-take-all game. 

If their previous game against each other is an indication, the five-game series between TNT and Phoenix is going to be both exciting and entertaining. While TNT had the upper hand in their 110-91 victory against Wright and company last October 19, that featured a shootout between Matthew Wright and Roger Pogoy- two of the top scorers in this year's all-Filipino conference. Wright scored a game-leading 31 points on seven for 16 field goal shooting and made all of his 13 attempts from the free-throw line. Pogoy finished with 30 points on 11 for 22 field goal shooting. While the two Gilas Pilipinas stalwarts led their respective teams in scoring, their teammates showed contrasting results. 

TNT had six other players who scored at least 10 points in that game. On Saturday against the Aces, Pogoy erupted for 34 points while Parks added 20 points and Troy Rosario finished with 10 points. 

In contrast,  Jorey Napoles was the next Phoenix player to score in double figures with 10 points against TNT the last time around. Jason Perkins had a quiet outing with eight points in 28 minutes while Justin Chua could only muster seven points. In the quarterfinals against the Hotshots, Perkins 16 points and six rebounds. However, it's also important to remember one thing: Calvin Abueva wasn't in uniform yet when the Fuel Masters lost to the Tropang Giga and with Abueva's apparently still ongoing "beef" with Ray Parks, it will spark things up more for a match-up that is already explosive due to the amount of firepower both teams are capable of unleashing.

While TNT may appear to have the advantage in terms of the experience and the veteran presence of Jason Castro, many people believed that Phoenix won't make it to the semifinals due to their inexperience in the playoffs and yet, here they are. In the semifinals. 

Matthew Wright and Roger Pogoy are expected to do their usual scoring duties for their squads but this series will boil down to which team's reinforcements will be enough to help their top scorers.  

Photo is from Manila Bulletin