Falling Short in the Semifinals: The Bright Side for Phoenix

The Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters were one win away from their first trip to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Finals. The problem was: they were facing a loaded and an experienced TNT Tropang Giga who erased a 2-1 series deficit and beat the Fuel Masters in Game Five of their semifinal series to book TNT's return trip to the championship stage of the Philippine Cup.

As sad as it is for their fans, Phoenix's falling short of a trip to the PBA Finals in the franchise's young history is something that can be looked at as a positive. For one, this will give the Topex Robinson-coached Fuel Masters the experience that it was lacking in playing in the playoffs as they were pitted against a TNT core whose playoff experience is no longer questionable. For another, the Philippine Cup bubble inside Clark revealed how good this Phoenix side can be in the years to come.

Matthew Wright played like a legitimate contender for the Best Player of the Conference award even though he was playing with an injured ankle in their five-game date against TNT. After scoring combined four points in the first two games of the semifinals, Wright averaged  24 points per game in the next three games highlighted by a 34-point outburst in Game Three. Wright was also the league's second-leading scorer during the elimination round, averaging 22 points in 11 games. 

While Wright has lost the lead in the statistical points (SP) race to Ray Parks after Friday's pair of games, Calvin Abueva's performance in the latter parts of their campaign has allowed him to rise to second place in the SP race. He and Wright also ranked in the top three in assists per game with Abueva leading with 6.7 assists per game and Wright in third with six assists per contest. Abueva finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and three steals in Phoenix's 91-81 loss to TNT on Friday. Jason Perkins is another Phoenix player whose numbers this all-Filipino conference made included him in the top 10 in the SP race. Perkins averaged 19 points and nine rebounds during the 11-game elimination round while shooting 40% from the three-point line. Justin Chua also saw his numbers go and he even led the league in blocks per game, blocking 1.7 shots per game in the elimination round.

If the Fuel Masters can use the success that they achieved in Clark as a motivation to get better in the next conference, they would be a dangerous team to be reckoned with. Nobody talked about them being a playoff team prior to the start of the Clark bubble and yet, they were one win away from eliminating a mighty TNT squad.  

Photo is from Philippine Global News