Davao—The kings of the south, Davao Occidental Tigers, battle the champions of the north, the San Juan Knights, as the two teams begin their best-of-five series of the MPBL Datu Cup National Finals to be held at the Almendras Gym in Davao Occidental.
Game time is 7 p.m. as the two teams plunge back to action after getting a two-day rest.
For both squads, the two-day rest is a luxury, especially after they both came off a pair of grueling three-game series against their respective division finals rivals. Davao Occidental hurdled inaugural staging champion Batangas City in the south finale while San Juan defeated Manila in the north side.
“We really need this (two-day break). Actually, both teams need this. We are now in the final stretch of the long season and there’s no reason for us to be tired. But the two-day break will somehow enable both squads to recharge a bit and prepare for the bigger battle,” added Davao Occidental coach Don Dulay.
The Cocolife-backed Tigers will bank on his players who are used to playing “Ligang Labas.”
“One good thing about players competing in ‘Ligang Labas’, they are determined to win—every game. Because a lot of times they are being paid on a game by game basis. They have that winning mentality with them every game. But more than that, these players had learned to adopt playing in a system and that’s one of the reasons why we’re successful,” said Dulay.
The Tigers will be facing the Big J Sports-supported Knights squad also loaded with talent.
Behind ex-PBA players Mac Cardona, John Wilson and Larry Rodriguez, and up and coming players Larry Muyang, Mike Ayonayon and Orlan Wamar, the Knights were able to make it all the way the national finals.
Returning to glory is one of the objectives of this San Juan squad, which is out to duplicate the feat in Year 2000 when the team ruled the MBA, the precursor of the MPBL. Two of those members are still with the squad—Randy Alcantara and Gherome Ejercito, who are now playing different roles as members of the coaching staff.
Alcantara is also looking to become the first coach to win back-to-back championships in the fastest growing regional amateur basketball league in the country put up by Senator Manny Pacquiao with PBA legend and former MVP Kenneth Duremdes serving as commissioner.
Last season, Alcantara served as an assistant coach to Mac Tan of the Batangas City Athletics, who went on to become the inaugural staging champion of the league.