Wednesday, September 03, 2008 MisOr Meteors to face Taguig Batang Global
MISAMIS Oriental Meteors will be squaring off with Taguig Batang Global in a best-of-five semifinal round in the ongoing Liga Pilipinas inaugural season starting on Friday, September 5, at the CP Tinga gym in Taguig City.
This, after the Governor Oscar Moreno-managed Meteors surprised elimination round second-seed Pagadian Explorers in a three-game sweep last week, thus earning one of the league's four semifinal berths.
Meanwhile, Batang Global earned the right to face the Meteors in the semifinal match after humiliating Iloilo Mang Inasal in a five-game wildcard match-up that ended last Saturday.
The Meteors collected only 20 points, while the Explorers and Batang Global amassed 36 and 35 points, respectively, in the home-and-away elimination pocket tournaments.
Banking on team effort both in offensive and defensive departments, Meteors coach Jun Noel said they will take the series against the third-ranked Batang Global one game at a time.
Batang Global will be hosting Game 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday (September 5 and 6) in Taguig City while the Meteors will have its turn, of having the home-court advantage at the Xavier University gym, Cagayan de Oro City, next week, September 10 and 11, for Game 2 and 3. Batang Global will host the winner-take-all Game 5, if necessary.
Statistically, Batang Global which averages 84.8 points per game -- the 4th in the league -- is entering the semis with an edge over the Meteors' 74.5 points a game but the latter has proven to be among the top defensive teams in the league.
The Holcim-Hanjin-Happe Toothpaste-backed Meteors ranks second in defense by limiting its opponents to only 73.5 points a game, 25.4 points per game from field goals and 5.4 points per game from beyond the arc. Also, the team has been averaging 6.2 offensive steals per game, led by its ace pointguard Ramil Tagupa, whose 4.8 assists per game is fifth overall.
While Batang Global's Niño Marquez and Boyet Bautista are among the top three-point shooters, connecting more than 44 percent of their attempts, Meteors' small forward Jerome Paterno has been lording it over in the three-point shot department at 47.8 percent while power forward Ruel Hugnatan is 49.2 percent in field goal shooting.
Also, the Meteors will also be relying on its deep bench, which has been contributing more than 50 percent of the team's point productions. In eliminating the Explorers, the Meteors bench contributed 39 points while the starters only produced 30.
In another semifinal match, it will be between Cebu Niños and Batangas Barakos. Winners in these two semifinal matches will dispute the first-ever Liga Pilipinas championship title in the best-of-seven finals. (Press release)
