Facing a Crunchy Makati Side: San Juan Must Finish the Series Tonight

If you look back at the North Division semifinal series between the Manila Stars and the Makati Super Crunch, Manila went up 1-0 after winning Game One but it was Makati who moved on to the North Division Finals of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) after sweeping the next two games. In Manila. The fact that Makati was able to beat a star-studded Manila team is a clear indication that they can compete against the best of the bests. In that case, the more the San Juan Knights must finish the North Division Finals with a win tonight in Game Two because if the wards of Beaujing Acot see a hole in the Knights' defense, it can turn things around and more importantly, make a series out of this.

The Knights may be a win away from securing their second-straight MPBL Finals appearance after beating the Super Crunch by 16 points in the series opener but the work is far from over. And, John Willson and company can expect a crunchier Makati side that will come out tonight as Makati will aim to extend this series to a winner-take-all. If anything, the pressure is more on the side of teh Knights because they will be the ones who can finish the series with a big win tonight and failing to do so will serve as a confidence-booster that Makati can carry on in a potential Game Three.

So what will the Knights need to do to secure a Finals slot tonight? 

For starters, control the pace of the entire game. 

Sure, they held Makati to a nine-point outing in the fourth quarter of Game One and that's a testament to the Knights' ability to play their defensive gameplan when it mattered the most but you have to remember: that defense gave up 24 points in the second quarter alone which allowed Makati to stick within striking distance and even held a five-point lead late in the third quarter before San Juan unleashed yet another scoring blast that put the game away for good.

If they can control the pace of the game for 40 minutes, it will virtually shut the door for the Super Crunch.

Another problem that the Knights need to fix for tonight's Game Two?

John Wilson and Mike Ayonayon must produce more than what they did in the series opener when Wilson finished with 11 points on 30% field goal shooting while the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)-bound Ayonayon only made five out of his 13 shot attempts for his 12-point performance. As they say, shooters will always shoot but in this type of situation, Wilson and Ayonayon must shoot more high-percentage shots in tonight's Game Two. Do that and they won't need to worry about Makati until next season. 

There is no doubt in everyone's minds that the Knights have every advantage against the Super Crunch as the former is first and foremost, the defending champions. Then again, most were predicting a North Division Finals featuring the Manila Stars and the San Juan Knights and yet, here we are. Manila is no more and Makati will try to do the same trick they used against the mighty Stars. In short, it's imperative that San Juan must their swords tonight and never let their shields down because if Makati sees that the Knights' shields are down,  they can pound on and when they do, they are unstoppable. 

Photo is from the Facebook page of the MPBL