Interesting PBA semis match-ups

All roads now lead to the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals, starting with today’s face off between the Alaska Aces and the Global Port Batang Pier at the Mall of Asia Arena. Tomorrow, defending champions San Miguel Beermen (SMB) will tangle with the Rain or Shine (RoS) Elasto Painters in their own best-of-seven semis series also at the MOA Arena.

By a stroke of luck, we’ll be treated to two very interesting semis battles that hardly anyone saw coming. Global Port’s entry into the semis round, a first in its franchise history, came as an enormous surprise. Although a formidable force, other highly touted squads like Talk N’ Text, Ginebra San Miguel and Purefoods Star were all ranked higher than Batang Pier. Alaska, Rain or Shine and San Miguel are frequent qualifiers in the semis.