THE THIRD round of the brewing rivalry between the AirAsia Philippine Patriots and the San Miguel Beermen commences today as the two squads engage one another in the “Battle of the Philippines” in the Asean Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Patriots will be coming in with 7-foot-1 import Chris Alexander, who replaced reigning best import Nakiea Miller in a bid to finally prove that they can beat the Beermen after failing to do so in their first two encounters.
Alexander suited up for the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup before being replaced by Jackson Vroman.
San Miguel has got the Patriots’ number early on, winning, 78-70, last Jan. 21 before hacking out a 68-66 win last month.
Their March 4 match was one to remember as a free-for-all broke out involving the Patriots’ Anthony Johnson, Ardy Larong and Erick Rodriguez and the Beermen’s Aries Dimaunahan and Junjun Cabatu.
The two teams made key moves over the past month to strengthen their title aspirations.
Aside from Alexander, the Patriots added veteran guard Kiko Adriano while the Beermen signed Roger Yap and ex-PBA reinforcements Nick Fazekas and Duke Crews.
SMB will also parade guard Chris Banchero for the first time this season. Saddled by passport problems, the league recently gave the Fil-Am cager from Seattle the green light to play. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio