DESPITE being the third seed heading into the ABL playoffs, head coach Mac Cuan expressed confidence about Alab Pilipinas' chances against the second-seeded Singapore Slingers.
Cuan believes Alab is very much capable of winning its best-of-three semifinal series against Singapore even if the Slingers hold the homecourt advantage owing to their higher seeding.
At 12-7 (win-loss), the Slingers have already clinched the No. 2 spot last week while 10-9 Alab is already assured of third spot with one game left to play in the regular season.
“I love our chances. We were pretty even head to head with all four games going down the wire,” said Cuan, whose team will cap off the elimination round with a game against the Kaohsiung Truth next week.
Alab Pilipinas split its four-game season series against Singapore, with the largest margin of victory in the four games at just five points. Each team also won game on the road.
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Alab, however, had to sweat before wrapping up a playoff spot, needing an 82-75 win over Hong Kong Eastern last Sunday in Davao City to arrest a three-game slide.
The Philippine side also had to overcome a late charge by the Saigon Heat, who won against Singapore twice with Slingers imports Justin Howard and Xavier Alexander sitting out one game each.
Cuan is also confident Alab has put its struggles behind it.
“So it will basically go to the team who wants it more and will execute in the endgame. But I like how we match up against them even without the homecourt edge and I’m confident we can win on our home court,” said Cuan.
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