San Miguel, Ginebra loom as teams to beat in 42nd PBA season

Sister teams San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra loom as heavy favorites in the coming 42nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

During the pre-season press conference held at the Makati Shangri-La recently, PBA governors were one in declaring that both the Beermen and the Gin Kings will be the focal points of other squads when the league opens shop anew on November 20.

Meralco Bolts governor Ryan Gregorio, in particular, believes the Beermen are heavyset for a third straight Philippine Cup crown as Junemar Fajardo remains as the team’s biggest weapon.

“As long as Fajardo is playing for SMB, they will always be one of the teams to beat,” he said.

Fajardo won his third straight PBA Most Valuable Player award last season. He is one win away from tying Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio’s record of four PBA MVP awards.

Barangay Ginebra, which successfully ended an eight-year title drought by winning the Governor’s Cup crown over the Bolts last month, , is also tagged a championship contender along with Talk N’ Text and Alaska.

Alaska Governor Dickie Bachmann said that the usual suspects will dominate the league.

“All teams of San Miguel, all teams of (the) MVP (group of companies) and Alaska,” he noted.

The 42nd PBA season will open at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, with the Beermen kicking off their title defense against the Star Hotshots.