FOUR-CORNERED FIGHT

Games today:

(Mall of Asia Arena)

5 p.m. — TNT vs Rain or Shine

7:30 p.m. — San Miguel vs Ginebra

If it’s just up to Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, he would rather face San Miguel Beer much later in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup playoffs.

But for the decorated mentor, it is what it is.

“That’s the runway we’re given and that’s the runway we’ve got to go through,” Cone said as the Kings brace for a bruising kind of grind against the Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals series unfurling today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Tipoff time is at 7:30 p.m. before the equally thrilling Final Four meeting between grand slam-seeking TNT and Rain or Shine.

Cone acknowledges that top-seeded San Miguel will be a steeper wall to climb to reach a third straight finals appearance, especially against a determined side looking for redemption after missing the playoffs in the Commissioner’s Cup and surrendering the all-Filipino crown to Meralco last year.

The 25-time champion tactician will also have to contend with a team that has won five straight Philippine Cup titles from 2014 and a total of six all-Filipino conquests in the past decade.

For Cone, San Miguel has always been a traditional powerhouse in an all-local contest, regardless of the changes in its roster.

Enter the returning Beermen coach Leo Austria, whose brilliant mind brought the franchise to Philippine Cup success in the past, and Ginebra is truly in for a tough ride.

“I don’t think they changed all that much. Leo (Austria) has so much success with the way he’s done things. If it ain’t broke why change it?” Cone said.

“Until someone can consistently prove that they can beat San Miguel why would they change? And no one’s been able to prove that in an all-Filipino,” added the mentor about the opponent that crushed Ginebra, 93-104, in the elimination round.

Despite the tall odds, Ginebra remains upbeat about its chances of drawing first blood and eventually controlling the series.

The Kings will try to ride the momentum of their 88-80 victory over Converge and its twin towers in Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar.

Veteran big man Japeth Aguilar will have the tough task of guarding 6-foot-10 San Miguel behemoth June Mar Fajardo in the rematch of the season-opening Governors’ Cup semis.

Backing Aguilar up are Jamie Malonzo, Troy Rosario, Scottie Thompson, Stephen Holt and RJ Abarrientos against the star-studded Beermen that also have CJ Perez, Moala Tautuaa, Don Trollano, Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, Juami Tiongson, Jericho Cruz and Rodney Brondial.

San Miguel, on the other hand, is brimming with confidence after scoring a much-awaited payback over Meralco, dethroning the Bolts in a 108-97 mangling last Friday.

“We’re thinking of how to improve and continue to learn every day. A lot of teams have been getting better. Fortunately, the semifinals is a series of seven games,” Austria said.

Meanwhile, the Tropang 5G hope to get past the same team they stepped on to get into the finals of the Governors’ and Commissioner’s Cups.

“They’re (Rain or Shine) going to be very hungry,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said of TNT’s semis victim in the first two conferences of the season.

Despite missing a lot of key players due to injuries, including top stars Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac, the Tropang 5G are laser-focused on completing a triple crown after a botched attempt in 2011.

“They’re not going to give up so we have to be ready. There’s no other way. We’ll just find a away and whoever is healthy we’ll go with them,” Reyes said.

TNT surprised twice-to-beat Magnolia in the quarterfinals, the same way the Elasto Painters scored an upset over second-seeded NLEX.

Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao, on the other hand, will try to get past the semis after falling short three straight times.

“That’s our motto: just show up, be there and one of these days maybe you’ll get to the next level. We are here, so we’ll try our best. TNT is a champion team, going for a grand slam but we’ll be there and see where we go from there,” he said.