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Source: Manila Bulletin
Alaska coach Tim Cone was right all along that Purefoods’ formidable frontline crew will play a key role in their KFC-PBA Philippine Cup Finals series.

Though James Yap was always there to deliver, the troika of rebounding demon Marc Pingris, speedster Niño Cañaleta, and rookie sensation Rico Maierhofer made the difference.

According to Cone, the three were not only tall, but they were ultra quick.

Their quickness, Cone said, enabled them to hound Alaska’s aces – two-time MVP winner Willie Miller and LA Tenorio.

“It was really their size,” said Cone, whose team topped the classification phase to earn an outright berth in the semifinals where they swept Barangay Ginebra to enter the Finals, in a phone interview with the Bulletin Thursday.

And that’s the big reason when the Giants swept them in their best-of-seven title series which Yap and company capped with an 86-76 win Wednesday before a roaring crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was only the third sweep in a seven-game Finals series and first since 1992.

On offense, the three also contributed to help Yap, forward Kerby Raymundo, center Rafi Reavis and point guard Roger Yap.

“I think we did a good job on James, Roger Yap and Kerby. But it was Pingris, Reavis, KG (Canaleta) and even Maierhofer, it was their size and quickness. They disrupted us both on offense and defense,” Cone said.

“They outplayed us in the series. We had our chances to win games. But they came in to the series at a high level especially defensively. They just gained momentum. But the most impressive thing is that they didn’t let off the pedal for a moment. They didn’t give us a chance,” he added.

The series result, Cone said, doesn’t matter.

"To me, a loss is a loss. I feel worst after 3-2 lead with Talk ’N Text last season (Philippine Cup),” said Cone, referring to their 4-3 series loss to TNT in the Finals.

Despite the setback, Cone said there were a few positive things from the tournament.

“We got swept, but we swept Ginebra. We led and topped the conference. There are a lot of positive things. Problem was we run into a hot, hot team.”