ILOILO City – Several Western Visayas-based sports personalities are favoring Oklahoma City Thunder over Indiana Pacers in the 2024-2025 NBA Finals, which will begin on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Majority of the coaches and sports personalities from the region interviewed by Panay News on Thursday see the Thunder hoisting their franchise’s first-ever NBA championship trophy at the expense of the Pacers.
* Dexter Dy, retired basketball coach: “I will go with OKC because Indiana has no proven go-to guy. SGA (Shai Gilegous-Alexander) is a walking mismatch and nobody from Indiana can defend him.” Thunder in 6.
* Atoy Callora Jr., Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts coach: “I will go with OKC. Kina SGA, (Chet) Holmgren and ‘yung supporting cast ng OKC pa lang, mahihirapan na ang Pacers. But hindi puwedeng magpakampante ang OKC kasi uhaw na uhaw ang Pacers sa Championship. Malaking bagay din para sa kanila ang experience ni (Paskal) Siakam bilang isang champion player.” Thunder in 6.
* Francis Barcellano, former TNT Tropang Giga player: “OKC is the better team at almost every position and have a decent bench. They are young and hungry! SGA is the X factor being the MVP himself.” Thunder in 6.
* Vincent Conlu, Hua Siong College of Iloilo Red Phoenix head coach: “OKC ang tingin ko na may advantage kasi mabilis at mas may height sila and defensive players din lahat ng players nila.” Thunder in 6.
* Joseph Guion, Pangasinan Heatwaves assistant coach: “Two Teams with superstars that almost the same position and talent with SGA and (Tyrese) Haliburton. Two players also were traded and not on team that drafted them. But I will go with OKC. The talent and youth of the Thunder squad will be too much for the Pacers. Last time they met in the regular season it was a lopsided game, 132-111. X factor for Pacers is Myles Turner, the only big man for the Pacers if he plays go defense and knock down a couple of threes every game, it will space the floor for the guards of Pacers. For the Thunder, it’s their bench, led by Alex Caruso, giving the OKC the defense that they needed against the Pacers…” Thunder in 5.
* Porsche Bernil of Tigbauan Ninjas: “Pareho kong gusto sila SGA at Halliburton, pero when it comes to NBA Finals, I will go with OKC dahil sa depensa nila. Advantage talaga sila when it comes to team rebounds and steals, more ball touches and possessions. Of course, it’s a huge advantage sa offense, especially that most of them are outside shooters plus si SGA’s style of play, he dominates the paint, mano-mano high percentage at he knows how to draw the defense. Sa Pacers naman hindi consistent si Halliburton but he can facilitate and Siakam, the Eastern Conference MVP, is very much experienced especially in playoffs and finals, high percentage and team top rebounder.” Thunder in 5.
* Rodolfo Go Villaruz, Gametime Sports founder: “This series is not for the casual basketball fan but can still excite viewers knowing that one team will come out with their first-ever championship. OKC will have a definite edge matchup wise. They have nine guys who can suit up in any team’s starting lineup in the league. Chet will be an outlier in this series and will try to impose in and out presence with a double big scenario alongside (Isaiah) Hartenstein. X-factors would be Cason Wallace and Caruso. OKC will need them to put pressure on the Indy guards who are known for less turnovers. For Indy, (Andrew) Nembhard will look to step up his game. Pascal Siakam will try to cement his East MVP award. Hali will be tested big time on this stage with Wallace, (Isaiah) Joe, Caruso, ready to lock him up. Indy can have a big solid run when their three pointers start going in efficiently.” Thunder in 5.
* JJ Javelosa, Iloilo United Royals CEO: “I will go for OKC in this championship series.” While most see the Thunder winning the series, there are also some who see the Pacers taking home its first-ever NBA championship.
* Prandy Wong, Dingle National High School women’s basketball coach: “For me, ito ang pinakamahirap i-predict na NBA Finals series. Both teams ay may advantages sa kabilang team, both teams naman kasi maganda ang bench nila. Pero for me, Indiana ito. Advantage ng Indiana is the size. Pero superb naman talaga ang depensa ng OKC. X-factor sa Indiana will be (Aaron) Nesmith and for OKC is Caruso….” Pacers in 7.
* Ray Cabarles, Iloilo province sports development officer IV: “Defense wins championship, and the Pacers have it. Playoff Stats showed that: Pacers and OKC are tied with an average of 117 points per game. In rebounds, OKC has 44 rebounds per game while Indiana has 39, in steals, OKC has 10 steals per game while Indiana has 7.5 steals per game. And both teams have 5.6 blocks per game. While stats can be the basis in winning, yet stats can change depending on the opponent. There are teams prior to the Eastern Conference finals that that are ahead of the Pacers but were defeated. Andrew Nembhard is the man for the Pacers and will be the team’s x factor for winning the series.” Pacers in 6.
* Tata Belangel, Iloilo Scholastic Academy head coach: “For me, it is fun to watch kasi bagong teams ang maglalaban sa NBA finals. Na-dethrone nila ‘yung champion team (Boston Celtics) at yung former champion team (Denver Nuggets). Even though sa NBA small market teams sila, but as a Filipino who loves basketball, I look forward to both teams giving us a good show. Advantage? For me, si Pacers dahil sa head coach at si Pascal Siakam. Sa nakita ko kasi sa series nila ng Knicks, ‘yung adjustments ni Coach Rick (Carlisle) at ‘yung steadiness ni Siakam behind Haliburton importante ‘yun. X factor/s sa OKC naman dahil sa elite defense nila. Lu Dort and Jalen Williams will play a big factor sa series na ito plus pa si Chet Holmgren at Alex Caruso. But, it’s time for the Pacers to prove that they can elevate and prove that they can play both offense and defense sa NBA finals.” Pacers in 6.
* Richard Gabayoyo, National Basketball Training Center Region 6 head: “The team that has the thirst for the championship crown will prevail and that is Indiana Pacers. Haliburton and (Bennedict) Mathurin will bring the Pacers to glory.” Pacers in 6.
* John Guanco, Western Visayas secondary boys basketball team coach: “For me, Indiana will win this, mas gusto ko ‘yung combination ng line up nila. I think the bigs of Indiana is the x factor.. guys like Siakam and (Obi) Toppin.” Pacers in 6./PN
