The Pampanga Giant Lanterns and the Quezon Huskers finally meet for the much-awaited 2024 MPBL Finals matchup, which was held in Dubai on December 1. Before the duel even started, Quezon was already seen as the underdog, and Pampanga was deemed as the champions once again. But, which players from both teams can change the outcome of this intense matchup between the North and the South? Who is going to be the X-factor for our finalists, the game changers who can alter the result of the 2024 MPBL National Finals?
Pampanga Giant Lanterns
Everybody knows that Justine Baltazar will give his best night in and night out. Right now, he’s on track to becoming the first-ever back-to-back MPBL MVP and Finals MVP.
With Balti as the anchor, the reigning champs have always taken pride in being the best rebounding and scoring team in the league. Well, it’s also due to the big men manning the paint – Justine Baltazar, Brandon Ramirez, Jhaymo Eguilos, and Lervin Flores. Pampanga’s frontcourt lineup is so formidable, that even a battle-tested Bacoor team in 2023, featuring Mark Yee, Jammer Jamito, Alwyn Alday, and Chito Jaime didn’t stand a chance against the Kapampangan. Not even their n
But, with a tall and talented frontcourt, comes the need for a good backcourt duo. Thankfully, Pampanga’s two best scorers, Archie Concepcion and Encho Serrano can suffice that need. However, Serrano might be out in game 2 after being disqualified in game 1. Fortunately enough, Pampanga has an X-factor they can field to the floor despite losing Serrano. And that is, Kurt Spencer Reyson.
The 5-foot-9 point guard is not the second, third, or fourth option for the team, however, in just a very limited playing time, Reyson is able to put up 7.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, while also shooting 34.4% from three-point land. With more than 4 dimes a night, Reyson ranks just behind Baltazar in terms of APG. Reyson, with his exceptional court vision and playmaking ability, is one of the reasons why Pampanga ranks number one among all 29 teams in terms of total assists. This has been evident with how well they move the ball to get it to Balti for an easy bucket.
He’s also shooting somehow better than Concepcion in terms of made shots per attempt. Despite his size, Reyson stands tall in a group filled with literal giants.
Quezon Huskers
Game 1 showed everyone how a Huskers team without Gab Banal and Louell Jay Gonzales struggled against Pampanga. It was already a clear mismatch down low, even 6-foot-6 center Christian Buñag was clearly not stopping a 6-foot-9 Baltazar in transition. As a team, they were outrebounded by Pampanga (48-38) and were obviously losing the battle for more points in the paint.
Their only chance in closing the gap is completing more threes than the Giant Lanterns and stopping at least Archie Concepcion and MJ Garcia.
Well, the first thing they need to solve is how they can “put the ball in the basket”. In game 1, only one player broke double-digits, and that was from a surprising performance from Rodel Gravera who sank 5 triples in 6 attempts. Judel Ric Fuentes and Al Francis Tamsi definitely were having terrible shooting nights, while Ximone Sandagon and Jason Opiso couldn’t get enough touches.
What they need right now is the leadership of Gonzales and Banal, so they could at least keep up with an undefeated Pampanga. Their biggest problem is scoring since they’re already a tough team on defense, but so are the Giant Lanterns. Although their fate may already be sealed and their chances of winning are already written off, there’s always a slight chance to beat an unbeatable foe. It’s not over yet for Quezon, but they have to give it their 110% to give the Giant Lanterns a run for their money.
