WITH Barangay Ginebra and Purefoods both bundled out in the PBA Philippine Cup’s quarterfinal round, the Final Four is taking a hit at the box-office.

Alaska vs. Rain or Shine and San Miguel Beer against Talk 'N Text in two best-of-seven series certainly make for great semifinal match-ups.

But interestingly enough, the people have shied away, at least in Game 1 of the Aces against the Elasto Painters, which Alaska took in come-from-behind style, 87-80, Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Alaska rallied from as large as 17 points down in the second period to post the win in front of no more than 5,000 fans as the Aces and the Elasto Painters played to empty sections of the ultramodern venue.

Ginebra continues to be the league’s biggest draw, especially with the 7-foot Greg Slaughter and the high-leaping Japeth Aguilar in the team together with Mark Caguioa and LA Tenorio.

But to the pure basketball fan, this Final Four should be the series to watch.

Rain or Shine and Alaska are evenly matched on paper, playing the same run-and-gun, physical style.

In their Game 1, the Aces refused to back down from the physicality of the Painters and methodically worked their way back from 34-17 down to post the win and gain psychological edge for the second game scheduled Saturday afternoon.

Ginebra’s mystique has been a wonder through the years.

It all started when Sonny Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz joined the team, then known as Gilbey’s Gin, when the fabled Toyota Tamaraws disbanded in the early 1980s.

The duo, simply two of the most legendary names the PBA has ever produced, immediately transformed the squad from doormats to title contenders.

It would be years before Ginebra would win a title, and it would come with Jaworski calling the shots and playing at the same time.

It was also during that era when Ginebra’s never-say-die attitude came about, when Jaworski would call timeout upon timeout even if his squad was down by insurmountable margins with just seconds left on the clock.

That attitude has endeared Ginebra to the fans and converted non-believers into diehards the rest of the way.

Ginebra still owns the most memorable comeback in any championship series in the PBA, when it came back from 1-3 down in the best-of-seven series against Shell for the First Conference crown in 1991.

Rudy Distrito would hit the magical fallaway jumper that sealed the win in the waning seconds, and the Ginebra legacy built by Jaworski and his underrated gang would not die until now.

***** Purefoods’ appeal to the masses cannot be attributed to the same reason.

Entering the league in 1988, Purefoods would go on to build a winning tradition almost right from the start by taking a group of glamour boys capable of playing bigtime basketball directly into the league.

Ramon Fernandez was actually the first coach of the then-Tender Juicy Hotdogs before he had a celebrated falling out with management to eventually end his career with the San Miguel Beermen.

Fernandez would go on to help San Miguel Beer and coach Norman Black win a Grand Slam in 1989, but the Purefoods legacy would continue to flourish.

After Fernandez left, Abet Guidaben became the leader of a team that boasted of crack players Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codinera and Jojo Lastimosa, amateur superstars who jumped to the pros all on the same year.

All three would go on to not only become basketball by-words but also star in several movies, something which was unheard of during the early years of the league.

Patrimonio would go on to play his entire pro career with the Hotdogs and become, like Fernandez, a four-time MVP.

Codinera would spend his best years at Purefoods and Lastimosa would later on transfer to Alaska. All three later became members of the 25 Greatest Players named by the league in 1999.

Whether it was by design or otherwise, Purefoods continued with its glamour look image even after Patrimonio and the gang have all retired, taking in James Yap later on before acquiring Mark Pingris from a trade with Air21. Yap, as we all know, was once married to Kris Aquino, the presidential sister who could be the most influential showbiz personality nowadays.

Pingris is also married to a showbiz personality, to Danica Sotto, daughter of Vic Sotto, one of showbiz’ most bankable stars and pillar of the long-running noontime hit Eat Bulaga.

Coupled with the fact that Yap and Pingris are both great and are helping Purefoods win, this team certainly has mass appeal that could rival the following the Ginebra commands.

As for the rest, they would have to establish their legacies in the league.

The Filipino fan, it seems, is not content on just watching plain and simple basketball. They want something else.

And Rain or Shine, Alaska, San Miguel and Talk 'N Text would have to work on that for the meantime.