All about heart

The stats didn’t mean a thing in Game 3 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All-Filipino Cup Finals at the PhilSports Arena last Friday.

In Game 1, San Miguel Beer outrebounded Barangay Ginebra, 50-44, shot more free throws, 13-7, and scored at least 80 points. The result? San Miguel won, 81-75. In Game 2, the pattern was the same. San Miguel mauled Ginebra off the boards, 48-36, made a living at the stripe by converting 14 foul shots (compared to Ginebra’s five), and tallied at least 80 points. The result? San Miguel prevailed, 89-72.

The indicator was San Miguel would be tough to beat unless it’s outrebounded, outshot from the line, and limited to less than 80 points. In 12 games this conference, the Beermen were 12-0 when scoring at least 80.

So what happened in Game 3? San Miguel outrebounded Ginebra, 48-38, hit more free throws, 16-8, and netted 80 points. The result? Ginebra eked out an 82-80 decision.

The stats? Who cares?

Coach Allan Caidic’s boys let it all hang out in defying the odds to beat San Miguel for the first time in over two years. The upset broke a luckless streak of nine straight games. Ginebra hadn’t beaten San Miguel since a 77-71 thriller during the second round of the 1999 All-Filipino elims.

It was a win that was inevitable.

San Miguel had no difficulty thrashing Ginebra in Game 1 and led all the way in posting the six-point triumph. Understandable. The Kings were tired, coming off a harrowing win over Shell in a semis clincher that brought Ginebra back to the Finals after over three years.

Ginebra had some bright moments in Game 2. There were seven lead changes and eight deadlocks. But in the fourth period, San Miguel poured it on and left Ginebra biting the dust. The 17-point win wasn’t indicative of how tight the game was from the start. Caidic’s consolation was the Kings were somehow playing better game after game.

Then came Friday’s duel.

* * *

Caidic was wary of another fourth quarter collapse. He paced his boys carefully — like a runner in a long distance race. He kept it close and left the window open for the Kings to pull the rug from under the Beermen in the end. Caidic rolled the dice, prayed, and hoped for the best.

Forget the stats. What Ginebra showed down the stretch in Game 3 was all heart. Two hustle plays by Ronald Magtulis in the late going allowed Ginebra to retain successive possessions off misses. Jun Limpot, quiet in Games 1 and 2, erupted in the fourth period, firing eight points to finish with 19. He breathed the same fire that singed Shell in the semis clincher.

Mark Caguioa also saved his best for the final push — he hit 10 of his 19 in the last 12 minutes. Vergel Meneses did the same, chipping in six of his 10 — including a huge trey. Bal David delivered, too — he buried a triple to join in the fray.

The Kings knew that if they lost Game 3, the series would be all but over. The battlecry was do or die. They had to win or else. And so they did.

"That’s what happens if you play Ginebra and you don’t put them away early," said San Miguel coach Joseph Uichico. "Anything can happen in the end. It was do or die for them so we expected that kind of effort. If you allow them to make it close up to the end, it’s anybody’s game."

Caidic said determination and the will to win propelled Ginebra to victory.

"If you’re up 2-0 in the Finals, you tend to relax a bit and your level of play goes down," he noted. "We took advantage of that. We had nothing to lose — nobody expected us to be in the Finals in the first place. We had the opportunity to win and we took it."

Caidic explained that in the fourth period, he gambled on playing Caguioa and Meneses together. His idea was to bring out their offense. "We offset our disadvantage in height and defense by their scoring," he continued. "Kulang pa kami sa rotation — we gave up open three-pointers and layups. But we were determined to win."

Bottling up Danny Ildefonso was key, added Caidic.

"I knew that coming from a career-high game, Danny would think kayang-kaya niya kami and he would try to do it again," said Caidic. "In Game 2, our plan was not to double Danny — let him get his points and we’ll limit the rest. So we hardly doubled on Danny. The problem was the other Danny — Seigle — also exploded. To stop San Miguel, you’ve got to stop at least one of the two Dannys. I told the boys I’m to blame for losing Game 2 — my gameplan didn’t work. In Game 3, we adjusted. We played Danny I tough — maganda ang rotation namin sa kanya with Alex (Crisano), Wilmer (Ong) and our double. Tapos, he got into foul trouble and that cut down his minutes. Danny I shot only five points but Danny S had 30. We stopped one of the Dannys but to show you how tough San Miguel is, we won by only two."

Yesterday at 7 a.m., Caidic and his assistants Cris Calilan and George Ella were already viewing tape — studying matchups, preparing adjustments, and anticipating what Uichico will do in Game 4 tonight. The coaches met their players for practice at 2 p.m.

"We’ve got to correct our lapses in rotation," said Caidic. "We’re looking at adjustments in defense and anticipating how they’ll play us in Game 4. Our confidence is back. Now, we know we can beat San Miguel."

Caidic said it’s a hard climb to the top but bit by bit, little by little, Ginebra is getting there. The next step is to level the series.

Ginebra showed that in Game 3, heart — more than stats — makes all the difference in a close encounter. With the Barangay back in full force at the Big Dome tonight, Caidic hopes the Kings will feed off the fans’ energy and stick it to San Miguel one more time.