Triumph of the spirit

Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio called the Chunkee Giants’ victory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup a triumph of the spirit.

There could be no better way to describe the underdog team’s ascent to the throne.

The Giants lost power forward Jondan Salvador to a knee injury late in the previous conference and his absence left a big hole in Gregorio’s rotation. Without a legitimate center, Gregorio brought in veteran Arnold Gamboa from the free agent ranks to shore up the middle and gave journeyman Don Camaso a chance when Eugene Tejada went down.

Throughout the conference, Purefoods battled the odds and fought through adversity. Injuries hampered Kerby Raymundo, Jun Limpot and Noy Castillo. But the Giants refused to buckle under pressure.

In the classification round, Purefoods got off to a slow 1-2 start then rattled off four straight wins before a loss to San Miguel Beer triggered an unbeaten streak of five in a row. The Giants dropped a 17-point decision to nemesis Red Bull and closed out the preliminary phase with two consecutive decisions over Talk ’N’ Text and Sta. Lucia Realty to nail the first automatic semifinals slot.

Things turned sour for the Giants at the start of the semis as Alaska raced to 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the best-of-7 series. Purefoods, however, wouldn’t give up and became only the second team in PBA history to storm back from a 1-3 deficit to win. The first squad to accomplish the rare feat was Ginebra San Miguel over Shell for the 1991 First Conference crown.

Facing Red Bull in the Finals was another daunting challenge for Purefoods. It was Red Bull that repulsed the Giants in six games for the previous conference’s title.

Oddsmakers chose Red Bull to make it two Finals wins in a row over Purefoods because of the Barakos’ deeper bench, size advantage and championship experience.

Gregorio was particularly concerned about Purefoods’ lack of size. In the conference, Purefoods ranked last in rebounding. Gregorio knew that if Red Bull dominated the boards, the Barakos would run roughshod over the Giants because it meant they could dictate tempo and play transition.

So throughout the Finals, Gregorio made it a point to concentrate on the glass. And he stressed that the only way the Giants could beat Red Bull was if they play defense for 48 minutes game in, game out because they were no match in a shootout.

Red Bull had never lost in five best-of-7 series so history was on the Barakos’ side. And before Game 6 last Friday, Red Bull was 4-0 in do-or-die games this season.

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Purefoods had a chance to close out the series in Game 5 last Wednesday but Red Bull escaped with a 98-93 cliffhanger that was decided only in the last few minutes. The Barakos surfaced from 15 points down to force a Game 6.

Gregorio said he wasn’t surprised with the way Red Bull bounced back to win Game 5. "It’s what you expect from a team that’s desperately trying to survive," he said.

Gregorio knew that if Purefoods loses Game 6, Red Bull would be tough to beat in a winner-take-all Game 7. So he treated Game 6 like it was make-or-break for the Giants.

For a while, it looked like Red Bull would extend the series to a Game 7 after limiting Purefoods to only nine points in the second quarter in Game 6. But the Giants, showing the resiliency of a championship team, wouldn’t wilt and leaned on defense to take the starch out of the Barakos down the stretch. Purefoods clinched the title via a 90-83 decision.

Rebounding, defense and an unflappable will to win clearly brought Purefoods to the top.

Although not known for their rebounding ability, the Giants compiled more boards than Red Bull in every game of the Finals—51-37 in Game 1, 47-45 in Game 2, 51-41 in Game 3, 54-48 in Game 4, 53-51 in Game 5 and 56-50 in Game 6.

And in the four encounters Purefoods won, the Giants held Red Bull to an average of only 85.75 points—10 less than the Barakos’ conference clip—and 36.2 percent shooting.

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In Game 6, Red Bull shot a poor 33.7 percent from the floor even as four Barakos finished in twin digits compared to three from Purefoods.

Raymundo, who wound up without an individual award this season with James Yap and Marc Pingris reaping the honors, broke out of a slump to fire 27 points in the series clincher as if to remind everyone he’s still the Giants leader.

Not to take anything away from Yap and Pingris, Raymundo was the chief focus of Red Bull’s defensive attention. And with Raymundo bottled up, Yap and Pingris stepped up to deliver. The situation was reminiscent to what happened to Miami in the recent National Basketball Association Finals where Shaquille O?Neal sacrificed his numbers—wittingly or unwittingly—to allow Dwayne Wade to blossom in a stellar role as MVP.

Raymundo and Yap combined for 52 of Purefoods’ 90 points in Game 6 and their partnership was just too overwhelming for Red Bull to survive. It was Purefoods’ 11th appearance in 18 All-Filipino Finals so far and the club’s fourth All-Filipino crown, tying Crispa and San Miguel Beer for the most championships ever. Postscript: Get blown away with Emerald Headway’s Subscription 18 percent Price Knock-off! Emerald Headway, the leading distributor of over 700 imported book and magazine titles such as Elle, Car and Driver, Scientific American and National Geographic, is giving an additional 15 percent discount on all one-year subscriptions of monthly and weekly titles and an additional 7.5 percent discount on all six-month subscriptions. Plus, subscribers get five complimentary back issue magazines free for every subscription booked and paid. For details, call 647-4744.