There’s a beautiful love song called “First Cut Is The Deepest,” written by pop artist Cat Stevens in 1965 but not released as a record until two years later. The song was recorded by Stevens (also known as Yusuf Islam), P. P. Arnold in 1967, Keith Hampshire in 1973, Rod Stewart in 1976 and Sheryl Crow in 2003. To prove its immortality, the song was recorded by Crow 38 years after it was penned.
In the PBA Governors Cup Finals, Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone will surely want to sing the song. Ginebra took out Meralco, 102-87, in Game 1 of the best-of-7 duel at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena last Friday to draw first blood in the battle for the crown. He’d like to think that first cut was the deepest in setting the tone for the rest of the series.
For Meralco, the challenge is coming back from the wound, deep or not. As “Memoirs of a Geisha” author Arthur Golden once said, a wounded tiger is a dangerous beast. Bolts coach Norman Black, like Cone, is a master of adjustments and no doubt, Meralco will answer the bell for Game 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight prepared to pull the rug from under Ginebra.
Before the Finals, Meralco established its credibility as the league’s No. 1 defensive team by holding opponents to an average of 88.8 points. That number fell to 85.8 in the Bolts’ 12 wins up to the semifinals. Conversely, in Meralco’s three losses, the Bolts gave up an average of 101.7. If those stats were the yardstick, Meralco failed the first test of the Finals as Ginebra racked up 102 points. Ginebra didn’t score less than 20 points in any quarter, a bad sign for Meralco.
* * *
Meralco showed up for Game 1 owning the highest three-point field goal percentage in the conference, hitting 37 percent. Ginebra knew it and Cone himself said he would sacrifice packing the paint to bring out his bigs to the perimeter if only to stop Meralco’s three-point riflemen. As a result, Meralco shot only 8-of-34 from beyond the arc or 24 percent with Allen Durham and Ranidel de Ocampo combining for 0-of-9. Jared Dillinger, who shot 40.1 percent from distance until the semifinals, knocked down only 1-of-9. Without hitting the outside shot consistently, Meralco was lost in the woods as the Bolts were outscored in the paint, 54-44.
Meralco did a good job forcing turnovers and committed seven less miscues but Ginebra’s 60-40 advantage in rebounding more than made up for the lost possessions. Ginebra had more offensive boards, 22-14, and scored more second chance points, 18-8.
Matchups dictated the flow of the game. Ginebra’s Kevin Ferrer was a key element in Cone’s tactical approach. He shadowed Chris Newsome who wound up with only six points, seven below his norm, Dillinger, Garvo Lanete and a slew of others. TNT coach Nash Racela singled out Ferrer as the best player in Ginebra’s Game 4 semifinal clincher over the KaTropa for getting under import Glen Rice, Jr.’s skin and causing his ejection. This time, Ferrer was Ginebra’s unsung hero for other reasons. He finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists in 24:01 minutes and kept Joe De Vance stuck on the bench for the entire fourth period to preserve him for Game 2.
In the payoff period, Ferrer buried a triple, dropped two dimes and grabbed four rebounds, including two offensive. His assist to Japeth Aguilar upped the score to 98-83 for Ginebra and he also found Justin Brownlee for a jumper to make it 100-85. Another reliever who played the entire fourth quarter was Sol Mercado, back in the groove after missing three games early in the conference with a calf issue. Mercado had two assists, a rebound and a steal in the last 12 minutes. L. A. Tenorio checked in with 4:22 left in the period and finished the game alongside Mercado in the backcourt, a combination that Cone will likely employ more often than not the rest of the series. Brownlee once called the Mercado-Tenorio tandem Ginebra’s Fire and Ice.
* * *
Meralco had no answer for Ginebra’s inside attack. Greg Slaughter and Aguilar alternated at center with Brownlee the constant at four or three. Brownlee, who gobbled up whomever Black sent in as a stopper, had 32 points, 19 boards and six assists. Black rotated Allen Durham, De Ocampo and Cliff Hodge on Brownlee and none had much success in slowing him down. Depending on the matchup, Brownlee posted up or attacked from mid-range or threw up long bombs. Of Ginebra’s 54 inside points, Slaughter and Aguilar combined for 29.