It took San Miguel Beer five games to dispose of Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals last season. Now, they’re back in the Last Dance and with the series tied at two wins apiece in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals, a Game 6 is guaranteed at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
San Miguel likes to make short work of its opponents in the Finals. The Beermen took out Magnolia in five in the Philippine Cup Finals this season and looked ready to send Ginebra packing early after back-to-back blowout wins in Games 2 and 3 in the ongoing title series. Ginebra, in contrast, plays a patient, deliberate, grind-it-out, slow-down pace that suits coach Tim Cone’s style. Cone prefers to wear down opponents in a war of attrition. That’s because in a long series, the crowd makes more of a difference in providing the energy push down the stretch.
San Miguel coach Leo Austria has enough weapons to fortify Fort Knox. In terms of firepower, Ginebra is no match for San Miguel, man for man. Because of its massive arsenal, San Miguel sometimes gets impatient in running opponents to the ground. Ginebra, on the other hand, waits patiently for an opening to strike the killer blow.
In the raging Finals, both teams have suffered knockdowns but neither is close to being knocked out. It will go to a Game 6 for sure and that’s to Ginebra’s advantage. Ginebra survived a virtual must-win Game 4 last Friday, beating San Miguel, 130-100, in exactly the same way the Beermen fell in Game 1. If San Miguel won, it would’ve opened a commanding 3-1 edge leading into Game 5 and a potential closer tonight. From close to going down for good, Ginebra is suddenly back in business.
In Game 1, San Miguel never led and Ginebra enjoyed its biggest margin at 39. The key was defense as San Miguel was limited to 39 percent field goal shooting compared to Ginebra’s 61.4 percent. Ginebra won, 127-99 as JuneMar Fajardo was held to 13 points, Alex Cabagnot to five, Chris Ross to four and Marcio Lassiter to six. In Game 4, Ginebra did the same thing as San Miguel was held to 39.6 percent field goal shooting with Renaldo Balkman and Lassiter combining for 8-of-27 shots from the floor for less than 30 percent accuracy. Ross, who had 23 points in Game 3, finished with only two. San Miguel had 101 field goal attempts to Ginebra’s 84 but couldn’t find the mark consistently. Because Ginebra’s defense clicked, it opened a lot of opportunities to score in transition with Cone’s squad collecting 20 fastbreak points to San Miguel’s six. Like in Game 1, San Miguel never led in Game 4.
Cone described the Finals as strange because every game has been a blowout. Ginebra took the opener by 28 and Game 4 by 30. San Miguel won Game 2 by 25 and Game 3 by 38. Games 1, 2 and 4 were decided in the first period. In Game 4, Ginebra raced to a 17-0 advantage and never looked back. The tightest encounter was in Game 3 where San Miguel held a two-point lead at the half then pulverized Ginebra by 18 in the third period.
Soothsayers can’t make heads or tails of the series. There’s clearly bad blood between the teams so they’re not giving an inch every step of the way. Balkman and Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee were teammates with Alab in the ABL last season so they’re buddies. But they’re hired hands and battle-tested pros. Besides, they’re often defended by locals so it’s not as if they’re playing patty-cake with each other.
Austria is out to keep San Miguel’s Grand Slam hopes alive while Cone wants badly to sit on the throne once more. It’s an unpredictable Finals and that’s why fans are packing it in. Cone said every game has been a grenade-tossing show, one paying back the other. Momentum has been essential and both teams realize that a strong start creates an upward spiral that pushes the other on its heels.
For Ginebra, there were positive signs in Game 4. Greg Slaughter outplayed Fajardo, L. A. Tenorio was back on track with a series-high 17 points and Japeth Aguilar, hobbled by a foot injury, showed signs of renewed life with eight points, his highest in the last six outings. Brownlee was impeccable with 15-of-18 field goals, just as remarkable as his 17-of-19 display in Game 1. Cone, however, would rather dwell on Ginebra’s defensive effort than on those numbers.
For San Miguel, Austria had warned the Beermen not to be complacent in Game 4 and it didn’t seem like they listened. Game 5 will be humdinger because it’s down to a best-of-3 and the team that wins tonight earns a potential closer on Wednesday. If Ginebra holds San Miguel down to 100 or less, the probability is it will win. If the Beermen shoot the lights out like they did in Games 2 and 3, San Miguel can’t lose.