Finals to start Easter Sunday

The two survivors of the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals will get a long break before plunging back into action for Game 1 of the Finals on Easter Sunday. If Barangay Ginebra wins over San Miguel Beer today, coach Tim Cone’s troops take a 10-day respite to recharge for the Finals. A Game 4 is guaranteed in the Meralco-TNT series on Friday and a winner-take-all Game 5 will be scheduled on Sunday if necessary. That means either an eight-day or a six-day rest for the other finalist.

Ginebra has won three in a row in the playoffs and despite a short rotation without Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio, Cone has managed to dominate San Miguel in the semis. In Game 1, San Miguel led only 2:52 minutes and lost a 121-112 decision. In Game 2, the Beermen were never in the driver’s seat as Ginebra won handily, 121-103. Four Ginebra players are averaging at least 38 minutes in the semis, leaving little room for others to play. San Miguel is averaging 39.5 bench points compared to Ginebra’s 13. But Justin Brownlee and Christian Standhardinger, hitting at a combined 60.5 clip, are more than compensating for the lack of bench firepower. There’s also Scottie Thompson who’s averaging a near triple double with 18 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Then, Cone has the luxury of unleashing his Young Guns – Jaime Malonzo and Jeremiah Gray, averaging 29.5 points together. Stanley Pringle and Nards Pinto provide relief off the bench.

What’s making life easy for Ginebra is Cone’s philosophy of playing as one. In Game 1, Ginebra had 29 assists and in Game 2, 35. When the ball’s moving and players are looking out for each other, not for themselves, good things happen. Ginebra is shooting over 50 percent from the field and averaging a whopping 121 points while San Miguel is struggling at 46 percent. Clearly, San Miguel is groping without June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo is also missing in action. Simon Enciso is hitting 2-of-12 and averaging three points as a starter in the semis. Vic Manuel went from 10 points in Game 1 to zero in Game 2. Marcio Lassiter and Jericho Cruz shot a combined 13 of 25 in Game 1 but only 5 of 18 in Game 2. If only San Miguel could play tougher with consistency, it wouldn’t be as bad as it looks for the Beermen. CJ Perez has been coach Jorge Gallent’s workhorse from the onset and Cameron Clark is a dependable handyman but San Miguel must find an antidote for Brownlee and Standhardinger to stave off Ginebra. San Miguel’s challenge is to win three straight to make it to the Finals and that’s a tall order.

In the other series, it’s a toss-up between the Bolts and the Tropa. There were 21 lead changes and 15 ties in Game 2 which Meralco took in OT, 124-117. In Game 1, TNT blasted Meralco, 110-80. The Bolts played flat and looked exhausted coming from an OT win over Magnolia in the quarterfinals two days before. Meralco never led and was pulverized in transition, 20 fastbreak points to 10. But in Game 2, coach Norman Black’s charges controlled the boards, 64-48, had more points in the paint, 84-46 and shot 48 percent from the field to TNT’s 42.4. Four Bolts grabbed at least seven boards compared to two from TNT. Aaron Black saved the day for Meralco with 28 points, five rebounds and 10 assists but KJ McDaniels was the alpha dog, rebounding from an anemic 12 point Game 1 to fire 39 in Game 2 to go with 20 rebounds. The Bolts took the win even as Chris Newsome went 1 of 15 from the field, indicating a collective effort to cover for the dip. Newsome had 33 points in the OT victory over Magnolia so he’s due for another breakout.