PBA Finals takeaways

The PBA’s 49th season has ended with San Miguel Beer claiming the third conference title via a 4-2 win over TNT in the Philippine Cup Finals. Here are 10 takeaways from SMB’s triumph that was sealed at the PhilSports Arena last Friday.

• Austria winningest Philippine Cup champion coach. SMB coach Leo Austria has broken out of a three-way tie with Baby Dalupan and Chot Reyes for most Philippine Cup titles with his seventh victory. The win also delivered a record 30th championship to the San Miguel franchise.

• No Triple Crown for TNT. The Tropang 5G fell a jewel short of bagging a Grand Slam, the second time Reyes came close. In 2010-11, TNT captured the first two conference titles then was derailed by Petron in the Governors’ Cup. This time, SMB spoiled the party.

• Ex-TNT players in SMB jerseys. Don Trollano, Jericho Cruz, Kris Rosales and Mo Tautuaa were formerly with TNT. Trollano and Cruz came off the bench to average in double figure points, joining June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez as the only Beermen in the category. Cruz was named Finals MVP for outdoing himself in the six-game series, averaging 13.8 points with a pair of 20-point explosions.

• TNT’s gutsy resilience. Credit to TNT for battling SMB without backing down despite a depleted lineup. Jayson Castro never played in the conference. Rey Nambatac went down six games into the elims. Roger Pogoy sat out four games and Kelly Williams, two in the semis. Poy Erram and Simon Enciso skipped three outings each in the Finals. Jordan Heading was a wounded gladiator, playing with a bad back. Still, TNT put up a gallant stand and survived one KO game before succumbing.

• Inside versus outside. TNT took 51.6 percent of its shots from three and four compared to SMB’s 30.9. The Beermen’s interior attack produced an average of 49.7 points in the paint, resulting in a 44.8 overall field goal clip, 49.2 percent in four wins. TNT shot only 30.3 points in the paint a game as its preference to fire from the perimeter led to a lower 42.7 total field goal percentage.

• Bench production. Lack of manpower tested Reyes’ creativity to manufacture points from different sources. In the end, SMB’s depth was a difference maker as Austria’s bench averaged 38.5 points to TNT’s 28.3.

• Vosotros’ reemergence. TNT signed up Almond Vosotros to a two-month contract to fill in for Nambatac with four games left in the elims and in the Finals, proved himself deserving of a longer deal by averaging 10.3 points. Vosotros, 35, was scoreless in five of six games in the Governors’ Cup and was out of the roster in the Commissioner’s Cup before he was reactivated.

• JMF still the best. There’s nobody close to the eight-time MVP in dominating the league. JMF was voted Best Player of the Conference and in the Finals, averaged 21.3 points and 12 boards. In Game 3, JMF was unstoppable with 33 points and in the closer, shot 11 of 12 from the field.

• Ageless warriors stay relevant. TNT’s Kelly Williams, 43 and SMB’s Chris Ross, 40 are among six PBA players over 40. In the Finals, both played key roles. Williams was JMF’s primary defender and held him to 13 points when TNT won Game 5. Machine Gun averaged 12.7 points in the Last Dance. Ross started in five games and hit at an 8.5 clip.

• Offense comes through. In SMB’s four wins, the Beermen averaged 104.5 points and in two losses, 87. TNT’s chances hinged on holding SMB to less than 100 a game but Reyes needed a complete cast to play hard-nosed defense from start to finish and didn’t enjoy that luxury.