A new ballgame
IT didn’t take long before order was restored in the PBA Philippine Cup championship series. And the league bosses have feisty Magnolia Hotshots to thank for that.
Magnolia recorded a stunning 105103 victory over San Miguel Beer in Game 1. Nobody expected it, especially not the Beermen. In Game 2, the latter may actually have lost mojo because they watched as the Hotshots staged a comeback from 21 points down. In the end, however, sheer volume of talent prevailed over admirable perseverance, 92-77. The series ended with a tie, going into the Holy Week break.
The two teams return to action Sunday, April 1. It’s a welcome vacation for both, enough time to work out play calculations and boost morale for Game 3. As for the PBA — it can only be a joyous time.
Gifted by that unexpected Magnolia win in Game 1, the PBA was quickly rejuvenated, if not outright resurrected. The gate receipts for Game 1 were estimated at 8,000 max, but after Magnolia’s win these quickly rose to 10,558.
Imagine if San Miguel Beer, the vaunted biggest in the big league, had won Games 1 and 2. The crowd would have thinned so dramatically for Game 3, the PBA may have had to end the best-of-seven series right there and live with a best-of-three.
With Magnolia’s win, the champi- onship series just took on a new life. The Hotshots, although pedigreed — it won the coveted and rare grand slam in 2014 — was hardly seen as the team to beat the Beermen.
San Miguel’s starting five is deemed the strongest in the league and, among other plusses, it has June Mar Fajardo, the 6-10 workhorse who has been PBA MVP in the last four consecutive years, and Christian Standhardinger, a 6-8 international professional ball player who’s joining the action in the Second Conference.
Already, skeptics have dismissed this series as farce, not only because everyone in basketball knows San Miguel is a far-superior team to its rival — although both teams finished the elimination phase tied at the top — but also because few see any excitement in a game pitting two teams owned by the same company.
Bless Magnolia for not following the script. It has done fans and the sport a great service. Despite missing one of its vital cogs in Mark Pingris, Magnolia is giving San Miguel a good fight. How long the Hotshots can keep their dynamic performance going is what’s keeping the fans coming.
Especially because Magnolia is fighting a San Miguel team determined to make history: a repeat grand slam which it last achieved in 1989, and a fourth straight Philippine Cup, which would be a first in the PBA.
But Magnolia will be fighting to reprise its scintillating 2013-2014 season, when it won four straight championships under the name San Mig Coffee. It’s a long shot — but a welcome shot nevertheless.