First to Last Dance
San Miguel Beer head coach Jorge Gallent took over the reins from Leo Austria in the PBA Governors’ Cup last season and his baptism of fire ended in a harrowing loss to Barangay Ginebra in the best-of-five semifinals via a 3-0 sweep. Now, Gallent has returned the favor as San Miguel blanked Ginebra, 3-0, in the Commissioner ’s Cup semifinals to book the first ticket to the Last Dance.
It will be Gallent’s first Finals appearance in the main hot seat and he looks ready to soar. Gallent, 55, is no stranger to challenging situations. He had a brief stint as B-Meg head coach and got his feet wet as a long-time assistant at San Miguel for 12 years. As a PBA assistant coach, Gallent was on 10 champion squads and in the PBL as head coach, he collected six titles. With a team that’s locked and loaded, Gallent is out to win his first PBA crown as head coach.
Last season, San Miguel took first place in the Philippine Cup, fourth in the Commissioner’s Cup and third in the Governors’ Cup. The last Commissioner’s Cup title that San Miguel bagged was in 2019 with Chris McCullough in harness. Only four Beermen remain in the roster from the 2019 cast – June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Terrence Romeo and Chris Ross.
Although San Miguel swept Ginebra in this season’s Commissioner’s Cup semis, it wasn’t an easy ride. In Game 1, San Miguel barely won, 92-90, as Ginebra put up a spirited stand. Import Bennie Boatwright got a lot of help from CJ Perez, Fajardo and Don Trollano to pull through. In Game 2, the Beermen capitalized on Ginebra’s 15 miscues to score more turnover points, 16-10, and hit three more triples plus converted five more free throws to cruise to a 106-96 verdict. In Game 3, Jamie Malonzo limped off the court with 4:40 left in the third quarter but Ginebra battled until the final buzzer only to throw the ball away on its last possession to yield, 94-91.
With Ginebra’s short rotation, import Tony Bishop had to play beyond his limits for coach Tim Cone to neutralize San Miguel’s deep lineup. Bishop, however, is no clutch Justin Brownlee and couldn’t deliver when the going got rough. Japeth Aguilar, Christian Standhardinger, Scottie Thompson and LA Tenorio played stellar roles but without Malonzo down the stretch, Cone couldn’t parlay a full deck.
San Miguel played the semis without Romeo and Vic Manuel hasn’t seen action in a single game this conference. If and when they’re reactivated, imagine how much deeper San Miguel will be. The winner of the Magnolia-Phoenix semis series will face San Miguel in the best-of-seven Finals.