Traffic kills Dean’s List

The quotient system doesn’t apply in a best-of-seven series so whether San Miguel Beer or TNT takes a game by two or 14, it counts as just a win. In the ongoing PB A Commissioner’ s Cup Finals, TNT drew first blood by bagging Game 1, 104-102, last Wednesday. Then, San Miguel knotted the series count with an emphatic 10288 decision last Friday. Despite the disparity in winning margins, the bottom line is both teams are now even at a win apiece with Game 3 the tiebreaker at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

I was excited to work with anchor Anthony Suntay and guest analyst Ryan Gregorio on the TV panel for Game 2. I left Alabang to make my way to the Big Dome at 4:30 p.m. with the scheduled tip-off at 7 p.m. I figured 1 1/2 hours on the road would be enough lead time to get to Araneta by 6 p.m. I should’ve known better. It took me an hour to get close to the ramp leading to EDSA from the South Expressway and by then, Waze told me I would arrive at Araneta by 7:20 p.m. I immediately called in to report my predicament and luckily, Andy Jao, who lives close to Araneta, was available to call the game. I would’ve been on the road for three hours to get to Araneta. By the way, it takes about two hours and 15 minutes to fly from Manila to Hong Kong.

I had sent in my Dean’s List for Game 2 to the TV production team so graphics could be made ahead. Here’s what I would’ve reported on TNT – ilagay sa

alanganin, (Joshua) Smith hindi lang hook shot, iba-ibang kombinasyon and on San Miguel – trap Jayson (Castro) sa ball-screen, bawal mamigay ng offensive rebounds, aggressive backcourt. In Game 1, TNT put San Miguel in trouble with matchups, like Anthony Semerad on Chris Ross, that led to tough situations. TNT capitalized by scoring 27 turnover points to San Miguel’s 17. Smith was virtually unstoppable going to his right to unleash his jumphook in Game 1 but anticipating San Miguel’s adjustments, had to vary his shot-making. Throwing different combinations, sometimes, big, sometimes, small, kept San Miguel offbalance in Game 1 so that had to be a workable formula for Game 2.

** * * For San Miguel, trapping Castro off pick-and-rolls would limit his ability to penetrate or get off a good shot. Switching wouldn’t work because Castro is so quick to attack a slower big taking over from a small. The key was not to allow Castro the space to drive and kick or slash and score or pull up on a good look. TNT had more offensive boards, 18-13, in Game 1 and that contributed to taking 12 more field goal attempts. In a close game, more possessions to take more shots could make the difference between winning or losing. Finally, Ross was held to 11 points and had to be more aggressive in Game 2 to back up JuneMar Fajardo and Charles Rhodes.

As it turned out, TNT raced to a 17-0 lead but San Miguel clawed back to hammer out a convincing victory in Game 2. The Beermen survived the early deficit to even lead by 32 before closing it out with third unit reserves. Reviewing the Dean’s List, San Miguel graduated with flying colors. Castro was jammed off ball-screens and delivered only four assists, compared to 10 in Game 1. San Miguel reversed the tide with more offensive boards, 18-8 and had more field goal attempts, 84-77. Ross erupted for 20 points with nine assists and Alex Cabagnot had 13 points with six assists. Brian Heruela, who didn’t play in Game 1, did his part in aggressively defending Castro.

TNT, on the other hand, failed to consistently put pressure on San Miguel and its rotation was hampered when R. R. Pogoy, who fired a career-high 27 points in Game 1, was ejected in the third period. Smith was bottled up by San Miguel and couldn’t improvise after his hook shot was compromised. San Miguel overplayed his right side, forcing Smith to spin to the left where a second defender waited to obstruct his shot. As a result, Smith scored only 11 points from 21 in Game 1.

** * * San Miguel made 10 key adjustments to win Game 2. First, to ease the pressure on Ross being defended by Semerad, Cabagnot sometimes took over at point guard. Second, San Miguel blocked Smith’s strong side and took away his hook shot. Third, Arwind Santos and Fajardo were back playing beautiful music with Rhodes logging only 18:15 minutes. Santos came off the bench to score 16 points in 22:02 minutes and Fajardo, 22 in 24:56. Fourth, coach Leo Austria went to a deeper rotation with 10 players logging at least 15 minutes compared to nine from TNT. In Game 1, only six San Miguel players logged at least 15 minutes. Fifth, Heruela wore down Castro and even if he didn’t score a point, Fajardo’s University of Cebu teammate played 20:44 minutes.

Sixth, Castro couldn’t disengage from pick-androlls. He was trapped off screens and had difficulty finding a clear path to penetrate. Seventh, San Miguel’s guards were extra aggressive, particularly Ross who hit 7-of-12 field goals from 2-of-8 in Game 1. Eighth, the Beermen worked harder on the offensive glass. Ninth, Pogoy was erased from the equation with no point in Game 2. And lastly, San Miguel closed the gap on turnovers as in Game 1, TNT had more turnover points, 27-17 but in Game 2, it was 22-20.

Now, it’s TNT’s turn to make adjustments in Game 3. Austria said the series is like a chess match. Coach Nash Racela will launch his counter-attack and try to stem San Miguel’s momentum from the big win in Game 2.