Patience makes perfect

It didn’t faze Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone that San Miguel Beer zoomed to a 2-1 series lead behind back-to-back blowout wins in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals that ended at the MOA Arena last Wednesday. Cone, 60, isn’t the type of panic. Because he’s the Master of Cool, his players aren’t easily shaken up. Players take their cue from the man at the helm and Cone never shows strain under pressure.

When San Miguel blasted Ginebra by an average of 31.5 points in Games 2 and 3, Cone didn’t seem worried. Any other coach would be rattling in his shoes and for good reason. San Miguel trounced Ginebra, 134109, in Game 2 and 132-94 in Game 3. So how does a team bounce back from being destroyed, stepped on and humiliated not once but twice in a row? Cone must have figured it was all about staying patient.

San Miguel averaged 133 points in those two blowouts and that’s how the Beermen like to win by engaging Ginebra in a shootout. San Miguel is offense while Ginebra is defense. If Ginebra isn’t able to hold down San Miguel to 100 points or less, the probability is the Beermen win the game.

In Game 4, Cone put Justin Brownlee on Alex Cabagnot to slow down the Crunchman who erupted for 33 points to spark the Game 2 rout. That matchup actually started in Game 3 with Brownlee limiting Cabagnot to nine points but that didn’t bother San Miguel as Chris Ross unloaded 23, Renaldo Balkman fired 28 and JuneMar Fajardo shot 22. Cabagnot managed 13 points in Game 4 but Balkman was held to 14, Fajardo to 15, Ross to two and Marcio Lassiter to four as Ginebra turned the tide with a stifling defense. From hitting a combined 55 percent in Games 2 and 3, San Miguel shot only 37.9 percent in Game 4. It was a dramatic reversal as Ginebra turned the tide to crush the Beermen, 130-100. Before the Finals began, the prognosis

was in a short series of four or five games, San Miguel had the edge but in a long series of six to seven games, it was to Ginebra’s advantage. The reason was simple. San Miguel uses a shorter rotation. Up to the end of the semifinals, four San Miguel players averaged at least 30 minutes (Balkman, Fajardo, Cabagnot, Lassiter) compared to two for Ginebra (Brownlee and L. A. Tenorio). Another factor was age. San Miguel has five players at least 35 years old and Ginebra, three. Also, Ginebra has six players 26 and under compared to two for San Miguel. A team with an older lineup will tend to wear down in a long series.

So Cone just waited for the right time to strike. He likes the grind-it-out style because it gives a chance for Ginebra to tire out San Miguel that is more talented offensively. Cone patiently stuck to his gameplan of slowing down San Miguel’s attack and forcing the Beermen to play the halfcourt instead of the open floor.

In Game 5, San Miguel coach Leo Austria made a key defensive adjustment in assigning Ross on Brownlee. For a while, Brownlee took the bait and kept posting up Ross who’s at least four inches shorter. That took away Brownlee’s outside sniping and made it easier for San Miguel to double once he went to the low block. The tactic worked as Brownlee was limited to 18 points on 8-of-21 field goals, including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc. Before Game 5, he averaged 35 points, shooting 76.2 percent from distance and 77.8 percent from twopoint range. But despite Brownlee’s sub-par display, Ginebra won, 87-83, in a low-scoring contest that suited Cone’s style. In the halfcourt, San Miguel got too predictable with Balkman and Fajardo doing nearly all the work. They scored a combined 57 points but Balkman had no assist and Fajardo only two, meaning the ball was hardly touched by others. It’s easier to defend a team that’s focused on two players instead of five. There was also some confusion in San Miguel’s rotation as Cabagnot and Arwind Santos were subbed for each other, resulting in a mix-up of roles particularly as Lassiter played two.

In Game 6, Ginebra climbed out of a 10-point hole in the second quarter to ignite a 7-0 run early in the third to wrest the lead, 41-40, for good. A 9-0 burst to end the period opened up a 16-point lead, 62-46. With the crowd bringing more energy to Ginebra’s attack, San Miguel wilted down the stretch. Fajardo and his former University of Cebu teammate Brian Heruela tallied a combined 21 points in the fourth period but Ginebra wouldn’t be denied the clincher.

Fajardo and Balkman tallied 53 points together or 69 percent of San Miguel’s total output but Ginebra made sure the other Beermen were kept in check. Lassiter and Ross were a combined 0-of-17 from the floor while Santos struggled with 2-of-11.

In Ginebra’s four wins, San Miguel never shot 40 percent or more and never went beyond 100 points. Entering the Finals, San Miguel averaged 108.2 points and shot 45.9 percent from the field. Also, before the Finals, Ginebra was last place in fastbreak points, averaging 11.6 points. But in five of the six games in the Finals, Ginebra had more transition points than San Miguel, indicating suffocating pressure in defense and the Beermen’s inability to keep in step over a 48-minute stretch because of a shorter rotation.

Cone’s brilliance as a tactician and strategist was evident in the way Ginebra took control of the series from Game 4. Brownlee was the heart of Ginebra’s charge on both ends but Cone left the door open for Tenorio, Scottie Thompson, Joe De Vance, Greg Slaughter, Sol Mercado and Kevin Ferrer to do their share. What made Ginebra’s victory even more impressive was Japeth Aguilar’ s virtual absence in the series with an Achilles tendon strain. In Game 6, he scored only a point in 10:53 minutes off the bench. To miss a key starter and still trounce San Miguel in the Finals had to be proof of Ginebra’s resilience and Cone’s mastery.