A Historic Night!
A few minutes after Ginebra ended their 8-years title drought, I begun to make this piece. I will be honest, that was the most beautiful basketball game that I ever watched. The storyline is as rich as you can ask for and it ended in a historical buzzerbeater.
Maybe it was scripted. But not by their rich owners but by the basketball gods. That game was way much better than any movie that I have watched.
It begun with a terrific defense by the Bolts who needed this one to stay alive. The underdogs really came to play and to survive.
And then coach Tim Cone made some marvelous adjustments. He used the athletic trio of Chris Ellis, Justin Brownlee and Japeth Aguilar to seal their defense. And to complete the comeback, LA Tenorio played the game of his life, he was unstoppable with his floaters.
And then the 4th quarter arrived and the most sensational and beautiful back and forth quarter happened.
Three-pointers were answered by three-pointers. Did you saw the three-pointer of Scottie Thompson that was responded by a long bomb of Chris Newsome? And mind you, those shots were made with their hands on each other's face!
Defensive stops were compensated by defensive stops! The block of Aguilar to Durnham which Allen recuperated with his own spiking block! That is defense at its finest!
And man, even the highlights were answered by highlights. I am talking about the dunk of Aguilar and then the next play, the near-dunk of Cliff Hodge! That is entertainment!
At the end of the day, Meralco gave the best defense that is allowed under the rule book but Brownlee's cold blooded genes was insurmountable.
Nevertheless Meralco fans, your team is not a loser in this conference. You over-overachieved! I am pretty sure nobody of their right and unbiased mind, bet on the Bolts to reached the Finals.
But your team did.
The fact was, in our city in game 1, nobody was willing to bet for Meralco! You lose the series but that experience will go a long way for Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, Baser Amer, Bryan Faundo, Jonathan Uyloan and Anjo Caram.
Always remember that Meralco overachieved. So, do not bow your heads down Meralco fans. You are not a real loser in this conference. Your team triumphed over the expectations of everybody and that makes Meralco a winner!
On the other hand, Ginebra fans, you enjoy this one. That was eight years of "kangkonizing" and that finally ended!
Coach Tim was forced to adjust from his triangle scheme and the team responded well. Actually, a lot of players adjusted their styles just to finally end the curse!
In that game 6, you again showed that Never Say Die spirit that seems lost in the past eight years. After eight years of non-stop belief to your team, they offered you a game for the ages.
As what I have said above, it seems like this was scripted as a gift to the fan base. It is time to celebrate a new beginning. For the millions of Ginebra fans out there, it is time to shout and be proud of G-I-N-E-B-R-A, G-I-N-E-B-R-A!
