Avoiding road to perdition
BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel has two major motivations when it battles Meralco Wednesday in Game 5 of their best- of- seven seminal series in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
One is, of course, to win to clinch a Finals slot, which is definitely an incentive whose worth is almost equal to that of an Olympic gold medal.
A team is happiest each time it gets the chance to battle for a championship. it is a feeling as indescribable as winning a car in a raffle.
Two is, with a Ginebra victory for a 4-2 series win, the Gin Kings will avoid trekking to San Jose, Batangas, for the Game 7 decider against the Bolts on Friday (May 31).
As Ginebra coach Tim Cone said: “I’m sorry to the fans in
Batangas, but if we don’t see them, I’ll be very, very happy.”
He laughed after he said that as it was obvious he was just joking.
But joke or not, deep in his heart, Cone would wish to get the job done tonight.
And prospects are bright it might happen.
e Gin Kings have been on a roll, winning two straight after being down 1-2.
In surging to a 3-2 lead on Sunday, Ginebra’s back-toback wins became a testament to the team’s resilience and Cone’s propensity to rise amid adversity.
e Gin Kings’ 89- 84 Game 5 win alone is another case of how well Ginebra could quickly transform from mediocre to magnificent.
Down by 15 points and several double- digits more, Cone’s courageous wards did not panic. With poise, the Gin Kings mightily rallied, led by the almost indestructible Christian Standhardinger.
Shooting almost at will and eluding practically all defenders thrown at him, Standhardinger oozed with fire almost all evening to finish with 34 points in powering Ginebra to within a game of a Finals showdown against a waiting San Miguel Beer.
Worthy of mention was the support Standhardinger got
from Maverick Ahanmisi, LA Tenorio and David Murrell, auguring well for Ginebra’s gargantuan job of making it three straight against Meralco at 7:30 tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Meralco’s hopes hinge largely on how coach Luigi Trillo will unearth the man to stop, if not contain, Standhardinger. ere’s always a way to avoid the so- called road to perdition.
As the saying goes, it ain’t over until it’s over.
THAT’S IT Let’s raise a glass to Alas Pilipinas for advancing to the semifinals of the ongoing Asian Volleyball Confederation Women’s Challenge Cup for the first time in 63 years. And if it’s true that each player received P15,000 for the tournament, why, that’s chicken feed and it must be increased to P100k, at the very least, immediately. paging Chairman Dickie Bachmann of the Philippine Sports Commission.