Tim Cone and Gee Abanilla
This is no unfamiliar terrain for Tim Cone and San Mig Coffee while Gee Abanilla and his Petron Blaze Boosters will try to live a dream.
It’s Game 7 of the PBA Governors’ Cup title series and, considering how the first six matches of this playoff had gone, no team has a definitive edge in their final confrontation at 8 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cone is no stranger to games like this one, although he actually lost the last Game 7 he was in when Jamelle Cornley and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters beat the Mixers in this tournament last season.
Prior to that, he steered San Mig to the Commissioner’s Cup title when talented 7-footer Denzel Bowles nailed two free throws to forge overtime and led the Mixers to a classic triumph over Talk ‘N Text.
Does that kind of experience give Cone and the Mixers the edge?
Or will the rookie coach Abanilla, who will be treading unfamiliar waters, pull off a magical act and join a short list of coaches who have won titles in their maiden PBA tournaments?
“We’re just very happy about the opportunity presented to us,” Abanilla said after a 99-88 victory Wednesday night kept the Boosters’ title bid alive. “It’s a great honor to be playing against an elite team like them, especially (one) coached by Tim Cone.
“It’s anybody’s ball game,” Abanilla added. “We’ll do our best effort to represent the organization well and come out really well (today). It’s a Game 7 of the Finals. It’s a dream for every player and a coach to be in a situation like this.”
The Boosters were overwhelming favorites when the series started and won two of the first three matches before the Mixers came up with successive wins to wrest control, 3-2.
San Mig tried to close it out Wednesday, erasing several 16-point first-half deficits in the first half only to lose steam in the end.
“We certainly had our chances,” a dejected Cone later said. “Obviously, we wanted to avoid a winner-take-all game because too many things can happen. We didn’t play really well tonight. We played well, but not great.”
Elijah Millsap, the Game 6 hero, will again pace the Boosters, while Marqus Blakely will have to solve the swarming Petron defense inside to help the Mixers establish control early.