San Mig Coffee takes final shot at Grand Slam dream
THINGS are expected to be more physical as San Mig Coffee and Rain or Shine play for all the marbles in Game 5 tonight of the PBA Governors’ Cup championship series. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines — The PBA Governors’ Cup started with most everyone’s eyes focused on San Mig Coffee’s Grand Slam bid.
It will end before midnight today with another question: Will Rain or Shine spoil the party?
The epic best-of-five series between the Mixers and the Elasto Painters will come to a conclusion at Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday with either San Mig Coffee completing a Triple Crown sweep or Rain or Shine sealing a bit of league history for itself.
“We’re not trying to spoil their grand slam ambitions, but we have our own ambitions as well,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao Monday night, moments after taking San Mig to its first rubber match in a title series this season.
“The good thing on Wednesday is that it’s out there for you to give yourself a chance,” he said.
Tim Cone of San Mig offered little excuses for the defeat other than they got their butts kicked, and his main focus right now is for his Mixers to play the way they have been the whole season—as a team.
“They really played great,” offered Cone, who is also bidding to win his second Grand Slam 18 years after guiding Alaska. “We seemed a step slower tonight. And it now comes down to a 50-50 game.
“We wished it wouldn’t come down to that. We’re just going to come out and see what we can do.”
San Mig has played and won nine KO games this season. But with the stakes so much higher tonight, Cone wants to ease the pressure off his boys.
“When you’re pressured you have the tendency to play hero basketball,” Cone said.
“We had some players doing that [in Game 4]. “They were a little focused on the offensive side. We gave up 53 points in the first half. We were trying to win the game offensively rather than defensively.”
A win by San Mig would make the Mixers just the fourth franchise to win the Triple Crown after Crispa with two, San Miguel Beer and then Alaska.
Should Rain or Shine pull this one off, it would become just the third team to defeat a Grand Slam-seeking squad in the Finals after Crispa defeated Toyota in 1975 and Petron Blaze held off Talk ‘N Text in 2011.
While Cone loathed the individualism that killed the Mixers in Game 4, the Painters did the same the game before when only Arizona Reid scored in twin digits.
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