Surviving a huge scare

YOU COULD sense the resurrection of San Miguel Beer’s worst nightmares in Game 7.

After again establishing another 20-point-plus lead just as they did in two previous games in the Philippine Cup Finals, here came Alaska again with their squadron of young legs to engineer another resurgence.

Alaska was like a slow-starting counterpuncher for most of the championship, allowing San Miguel to do its thing in the early stages, and then later waging a searing rally anchored on merciless ball pressure.

When you have young and hungry players like Calvin Abueva, Vic Manuel, RJ Jazul and Chris Eximiniano teaming up with the veterans, they can switch on that press of theirs whenever they feel it is necessary.

But this time around, Alaska’s vaunted comeback failed to take the flag from San Miguel’s mountain.

Arwind Santos, who plays like a point forward in the mold of a Scottie Pippen, was scintillating in Game 7. He began San Miguel’s onslaught with thundering treys in the first half. Then, he held the team together when its spirits were sagging with defensive gems and a booming three.

San Miguel was calm enough in the end game to survive the scare. In most cases, teams that lose big leads end up ruing the disappearance of the huge spread and collapse badly in the end.

But not this time: The Beermen played out the final stretch with poise, even when they fell behind by six points.

This series revealed the arrival of two excellent coaches. Leo Austria, who won in the amateur ranks and turned around an Adamson team that was underachieving, now has his first PBA title. He has come to realize that it is really sweltering in the hot seat, especially when you lose leads and eventually games.

With this win Austria confirmed San Miguel management’s belief that it was his time to steer the mother ship. He will survive for now the organization’s trend of changing head coaches when goals are not achieved, much in the same way when a marketing team leader or department head fails to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs).

Alex Compton, on the other hand, reminds us when Tim Cone was starting. It’s not simply because these two Americans make the Philippines their home. Both are passionate team leaders and know how their teams should play. Compton brought to Alaska his never-say-die energy that transformed Alaska from a triangle offense team to a high-octane end-to-end basketball brigade.

Compton will be a force to reckon with as he has imbibed a ton of Pinoy basketball over the years he has played and coached here. He has transformed Alaska into an exciting team that many fans consider close to their own game.

San Miguel slew the ghosts of big leads disappearing with a poised finish in the last game. It will never ever be easy to simply walk over teams like Alaska that also want to win badly.

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