MANILA-Philippines—It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Heavily favored San Miguel Beermen had a heartbreaking reality check as it relinquished its PBA Fiesta Conference Title to a better and bolder Alaska in game six, 102-88, of the best-of-seven finals last August 18.
Gabe Freeman summed up the debacle simply: “They outplayed us.”
While the Aces went to hell and back, needing two no-tomorrow matches against another powerful, talent-heavy roster in Talk’N Text, the Beermen reached the finals in advance by thwarting B-Meg Derby Ace in six games to buy themselves enough times to sharpen their knives.
It didn’t matter.
Like Superman careening from exposure to kryptonite, the Beermen found themselves struggling against the Aces as they plummeted into a 1-3 sinkhole with no one from their much taller and deeper bench responding to the call of urgency.
“In the end, it doesn’t matter if you’re bigger or better, it’s how you execute,” Freeman added.
Freeman almost single-handedly carried the cudgels for the Beermen in the Finals as he failed to draw support from the surplus of talent in his team.
With their title on the line in Game 6, Best Player of the Conference Jay Washington only had five points as the Beermen’s bid flat-lined, summarizing the generally disappointing Finals performance of the 6’7 forward.
An even bigger let down was veteran marksman Dondon Hontiveros, who had provided big lift for his team the entire conference, but had a forgettable showing all series long as he just normed five measly markers in six games.
Even as the Beermen escaped with a sigh of relief in Game 5 as Alaska’s Cyrus Baguio failed to hit what could have been a title-clinching triple, San Miguel only bought itself more time, but really did not pose much of a threat to the Aces’ championship plans.
And it wasn’t as much as what the Beermen did wrong as what the Aces did right.
“The better team won,” said San Miguel head Coach Siot Tanquincen.
The Aces dominated the Beermen in Games 1 and 2, a crucial swing considering that Game 2 fell on a Sunday. The Aces entered the finals, after all, the wearier team, having played a packed one-month schedule that included bruising, to-the-distance battles against Barangay Ginebra and Talk ‘N Text.
But with a 2-0 lead, Alaska effectively neutralized San Miguel’s edge in freshness, as the team now had a three-day rest before Game 3. That was the start of the Beermen’s downfall.
The Beermen came out with guns a-blazing in Game 3 to hammer out a rout. But the damage had been done.
After stirring San Miguel to an impressive 13-5 record at the end of eliminations, Tanquincen, the man responsible for San Miguel’s last championship, eventually sat it out in the two most crucial games of their title defense as management tried vainly to stop the Alaska juggernaut.
Tanquincen yielded the coaching reins to assistant coach Gee Abanilla in games 5 and 6 of the best-of-7 finals.
“I looked at it as a way to show the team that in order to be a good leader, you have to be a good follower,” said the multi-titled mentor in obvious frustration as he suffered his first ever defeat in the PBA Finals as coach.
“That’s what I’ve been telling my players all the time, that no matter what position you play, whether you’re a superstar or not—the team always has to go first.”
The coaching change did little except to show just how the entire San Miguel think-tank paled in comparison with Tim Cone, the long-time Alaska mentor who whipped up the perfect strategy to dismantle a league powerhouse.
Despite the loss, San Miguel remained to be the winingest franchise in the PBA’s seasoned history with 18 rings to its name.
But adding to that number will have to wait another year.
“You can’t win it all. If you want to be better, you have to lose. That’s basketball,” said Freeman.