By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

YOU, like me, being ardent enthusiasts of sport basketball, watched all the six games, the best-of-seven championship series of PBA’s Commissioner’s Cup this year between the multi-titled Ginebra San Miguel versus the foreign squad, the Hongkong based Bay Area Dragons. The sixth game last Wednesday (January 11) resulted in a heart-breaking result that saw the visiting Dragons escaping with another come-from-behind pulsating victory to tie the series at 3-all and forced the championship to a winner-take-all game on Sunday (January 15) to be held this time at Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan with a capacity of 50,000 seats. The seventh and last game of the two was originally scheduled to be held on January 13 but PBA commissioner Willie Marcial announced a postponement of the last encounter of the two Asia’s giant basketball squads on January 15, apparently expecting to accommodate the more than 40,000 die-hard basketball buffs that otherwise could not be accommodated at the Araneta Coliseum.. Yes, I agree. That’s also my assessment, knowing that our country is really a basketball-crazy country and the game can be expected to produce a huge turnout in attendance, as it always did in the past.
Before the start of the championship series, Dragons coach Brian Goorjian is already aware that his team is the underdog in this high-powered duel with Ginebra particularly in the face of the hometown, pro-Ginebra crowd.
Having watched the hostility closely, my records show that the opening salvo of the championship clash held on Christmas Day turned to be a blue Christmas for the Dragons after suffering a 96-81 rout-beating game due to the stifling defense orchestrated by the Gin Kings. It was this that resulted in the poor execution by the usually accurate Dragons in their games against the other PBA teams during the elimination rounds. They made only 30 of their 78 attempts and only 50% (8 of 16) from the free-throw line.
With some adjustments, Dragons bounced back convincingly and won the second match, 99-82, to even the series, 1-1, powered by the former NBA veteran Andrew Nicholson scoring 30 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks to the delight of the few Chinese spectators.
The gutsy Gin Kings avenged their defeat in the third battle in spectacular fashion to lead the series, 2-1. Worse, Dragon’s import and their main-man Nicholson suffered a left ankle injury after he landed on Ginebra’s power-forward Jamie Malonzo’s foot during a rebound 31 seconds left in the game. Surprisingly, sans Nicholson and prolific guard Myles Powell, the Dragons bounced back anew and tamed Ginebra, 94-86, to tie the game again at 2-2, all. Friends, relatives and some basketball aficionados texted me and confidently predicted that the championship series will reach game 7. And they were right. Yes, especially when the visiting Hongkong squad evened the score of the series anew to 3-3 last January 12 despite being on the verge of losing the championship with 4-2 score. That did not happen. Instead, it pushed the series back to square one. Ginebra took the 1-3-5 games, and the never-say-die Dragons carried the 2-4-6 meetings. Evenly matched. Like the Gin Kings who are determined to win the tiara, so are  the Dragons who badly want to conquer us.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” as the aphorism goes. I agree. But I’ll bet my five hundred pesos on Ginebra’s victory in the seventh and final game. A defeat for them is also a crush for Philippine basketball. Remember, basketball is our number one favorite sport so the reputation of our nation is hugely at stake.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: ‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am the Lord. LEVITICUS 19: 28

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