THERE are a lot of things crowding the minds of San Miguel Beer coach Siot Tanquingcen and Barangay Ginebra counterpart Jong Uichico.
Foremost of which, of course, is how to come out on top Friday in the final chapter of their classic Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference championship duel at the Araneta Coliseum.
“This is still far from over,” said Tanquingcen, following his team’s cruising 98-84 win last Wednesday that reduced the best-of-seven series to a winner-take-all match. “We have one more game to go.”
“Now it’s a jump ball,” quipped Uichico.
They could not be faulted for abstaining from the more fiery words typically hurled by one opposing side to the other in a heated one-on-one duel. After all, for one, both are good friends. Second, their players usually do the (trash) talking, against each other, of course.
Further, some things need not be said, when the records are already speaking for themselves.
Like SMB is on the brink of an 18th title or Ginebra a ninth crown that would tie it with the now-defunct Toyota for fourth in the all-time list behind SMB, Crispa (13) and Alaska (12).
Nagging at the back of their minds, however, are the trends – past and present, good and bad – that their respective teams have been gripped with.
So far, Ginebra has taken the odd-numbered games in the series and has an unblemished 2-0 slate in “you-or-me” scenarios, the last coming in this same tournament last year when the Kings came back from a 2-3 deficit opposite Air21 to win.
For its part, San Miguel has lost the last three Game 7s that it has played in and totes a 2-4 record in all going into the fifth straight such decider in league history.
There are neutralizing tendencies, however. Records also show that since 1999 13 of 17 teams which took a 3-2 lead in a best-of-7 went on to win the championship. However, in the last four PBA Finals, three teams blew 3-2 leads and lost the championship.
The strategists don’t want to delve into those numbers too long, instead opting to merely express elation on just being in the final tune of the “Last Dance.”
“Wala na iyun, laban-laban na,” said Uichico.
“I personally didn’t imagine we’ll be up and that we’ll set the pace in the series,” added the man, whose injury-ransacked team started the conference 1-5. “Who could imagine that, when all the odds were against us?”
“The thing is, God put us in this situation to test us,” said Tanquingcen, whose wards received a similar beating in Game 5 just last Monday. “It’s how you respond to adversity that would define you, whether as an individual or as a team.”
The duelists’ character would surely be tested Friday, more so for Ginebra. (NCo)
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