ON PLAYOFF MODE
Behind Mark Barroca’s heroics, San Mig Coffee drew first blood in their best-of-seven semifinals series against Barangay Ginebra last Tuesday, 85-83. But despite the endgame highlights, one of the reasons why the Mixers stayed that close to the Kings was because of Joe Devance.
The former No. 1 draft pick carried the scoring load for San Mig, scoring 20 points on a 7-of-9 shooting from the field and a sizzling 3-of-4 clip from rainbow country, with 15 of his points coming in the first half.
“It was a tough game for us,” Devance said. “We had to battle from behind. They started strong, and they ended strong too. But everything just fell our way. I’m happy that we were able to get the win.”
Though the Mixers got the victory, they committed a total of 17 turnovers, which translated to 24 Barangay Ginebra points, which should be unacceptable for a meticulously defensive-minded head coach like Tim Cone, who sees every possession as a golden opportunity to edge the competition.
And Devance knows the importance of this win as it could set the tone for the remainder of the series especially if they can also pull through in Game 2.
Though battling the number-one seed, Devance said that San Mig Coffee owns a slight advantage given that they fought a tough quarterfinals series against Talk ‘N Text. And their mindset against Barangay Ginebra in the semis has never been sharper.
“As soon as the playoff started, you’ve got to get on playoff mode,” he said. “Its a different level of basketball being played. All your energy level have to go 100-percent all the way.”
Devance added, “You just got to make adjustments. Coach Tim is good with that in the game plans. If they’re able to adjust, we have to make in-game adjustments. That’s what the playoff is all about.”
Asked what the edge the Mixers have against the taller Barangay Ginebra squad, Devance can only point out one thing. “Just the physicality,” he said. (RL)
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