NO SMC GRAND SLAM PARTY AS ROS FORCES GAME 5
Finally, San Mig Super Coffee coach Tim Cone talked about the grand slam.
Not in the middle of a Triple Crown celebration, but in danger of blowing away their ambition.
“No doubt we have more pressure. We’ve realized that, and we have to play through it. Winning a grand slam is hard,” said Cone moments after Rain or Shine drew level and forced a do-or-die setto in their PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup Finals showdown with an authoritative 88-79 win Monday at the Big Dome.
From the pre-Finals media launch, Cone had been shying away from discussing the grand slam thing.
“It’s gonna be hard for us. We really felt tonight that there’s more pressure on us because of the grand slam,” Cone said after Game Four.
Rain or Shine, the comeback kid of this playoffs, yet again fought with great resolve playing a game it couldn’t afford to lose.
The Elasto Painters simply fought harder, overwhelming the Mixers with a big onslaught in the second quarter and going on to survive a third do-or-die game dating back to their semis showdown with the Alaska Aces.
Thus the season-ending tourney comes down to one final game with San Mig Coffee taking one last crack at the grand slam and Rain or Shine hoping to achieve its own ambition.
“There’s really just a simple formula for winning today, we played a lot harder than Game Three. As long as we’re playing with energy and intensity, we have a chance,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“But we just postponed their party. We hope to have a chance to cancel it Wednesday,” Guiao added.
“Sa Tagalog, may kasabihan tayo matira ang matibay. Talagang patibayan na ito dahil sa sked at sa klase ng laro. It’s really physical out there and you have to take all that.”
Obviously, the E-Painters took that better than the Mixers did in Game Four.
“We were trying to win the game offensively and not defensively. It’s obvious as we gave away 53 points in the first half,” rued Cone.
The E-Painters imposed their will and flattened the Mixers in one quarter with their searing assault that opened a 53-33 gap before the halftime break.
Playing as one solid unit in a turnaround from Arizona Reid’s one-man show Saturday, the E-Painters took control of the game to the very end thus forging a 2-2 deadlock in the best-of-five finale.
The E-Painters exploded with 6-of-10 treys and also struck hard on the breaks in the second period as they broke away before settling for a 53-38 spread at the turn.
Arizona Reid, Gabe Norwood and Jonathan Uyloan starred on their sudden second-quarter blitzkrieg with the three combining for a remarkable 6-of-7 three-pointers.
The count was tied at 21 when Uyloan checked in at the start of second period and nailed back-to-back triples right away before adding a layup for a 3-of-3 clip in a six-minute relief job in the quarter.
Norwood, meanwhile, came through with nine straight points on back-to-back three-point plays and a triple in a 31-11 tear that silenced the San Mig crowd for some time.
Ian Sangalang, a big factor in San Mig’s Game Three win, converted a pull-up then a shot underneath as the Mixers pulled even at 21 at the end of the opening quarter. (SB)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 88 – Reid 22, Lee 14, Norwood 14, Belga 11, Arana 10, Uyloan 8, Almazan 3, Cruz 2, Tiu 2, Chan 2, Ibanes 0, Rodriguez 0.
SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 79 – Blakely 21, Yap 12, Devance 9, Sangalang 8, Simon 8, Barroca 7, Maliksi 6, Pingris 4, Taha 2, Melton 2, Mallari 0, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 21-21, 53-38, 69-55, 88-79
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