CHICAGO - After Jericho Cruz nailed a 3 that put San Miguel ahead, 43-25, at the 6:41 mark of the second quarter, it looked like the Beermen were skating towards an easy peasy Game One victory.
Until the big spill happened.
Over the next 30 minutes and 41 seconds of action, San Miguel scored just 28 points, allowing Ginebra to burnish it's never-say-die legend with a 73-71 escape in the series opener of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals encounter.
READ: Cone, Ginebra look to keep scoring at a minimum vs San Miguel
Tim Cone devised a simple but brilliant plan that didn't allow June Mar Fajardo to beat Ginebra, holding the eight-time MVP to just six points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field.
With Fajardo contained, San Miguel relied heavily on their guards for production, which was why fans saw too much of CJ Perez and Juami Tiongson chucking the ball at a very inefficient rate, 13-of-36 for a combined 33 points.
How did the biggest, most-skilled player on the court end up with a puny 10 field goal tries and zero free throws?
POOR COACHING.
Because the coaching staff did a terrible job adjusting to Ginebra's defensive gauntlet and did little, if any at all, to free the league's most accomplished player.
In the fourth quarter, when Game One was up for grabs, Fajardo only took three shots and they were all pathetic looks: 0ne attempt was for 4, another was from 3 while the last one was a forced attempt inside under duress.
For years, we have glorified Cone as a coaching savant, a billing that is much deserved, but we neglect to mention that he is coaching against inferior competition.
If Cone were coaching San Miguel, that team would beat Ginebra by at least 10. If Nenad Vucenic had coached San Miguel last night, he would have weaponized Fajardo like a nuclear weapon.
Lest you forget, Nenad made Brandon Bates look like Nikola Jokic when Meralco won the Philippine Cup title last year.
Meanwhile, as the Beermen guards were hoisting clunkers, San Mig's other big men were famished for touches.
NEGLECTED.
Rodney Brondial only had four attempts, Mo Tautuaa settled for one while JM Calma had none.
In contrast, Ginebra's big men all ate and were merry. Japeth Aguilar scored 18 points on 13 shots. Troy Rosario went 2-fo-9 for seven points while Ben Adamos and Michael Aguilar combined for eight points on three field goals apiece.
Look, Ginebra's defense was stifling, I concede that. But the Gin Kings are not exactly the Thunder of the NBA and the Beermen are not Blackwater, either.
With the talent they have on the roster, there is no excuse for San Miguel to have a 15-point third-quarter output followed by an 11-point effort in the fourth quarter especially after scoring 29 in the first quarter.
And what's with those eight total free throws for the entire game? That's high school stuff, my God.
With Fajardo now appearing to be limited by a calf injury, many believe this series is over.
I disagree.
This series ended as soon as Tim Cone put clothes on and entered the arena.
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