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    COLUMN: Ginebra looking every inch a PBA 'super team'

    'If Ginebra can make a once-dynastic and still excellent squad such as San Miguel look like a crash dummy in a three-game set, can you imagine the indignities it can inflict upon poor, independent teams'
    Mar 30, 2023
    Scottie Thompson celebrate Ginebra vs SMB Game 3 PBA
    PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - There are a few terms that best fit what Barangay Ginebra did to sister team San Miguel Beer in the PBA Governors' Cup semifinals.

    Sibling abuse is one. Bullying is another. But only one word is a snug fit: Smackdown.

    The first two encounters in the mercifully short series sweep were blowouts while Game 3, another one of those epic Ginebra rallies, this time from an 18-point deficit, was the insult to the injury.

    READ: Cone on Ginebra-Meralco rematch: 'It's like 'Shake, Rattle and Roll''

    At the risk of committing recency bias, I think this is one of the best Ginebra teams ever assembled. This group of Gin Kings are long and athletic and extremely talented.

    And credit goes to SMC sports director Alfranchis Chua for putting this juggernaut together and kudos to the coaching staff for making all the parts work as one unit.

    Here's how dominant Ginebra was.

    They outscored the Beermen, 329-300, beat them in the assists battle, 84-64, and completely owned the boards, 166-87. They also shot better from the field overall, 47.8 percent to 43.1 percent.

    GINEBRA HAS MORE BALANCE THAN A GYMNAST, MAKING THEIR OFFENSE SO DANGEROUSLY EFFICIENT.

    All of that was in full display in the semis.

    Christian Standhardinger led the onslaught by averaging 26.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists per. Justin Brownlee mirrored those numbers with nearly equal averages of 26 points, 12 rebounds and also 6.3 assists per.

    Scottie Thompson pumped more gunpowder with 17.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists a contest.

    As though the Big 3 of JB, C-Stan and Iskati weren't lethal enough, Ginebra also unleashed a pair of rising stars - Jamie Malonzo and Jeremiah Gray, a pair of Fil-Ams who combined for 84 points, 38 rebounds and 14 assists in the destruction of San Miguel.

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      Just for giggles, let me remind you that Japeth Aguilar and L.A. Tenorio did not even play in the series.

      And, oh, by the way, Stanley Pringle looks healthy and amazing.

      The notion that the Beermen were disadvantaged by not having an injured June Mar Fajardo is nonsense. Who's he gonna guard in this nimble, high-flying Gins crew?

      Nobody.

      NOT COACH GALLENT'S FAULT.

      Social media chatter among crestfallen Beermen fans suggest that perhaps coach Leo Austria would have done a better job is preposterous.

      Austria's replacement, Jorge Gallent, wasn't outcoached by Ginebra's Tim Cone in this series. His players were just physically overwhelmed and destroyed. Unlike his team, Gallent doesn't deserve to be swept under the rug.

      Ginebra is clearly a super team.

      Unfortunately, that's not necessarily a good thing for the PBA.

      In a perfect world, in a universe where the true spirit of the draft is honored, C-Stan, Malonzo, and Gray would still be playing on inferior teams and keeping parity alive. Instead, they are bunched together, no thanks to lopsided trades that allowed this unholy union.

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      christian standhardinger

      If the Gin Kings can make a once dynastic and still excellent squad such as San Miguel look like a crash dummy in a three-game set, can you imagine the indignities Ginebra can inflict upon poor, independent teams?

      I refuse to know. Because I don't want the PBA to become unwatchable.

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      PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
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