CHICAGO - After a missed Ginebra attempt, June Mar Fajardo grabbed the rebound with his team trailing, 102-99, and with 56 seconds left to play.
Game Six had come down to a tight finish and many netizens wondered why the Beermen didn't call a timeout .
Well, even if he had timeouts to burn, SMC coach Jorge Gallent couldn't use one.
READ Ginebra outduels SMB in Game Six thriller, makes PBA Finals
A new rule adapted by the league prior to the start of this Governors' Cup prohibits calling timeouts unless there is a dead ball. Also, teams can only call timeouts after a made free throw. Missed free throws are a "play on," a league source told me.
And that is why the Beermen looked aimless and disorganized in those last 56 seconds when they had two possessions and couldn't call a timeout.
Two possible shot clock violations, assuming it occured in those two fatal possessions, could have stopped play and allow the dazed Beermen to regroup.
A VETERAN TEAM PANICKED.
Still, that's not an excuse for the epic meltdown from a veteran team that has 29 championships to its name.
You'd expect a grizzled squad such as San Miguel has a contingency plan that it can lean on in times such as what they encountered on Sunday night.
"People talk about their talent but, you know, you gotta have a guy that's gonna be able to put that talent together and make it happen," Ginebra coach Tim Cone said about San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent at his post-game press conference.
Curiously, San Miguel didn't appear to have one in a late sequence of basketball that looked aimless and disorganized.
After Fajardo handed the ball to CJ Perez in those last 56 seconds, Perez went straight to the hoop with still 11 seconds in the shot clock. No one else touched the rock.
With another chance to tie, the score stuck at 102-99 with 15.2 seconds to go, San Miguel hoisted two haphazard 3s that had little chance of dropping.
GAME OVER. CONFERENCE OVER.
San Miguel blew a very winnable game. Despite having an immense size advantage on the post with EJr Anosike and Fajardo, and Joe Devance out for Ginebra, the Beermen still got outscored in the paint, 58-52.
Fajardo, who had that epic 40 points and 24 rebounds in a Game Five quarterfinals battle against Converge, only had a tame 22 points and 15 rebounds.
In fairness to The Kraken, he was held to 13 field attempts while watching Perez and Marcio Lassiter shoot a combined 12-of-27.
Instead of pounding the inside with its twin towers, SMB relied on the 3-bomb, hoisting 28 and swishing just 9. The Beermen also went 0-for-5 from 4.
Meanwhile, an undersized and undermanned Ginebra used a creative offense and a stifling defense to push itself to another Finals appearance.
And it was a rookie, RJ Abarrientos (16 points and 6 assists) who carried them home late with his playmaking that showed maturity beyond his years.
Justin Brownlee didn't even have to be superman with 21 points and 7 rebounds.
But Tim Cone pushed all the right buttons on both sides of the floor. That's why he's the greatest to ever do it in the PBA.
As for San Miguel's coaching staff, I'll leave it to you to judge. But they sure looked unprepared for the eventuality that happened in those last 56 seconds.
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