BARANGAY Ginebra hardly made its outside shooting a threat for majority of the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup semifinals where it fell short against San Miguel in a best-of-seven series that went the distance.
The Gin Kings did save their best for last in Game Seven where they converted on a 13-of-24 three-point shooting clip for a blistering 54.2 percent - although that still wasn’t enough to get them through to the finals.
Before that, they made just 48 of their 163 attempts from long distance for a dismal 29.5% in the first six games.
READ How Patrick Partosa became one of Cone's trusted deputies
So if the Gin Kings are looking for more shooters, maybe they don’t need to look far.
After all, assistant coach Patch Partosa flashed his clutch shooting when he hit the championship-clinching trey for Clorox in its 63-60 win over Nest Property in the Alabang Hills Village Summer League finale last June 29.
Off a defensive stop, Partosa, a Tim Cone deputy by night but a point guard in the afternoon, brought the ball past halfcourt, then pulled up from beyond the arc near the top of the key for the dagger with six seconds left.
“It was a tie game. It just so happened when I came down, nobody came near me. So I hit the three-point shot,” Partosa recalled. “Luckily, it went in. It's a bit fortunate, but that's the way the ball bounces sometimes.”
Partosa also set the stage for his heroics when he dished out the pass to Martin Kapauan for the triple that tied the game in the previous offensive possession.
And Partosa, a former Ginebra intern turned head of analytics and now a Gin Kings assistant coach since 2021, did it in their village league in Muntinlupa before heading to the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in Cubao in time for Game Three of the semis that Ginebra won, 100-90.
“It was really lucky that they scheduled it early so I could play in the game before our game here,” Partosa said.
To get to the final, Clorox beat the Zark Varona-sponsored Zark’s Burgers, 77-67, in the semis, while Nest Property shrugged off Abiel Herrera’s 46-point, 26-rebound, four-steal effort to roll past New Performance, 89-71, in the other pairing.
Kapauan led Clorox in the final with 17 points, while Martin Betia and Lou Fortuna added 14 and 11 markers, respectively.
Partosa finished with eight points, built around two triples, and three assists. Gio Abanilla, son of San Miguel team manager Gee Abanilla, is also on the team.
Outside recreational leagues, Partosa is a full-time coach who also had a role for the Gilas Pilipinas coaching staff in the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup and the gold medal-winning national team in the Asian Games.
Recently, he and village league foe Josh del Rosario, son of Ginebra top deputy Richard, were assistants to LA Tenorio in the champion Gilas Youth team in the Fiba U16 Asia Cup qualifiers in Pampanga.
But should Partosa start a playing career and try out for Ginebra?
“No, it's way too late for that,” the 34-year-old economics degree holder chuckled.
But basketball will always be part of his lifestyle.
“It’s still fun. I still enjoy the game. That’s why I’m here; I still have a lot of love for the game. Challenging yourself, still playing with all your friends and new people that you play with. I still enjoy it a whole lot. It's really fulfilling. It helps you stay in shape, too.
“Last year we had the Raffy Japa Cup here. I joined with some of the members of our team and that was a whole lot of fun. As long as I can still keep playing, I still enjoy it. I'm still gonna do it,” he added.
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