With their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series tied at 2-2, expect the San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to go to great lengths to net what could possibly be a series-altering victory in Game 5. And it looks like both teams know precisely what they need to do to get that all-important W.
Beermen Need to Protect the Lead in Game 5
San Miguel looked well on its way to a Game 4 win after a sizzling start that saw the league’s winningest franchise build a 16-point lead. But Ginebra wiped it out just as quickly and ultimately authored a fourth-quarter storm that sealed the come-from-behind victory. Needless to say, protecting leads is now a point of emphasis for the Beermen, according to playing assistant coach Chris Ross.
“We have to find a way to keep our leads. We‘ve had the lead in every game. We just got to find a way to have it sustained,” he said on Sunday after Ginebra’s rally gave them the win.
Ross is right. San Miguel led by at least eight points in each of the first four games of this series but lost two of them—Game 1 and Game 4. In Game 5, the Beermen will look to build a lead again and sustain it this time.
Energy in Game 5 Is Imperative for Ginebra
For Ginebra, energy is the name of the game, according to coach Tim Cone himself.
“We looked tired in Games 2 and 3,” Cone noted after Ginebra’s Game 4 win on Sunday. “We were talking yesterday [Saturday] about getting a second wind. Even going into the fourth quarter, we mentioned it again. We’ve got to look for that second wind and come out with it… Ironically, we had a difficult practice yesterday just to work our way through things. Then we came out and played with this kind of energy.”
That energy saw Ginebra swarm the Beermen on defense and push the ball and move it on offense. And it went full blast in Team NSD’s fast and furious fourth quarter, which saw them outgun San Miguel, 33-16, to put Game 4 away and tie the series at 2-2.
With two days of rest, Ginebra will be looking to show that same energy and intensity it displayed for much of Game 4.
Tipoff of Game 5 between San Miguel and Ginebra at the Mall of Asia Arena is at 7:30 p.m. later today.
