Nards Pinto was an unsung hero for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in Game 7 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Wednesday. What made his heroics extra special was that he didn’t play at all in the first half of that winner-take-all, which was played in front of an SM Mall of Asia Arena record crowd of over 24,000.
Nards Pinto’s Limited Minutes, Explained
In fact, Pinto saw limited minutes across seven games, seeing action in short bursts at a time only. But it wasn’t because Tim Cone didn’t trust Pinto in big games. Rather, it was more because of the matchups dictating Ginebra’s rotations, according to the PBA’s winningest coach.
“It was a tough matchup because we couldn’t go three guards because we would start getting beat in the post,” Cone pointed out in the postgame presser right after Game 7, which Ginebra won to clinch the crown. “Stephen [Holt] was really the only wing we had that could really match up to [RR] Pogoy, [Calvin] Oftana, and stop them in the post. So, [we] didn’t give Nards a lot of time, except to break Scottie [Thompson] and RJ [Abarrientos].”
“And, of course, we want RJ and Scottie on the floor as much as we possibly can. So that kind of limited Nards’s play.”
That didn’t matter in Ginebra’s most important game of the tournament.
Nards Pinto Gets His Number Called—And Delivers on Both Ends
In Game 7, Cone had no choice. Abarrientos was struggling on offense and getting hunted on defense by Jordan Heading, who was up to 21 points already by the time Nards Pinto subbed in for the reigning Best Player of the Conference at the 2:52 mark of the third quarter.
Heading never scored again—certainly not on Pinto’s watch.
“I thought he did a great job with Heading,” Cone acknowledged. “We were really concerned about Heading down the stretch. And then he came out and made a couple really big shots for us.”
Yes, the one-time PBA All-Star did it on both defense and offense, hitting a booming triple to start the fourth to give Ginebra a 73-65 cushion and another at the 3:04 mark that extended a 77-74 Ginebra lead to 80-74.
Then again, Cone, Abarrientos, and the entire Ginebra roster probably aren’t surprised. In fact, according to Cone, his super sophomore himself marvels at how Pinto manages to always stay ready—even if he doesn’t have consistent minutes.
In Game 7, Nards Pinto was ready. He was very ready.
