Justin Brownlee proved to be the import the Gin Kings need as the fourth seed Barangay Ginebra slayed top seed SMB in the semifinals and survived gritty Meralco in the Governor’s Cup finals to win their ninth PBA crown last October, ending a 21 conference, 8-year drought
Ginebra went 3-2 against San Miguel in the semis and 4-2 against Meralco in the finals. They got games 1, 3 and the series clinching game 5 against the Beermen while pocketed games 2, 4, 5, and the championship clinching game 6 against the Bolts.
See more on Bownlee’s heroics: Brownlee leads ‘Men in White’ in slaying Title Drought
Barangay Ginebra’s last PBA championship was the 2007-2008 Fiesta Conference last August 20, 2008 with Chris Alexander as their import. They were a 4-2 victors against the defunct Air 21 franchise.
Just to emphasize how long that was, fans may need time to recall the franchises they had to go through which had, likewise, already been disbanded.
They swept both the Santa Lucia Realtors, 2-0, in the quarterfinals and the Red Bull Energy Boosters, 4-0, in the semifinals during their playoff run.
Mark Caguioa, the Kings long-time resident superstar and one of the two players who were also in the rooster in their last championship, gamely said they no longer belong to the cellar because of this win.
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
See earlier parts:
Remembering 2016: The year of the “Never Say Die”s and Drought Busters, Part 1
Remembering 2016, Part 2: Hidilyn Diaz ends four PH Olympic droughts
Remembering 2016, Part 3: BEERacle, SMB engineers Mother of all Hoops Comebacks
Remembering 2016, Part 4: Cavs overhauls a 1-3 hole to the 73-9 Warriors, ends 45 year drought
See next parts:
Remembering 2016, Part 6: Green Archers shoots down Blue Eagles to break a tie with their bitter rival