Since the coming of Justin Brownlee and Allen Durham to play in the Philippine Basketball Association during the Governors’ Cup, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Meralco Bolts are often automatic shoo-in finalists.
The Barangay, however, found more team success with their Brownlee partnership than Meralco is to Durham by scalping them twice in the finals, although Durham is probably the better player of the two, as evidenced by his two Best Import awards during the Governors’ Cup.
And while Ginebra was barely able to escape Meralco’s challenge in both instances, the Barangay seems to have the number of their PBA seaon-ending tournament nemesis.
Brownlee carved out a moment that made him a permanent part of PBA folklore when he sank the famous three-pointer over Durham during the dying seconds of Game Six of the 2016 Governors’ Cup finals to seal Ginebra’s first championship in eight years.
The Barangay repeated again in 2017, finishing Meralco in seven games, where both teams played the final three games of the Best-of Seven Series at the gigantic Philippine Arena and reset the biggest attendance for a PBA game in its history.
Last year, Ginebra was knocked out badly by sister team Magnolia in the semis but Meralco couldn’t capitalize the opportunity as they were also waylaid by the Alaska Aces with the same score, 1-3, in a Best-of-Five Series.
Both teams reloaded heavily and are back to the final dance after experiencing some anxious moments along the way.
Ginebra had to give up Kevin Ferrer, Solomon Mercado and Jervy Cruz to acquire Stanley Pringle midway through the Commissioner’s Cup as their prized acquisition this year.
Ginebra is also expected to rely heavily on other new faces since their Meralco 2016-2017 face-off in Jeff Chan and Arthur dela Cruz while gone are Jayjay Helterbrand due to retirement and Dave Marcelo, who was traded.
The Barangay had to first repulse five-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and the grand slam-seeking San Miguel Beermen, 100-97, in the quarterfinals then overcame a 124-90 Game One beating from the suddenly hot Northport Batang Pier to take them out in the semis with a seemingly easy 3-1 count.
The score was not reflective of the kind of opponent Ginebra faced in Northporth.
Northport’s lineup got a big boost when the Batang Pier traded for Christian Standhardinger and hired the services of import Michael Qualls midway through the conference.
The move paid dividends as the Batang Pier, then having a record of 2-4 before Qualls’ arrival, went on a tear and won three their next five games to salvage the final slot for the quarterfinals. The Barangay, the Beermen, and eventual top seed NLEX were their notable victims.
The Batang Pier carried momentum over in the playoffs, eliminating top seed NLEX in two consecutive games. They had successfully survived four straight elimination games in order to get to the semifinals.
On the other hand, Meralco reinforced their often undersized frontline by trading for former third overall pick Raymond Almazan. They will also lean heavily on Allein Maliksi, Nico Salva, Anjo Caram and Rookie Bong Quinto this year.
Gone were Jimmy Alapag due to retirement and Jared Dillinger, who is ironically now with Ginebra, by releasing him.
The Bolts had to defuse a furious late rally by the Alaska to eliminate the Aces in the quarterfinals, 94-84, and climb out of a 1-2 deficit against also super import KJ McDaniels and the TNT Ka Tropa in their Best-of-Five Semifinal Series to advance.
Are the Gins ready to reclaim their throne in the conference they got a stronghold of at the expense of their nemesis? Or can Meralco break the Ginebra jinx as they badly outplayed Ginebra in their only meeting in the eliminations?
We’ll know very soon as the Best-of-Seven finals is set to begin on January 7, 2020.
By ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
