A TOAST TO SAN MIGUEL BEER’S 18TH TITLE

It is the winningest franchise in PBA history, fueled by an aggressive management willing to make the big move to make the team competitive. And after taking their 17th championship in the 2005 Fiesta Conference, the thirst for more championships was never again quenched until last Friday. The team built to win and dominate finally fulfilled the promise their fans and management have been waited for.
After four long years, the SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN are CHAMPIONS once more.
It was a series that went the distance, a first for a Barangay Ginebra-SMB finals match-up, with the Kings giving themselves good money to win it all by getting two chances to win the crown. But what Ginebra failed to seal in two tries, San Miguel closed in one.
Barangay Ginebra played to their potential and was in the lead for the entire series until the last day of the championships. The players gave it their all to defend their title but just came up short.
Jayjay Helterbrand carried his team as far as he could and played like the MVP that he is. His performance only strained by a hamstring that slowed even Mr. “Fast.”
Eric Menk was on his way to what could be another Finals MVP but his game’s sudden resurrection from the grave was still not enough to carry the Kings through.
Willy Wilson was a pleasant surprise after missing the first two games of the series.
But other players only had short apparitions in the series when they were needed to be more consistent.
David Noel led the Kings in scoring, rebounding and assists. But it seemed nerves or fatigue might have gotten the better of him in their two chances to clinch the series. He was very passive offensively in Games 6 & 7, managing only 8 points in Game 7.
Credit Coach Jong Uichico for being able to maximize the talent at hand. His ability to adjust his personnel to the opponents’ strength, using a different 10-man rotation in the start of the series compared to the end, should truly be applauded.
Although he was able to give his players as much rest as possible, it looked as though his players were tired in the last two games. They looked like a team that just received too many body punches in the early rounds of boxing match and had no strength to finish the fight.
In contrast, San Miguel grew stronger as the series wore on. Gabe Freeman was like a horse running the Kentucky Derby, gaining strength with each stride heading to the finish line. He was the energy source for the Beermen and the biggest thorn for the Kings.
It was not a one-man show though for Freeman, who ironically had his stay with the team in question before the end of the elims.
Jonas Villanueva continued his career year pocketing Finals MVP honors with his consistency while Marc Pingris and Dondon Hontiveros punched in good numbers in most victories. Jay Washington was their best local player until he was checked by Wilson, while the two players I felt really hurt Ginebra throughout the entire series were Mike Cortez and Danny Ildefonso.
Cortez came off the bench and was instant offense for the Beermen. A huge amount of baskets he made were clutch shots and it seemed that Ginebra didn’t have a good match-up with him, even forcing coach Jong to try Pacana on him.
For Ildefonso, this was a series that brought him back to the limelight. Although he may have filled the sports pages for the wrong reason early in the series, he let his game do the talking after that. He defended Noel respectably and also had key shots for the Beermen. His play, along with Washington and Pingris, never allowed Ginebra to play small and eventually dictated how the series was to be played. Their size just pushed the Kings around the entire series.
Coach Siot Tanquincen did a masterful job to give the San Miguel franchise their 18th championship. After dropping the first game of the series, he never allowed Ginebra to win back-to-back games while accomplishing that feat himself to win the crown.
They say it is better to coach a talent-laden team, but it also opens the door for greater failure! Remember, there are actually more instances that a team fails to reach its full potential. With more talent, it actually means more egos that have to be addressed. And with the talent presented to him, coach Siot was able to harness their potential and bring them to success.
In the end, San Miguel won the series because they played their game. They played big, with three big men, and Ginebra had no choice but to follow their lead even if they didn’t want to. The eventual size advantage wore down the Kings.
San Miguel’s bench was more consistent, while Ginebra struggled to find the form of Cyrus Baguio, Ronald Tubid and Sunday Salvacion. The combination of Cortez and Villanueva eventually overtook Helterbrand when his hamstring slowed him down.
Freeman was the best player of the series while Noel was far from his best to finish the series.
With an excellent mix of youth and experience along with speed and size, San Miguel is a team with enough promise to dominate for many years. Now that they’ve finally found the secret to winning and wrested their first trophy after a massive buildup, the league’s most feared team also has a championship to back them up.
With No. 18 in the bag, the Beermen’s eyes are set on number 19… and they’re not willing to wait very long.
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STRANGE FACT: In the 34 years of the PBA no team has ever won Games 1, 3, 5 and 7 to win a seven-game title series.