Back In The Finals!

After disposing of Talk n Text in 4 games in their semifinal series, Ginebra is back in the Finals of the 2017 Governor's Cup.

It was still fresh in my mind and of course to all the minds of the barangay that buzzer beating shot of Justin Brownlee in last year's Governor's Cup. With all that cell phone lights illuminating the Smart Araneta Coliseum, everybody watched as Brownlee's 3-pointer went swish to end Ginebra's 8-year title drought. The celebrations on and off the court followed. Who would ever forget that emotional scene when Mark and Jayjay went and hugged Coach Tim? That moment when they were teary eyed while being interviewed.

Ginebra somehow had an axe to grind against Talk n Text who defeated them in the Commissioner's Cup 3-1 as well. And now that loss was avenged after they eliminated the Ka-Tropa.

The road to the Finals was not easy for Ginebra. They ended the eliminations with a 29-point loss to Talk n Text. They finished the eliminations with an 8-3 record and entered the playoffs as the #3 seed with a twice to beat advantage against their Grand Slam seeking sister team San Miguel. Fortunately, Ginebra did not need another game as they easily dispatched SMB thereby ending the team's Grand Slam bid.

Fast forward to the Finals. Meralco is aching to get back at Ginebra for their heartache last year. Reigning Best Import Allen Durham will surely want to finish his "unfinished business" and give the Bolts their first title. Jared Dillinger is also aching to play after he missed last season due to injury.

But if there one thing going for Ginebra-- it would be Greg Slaughter who also missed his team's championship run last year as he was also injured. The Kings would be out to prove that winning the title last year was no fluke.

Coach Tim Cone is the winningest coach in the league and he has had many achievements in the past. He would want to add another title with Ginebra to his trophy collection. Coach Norman Black would not want to be outdone. He himself has several titles in his coaching resume.

So looking forward to this Finals series. Ginebra is looking for back-to-back while the Bolts want to win their first title.  Brace yourselves for a tough Best-of-7 series.

A Better And Stronger Kings

Once again our beloved Ginebra bows out of contention in the 2015 Philippine Cup losing to Global Port 84-83 in a controversial manner. Although the non-call could have changed the outcome of the ball game, there is no point in crying over spilled milk. It is unlikely that the result would be overturned.

In fairness to Global Port, they played their hearts out and deserved the victory. Ginebra had its chances in regulation. If not for the missed free throws, the Kings would have been the one to advance against Alaska. But it was not meant to be. Still there is a lot of hope in the future for the league's crowd darling. The record alone showed much improvement compared to the past conferences. Whereas Ginebra had losing records in the past, this time around they had a winning record at 7-4. They finished the elimination round in a flurry winning 3 straight games to finish no. 4 entering the quarterfinals.

Let us bear in mind that Coach Tim Cone himself did not guarantee instant success. The team was still a work in progress and yet they had a decent 7-4 win-loss record. Just imagine what could have happened if the Kings has already mastered the triangle? They were one step away from a semis stint right on Coach Tim's first conference with the team.

Throughout the conference, Coach Tim slowly assembled the team that he wanted. First, he got Nico Salva and then traded away Mac Barracael for Joe deVance. Next, he picked up sweet shooting Jervy Cruz. With the next conference scheduled in February, the Kings will have enough time to perfect the triangle and boost their offense. With a little fine tuning and perhaps some additional pieces, it will not take long for Ginebra to become a championship contender once again.

And so for now let us forget about that painful loss and move on knowing that our beloved team will much stronger come Commissioner's Cup.

Last Hoorah For Mr. Fast

One of the most celebrated tandems in the Philippine Basketall Association is breaking up this season. Jayjay Helterbrand announced before the start of the season that he will be retiring. It can be recalled that the 2009 MVP already planned to retire as early as 2011 but he deferred the plan to have another run for one last championship. But it looks like Jayjay is firm on his retirement plans this year.

His shot of winning another title on his last year is bright now that Tim Cone, the winningest coach in the league, is at the helm of Ginebra. Winner of four championships, a fifth title has remained elusive for Helterbrand since 2008, the last time they won a championship.

Anthony Helterbrand came over from the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association. He played one game for the Batangas Blades before hooking up with Ginebra in March 2000. He came in as a direct hire as a backup for Bal David and to eventually take over as starting point guard.

Jayjay rose to prominence in the year 2001 when he partnered with then rookie Mark Caguioa. Their explosive backcourt partnership earned them the monicker "Bandanna Brothers" because of the headbands they wore. Eventually they became "The Fast" and "The Furious." That year, Caguioa won Rookie of the Year honors and the two established themselves as one of the deadliest backcourt partners in the league.

In 2004, Jayjay came back to the PBA after a one-year hiatus. He was instrumental in Ginebra's back-to-back titles that year and in 2005 earning him the Comeback Player of the Year award. Five years later, he won the highest individual award-- the Most Valuable Player.

Injuries have slowed down Jayjay over the years. From career high numbers of 18.11 ppg, 6.51  apg, 4.71 rpg during his MVP years, Mr. Fast saw his averages dip in the next few years. Las year, he logged career low numbers of just 2.8 ppg, 1.7 apg, and 1.6 rpg. He also saw limited minutes just 12 mpg from 36 minutes during his heydays.

Age is catching up with Helterbrand. Now 38 years old, Father time is beckoning him. With the influx of younger and quicker players to the team, Jayjay has lost his spot in the rotation. But mind you, the man individually known as "Helter Skelter" can still deliver when called upon. Who can ever forget the 13 points he delivered in Game 1 of their do-or-die series with Rain or Shine during the 2013 Commissioner's Cup? What about his buzzer beating shot against Petron over the outstretched arms of Nick Fazekas?

So it will be the Last Ride for Jayjay Helterbrand and the "Fast and Furious: tandem. With Coach Tim Cone taking over the reins, Jayjay has three more chances to finally win another one before drawing down the curtains on his PBA career.

Will Cone Magic Finally End Ginebra's Drought?

Just last week, I wrote about rumors connecting Tim Cone to a potential transfer to Barangay Ginebra. Well, it is now official. The Tim Cone magic makes its way to the barangay.

The news did not auger well for Purefoods fans. The man who gave them a Grandslam is heading over to its sister team. So shocked were the Purefoods diehards that they even trooped to Twitter and pleaded to Ramon S. Ang to stop the transfer. But the SMC executive would have none of that.

For us, Ginebra fans, this is indeed a huge development. The winningest coach in the league is now the head coach of the most popular team in the PBA. It gives us a ray of hope that finally we have a coach who can bring back our team to the Promised Land. The task of ending Ginebra's 8 year title drought now falls into the hands of Tim Cone.

But just like the other coaches before him, there is pressure on Tim Cone to deliver on the task at hand. Ginebra has been known to sack its coaches when they do not deliver results. You can tell that to Frankie Lim, who just one conference ago was chosen to end the drought. Unfortunately, he did not last long as well.

Before we go on and make pronouncements that Ginebra is going to be champions next season, let us remember that it will not happen overnight. Ramon Ang and Tim Cone himself was quick to temper fans' expectations. Transforming a team that has not won a championship in the last 8 years into a title contender will take some time.

First of all, Tim Cone needs to build on the foundation of that contender team. Ginebra possesses perhaps the most talent laden players in the league led by its Twin Tower combination of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. Coach Tim will have to work on and bring out the potential of these players in order to achieve his goal. That alone is not an easy task.

It is expected that Coach Tim will reintroduce the players to the vaunted triangle offense. The very same system that won for Alaska and Purefoods Grandslam titles. The system is nothing new for the Kings having used it during the time of Jeffrey Cariaso. Again this is where a question may arise. Why bring back a system that did not previously work?

There is a huge difference between the triangle that Coach Jeff instilled and the system that Coach Tim will bring. Now, Ginebra will be learning from the master himself. Second, Coach Tim will have the whole off season to let the players master the system. Something that Coach Jeff did not have as he only had the conference break to teach the system to Ginebra players.

Transforming the team into a champion team will not come right away. With Purefoods, it took Coach Tim two conferences to win his first title with the team. What more with a struggling Ginebra team? But once the team gets used to the triangle, they will be tough to beat.

And so we await next season with a lot of excitement and anticipation. Finally, we have a coach who has the skills and ability to finally put an end to the title drought of our beloved Ginebra. Coach Tim will do everything to achieve that goal. As for us fans, we need to be patient because with Coach Tim as our coach, we could finally be seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

On Coach Tim Cone Joining The Barangay

For the past week, rumors has been swirling around that Ginebra is changing its coach yet again. The man at the center of the talks is multi-titled coach Tim Cone. Initially, my reaction was shock and disbelief. It was unlikely for Tim to leave Purefoods after the success he had with the team culminated by his second Grand Slam as a coach. 

Then I came across this tweet:

FireNathanielsz @FireNathanielsz
IF my source is correct, Cone to Ginebra is true. Just need a greenlight from RSA. Big IF though

Then reality struck me. Is it really true? The winningest coach in the PBA and owner of two Grand Slams with two different teams will replace Frankie Lim as head coach of Ginebra for next season. Different news articles from various sources further fueled this rumor. 

In one of the articles, Coach Tim himself said "I serve at the pleasure of Mr. Ramon Ang. Whatever direction he takes me, I will follow"  which all the more confirmed the likelihood of the transfer. Soon this news was all over the social media in both Twitter and Facebook. According to the rumor, Coach Tim moves to Ginebra while Jason Webb will take over the Hotshots. 

Although there is still no confirmation until Tuesday, this is a huge development for Barangay Ginebra. The Maestro himself as head coach of the most popular team. He brings his success to a franchise that has been without a title for 8 years. More importantly, Tim Cone is someone who can bring out the full potential of the Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. 

But then there are some questions that need to be answered: "Will they thrive in the triangle offense?" They have tried this already when Jeffrey Cariaso became their coach. After only one conference, Jeff was booted out as he reportedly had some disagreements with some of the players. But if there is one coach who knows how to deflate ego, it is Coach Tim Cone. 

Coach Tim has the number of Barangay Ginebra. He has a 17 - 9 record against the most popular team. Can the Ginebra players bury the hatchet and work harmoniously with Cone? For the sake of winning another championship, they need to and they must. 

For the meantime, we are all in a wait and see attitude as to where this new development will take Ginebra if it does materialize. 

What's Next For The Kings?

Once again, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel makes an early exit suffering a come from behind loss to the Alaska Aces. After leading by as much as 16 points, the Aces clawed their way back to Ginebra 114-108. Another season to forget for the team and another season of heartache for its legions of fans.

At the start of the Governor's Cup, Coach Frankie started on the wrong foot on his first conference. He lost the Twin Towers for the first few games of the conference so he needed to make another adjustment. Reinforcement Orlando Johnson looked promising in his first few games. He scored 50 points in his debut game then 46 in the next. He eventually faltered and his game dipped considerably.

Immediately after the loss, social media was bombarded by Ginebra fans showing different emotions. As usual, basketball experts emerged saying different reasons for the early debacle of Ginebra. Poor coach Frankie Lim got the ire of most of the fans just like what happened to Jeffrey Cariaso and Ato Agustin. So let's see what really happened to Ginebra this season. 

Seven years without a title. That is the main contention of fans. Despite having the Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar and a deep supporting cast as well, the Kings have not managed to get past the quarterfinals. Their best showing so far is a semifinal appearance in Slaughter's rookie season. Since then Ginebra has finished below the Top 4. 

Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa are the only remnants of Ginebra's last champion team. The rest are relatively new to the team. From there, you can say that chemistry is already a problem. The rest of the team was acquired either through trades or from the draft. All those wheeling and dealing, however, has turned the Kings into a championship contender. 

However, despite having a formidable lineup Ginebra still remained without a title. Another factor that perhaps had a major  impact on Ginebra still failing to win a title is their constant coaching change. Since Ginebra's last Finals appearance under Alfrancis Chua, the Kings have three coaching changes already. they had Ato Agustin, Jeffrey Cariaso, and Frankie Lim taking the reins over the team in the last four conferences only. It is hard to build chemistry when you keep on changing coach. 

And so the waiting game continues. For Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa, their quest for one more championship before they finally up their sleeves continues. For Greg Slaughter, his first title in the PBA continues to remain elusive. Same goes for the other players. 

Coach Frankie Lim has got a lot of work to do in the off season if he wants to end Ginebra's title woes. There is also the coming rookie draft to look forward to. Management needs to find the missing piece that will complete the line-up that will finally give the Kings their ninth championship. Expect more wheeling and dealing as Coach Frankie finds the right mix that will finally bag that elusive title for the league's most popular team. 

One thing is for sure though. All eyes will be on Ginebra. What changes will be made in the team? Who will be in or out? Will we have a new coach yet again? 

Back From The Grave

Japeth For Threeeee Bang!!!!!!!!!

Once again, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel did it again. Given up for dead for the entire conference, the Kings march on to the playoffs-- their 25th consecutive appearance. It had been a roller coaster ride for the league's most popular team and nobody expected them to advance to the next round especially with the way they lose games.

For Ginebra fans, it was one of the seasons you'd rather forget. Three coaching changes in one season speaks of the struggles that the Kings are experiencing. As I watched the NLEX game, I was not kind of hoping that Ginebra would survive this one. The die-hard fan in me says "Don't give up on your team. They need you now" fueled whatever hope I had of them advancing to the next stage.

As the 4th quarter began, shades of Ginebra's "never-say die" spirit began showing up. NLEX was relentless in trying to end Ginebra's season but the Kings refused to wilt. With LA Tenorio and the two imports leading the charge, Ginebra slowly found their way back to the game. And then it happened as I braced myself for an additional 5 minutes, Japeth Aguilar squared himself up for the three. I could not believe it Ginebra has won. Japeth did it again. He has scored game winning treys on the MVP teams.

And so Ginebra is in the playoffs. It will now be their 25th straight playoff appearance. But once again they will be facing insurmountable odds. As the eight seeded team, they face a twice-to-beat disadvantage against the top seeded Alaska Aces. A familiar situation for Ginebra but one they had overcome before. In 1991, they were also seeded eight and were facing an Asi-Taulava led Mobiline but the heroics of Bal David and the then Gordon's Gin allowed them to topple the top seeds. Ginebra faced the same situation again in 2013 when they were seeded 7th and battled the 2nd seeded Rain or Shine. But with Vernon Macklin leading the comeback, the Kings survived and marched on to the Finals against Alaska.

So if there is one team which can pull off the improbable, it's Barangay Ginebra. They are not known as a "never-say-die" team for nothing. It is just a matter of digging down deep into their reserves. Ginebra is a team loaded with talent and hopefully those talents will prevail and overcome another huge obstacle in their quest to finally ending their title drought.