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.