Auspicious Game 1 win for San Mig

So, what else is new in the San Mig Coffee-Talk ‘N Text playoff match-up?
After being humbled twice before in a series clash this season, the Tropang Texters got the chance at redemption when the Mixers advanced to face them in a best-of-five showdown in the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals.
And like the way the first two series went, the Mixers on Thursday night still found ways to win and moved within five more victories of completing a Grand Slam after a 92-88 overtime win in Game 1 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
This one was literally pulled out from the jaws of defeat by the Mixers, who trailed, 75-66 with 5:41 left in the fourth period before holding the Texters scoreless for the next five minutes and forging overtime through Allein Maliksi at 77-all with a triple with 21.2 left.
The San Mig defense was still without let-up in extension, as the Mixers easily erased an 80-82 deficit by keeping the Texters scoreless for another three-minute stretch to win pulling away,
“We battled and stayed in the game,” San Mig’s Tim Cone, who is seeking a second Grand Slam after leading Alaska in 1996, said. “We gave ourselves a chance in the end. Overall, it was a scattered performance by us.”
San Mig pulled out the win even without Peter June Simon, who is out with a bad back, and the exit of James Yap and Joe Devance in the third and fourth periods because of different injuries.
Marqus Blakely, aside from bottling up Talk ‘N Text import Paul Harris all night, scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds. Yap fired 13 points before limping out near the end of the third period.

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Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer, two popular teams under the San Miguel Corp. umbrella, both got the boot in the quarterfinals, with Alaska acting as the Gin Kings’ executioner and San Mig Coffee eliminating the Beermen.
San Miguel Beer is a powerhouse, no doubt about it, and for the Beermen to not make it to any of the Finals in the three conferences is simply an underachievement.
Nasty rumors have now begun to circulate about another impending coaching change, with Todd Purves, the American who was once the videographer of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA, reportedly on the way out.
Should those rumors be true, it’s not hard to believe. Change has been a normal fare at San Miguel of late, especially in this occasion when a team that has a June Mar Fajardo and an Arwind Santos only has a fourth place finish to show this season.
The next question that seems wanting an answer is who will succeed Purves.
Management did something that came out of the box when it named Jeffrey Cariaso as head coach of Ginebra before the start of the conference. And with management having tried practically everyone else, it could be thinking way out of the box again this time.

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Ginebra did make some strides in the Governors’ Cup before eventually bowing out. We could say that the Kings could have gone a little farther had import Zach Mason not injured his right knee in the second quarter of a must-win game against Alaska on Wednesday night.
I sincerely think that Ginebra has the tools and that Cariaso, owing to his stature, is a man fit for the job. Why? Because he can command the respect of his players, he is technically sound and he is a great communicator.
I just think that, and this is just me, the system that Cariaso is trying to establish at Ginebra is not the right system at all.
The Triangle Offense has won many titles, not only with Tim Cone in the PBA, but also with Phil Jackson in the NBA. No one can dispute that. The trophies and the rings speak for themselves.
But is it the right system for a team like Ginebra? Here is why I think that the Triangle Offense is only slowing down the progress of the Gin Kings.
Jackson won so many titles with Chicago and Los Angeles with the Triangle, a system that worked because he never had a dominant center, except for Shaquille O’Neal for a time with the Lakers.
In Chicago, Michael Jordan won six titles with Jackson, who only had Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley manning the slot. Those centers are not legends. The Triangle needs centers who pass more than anything.
And when Jackson did get a dominant big man in O’Neal, he shipped the 7-foot- behemoth to Miami after a couple of seasons. Who trades away someone like O’Neal? Jackson did so, because of his firm belief that the Triangle Offense doesn’t need a dominant big man to be effective, because a dominant big man will only want most of the action.
He proved that by winning again in 2009 without O’Neal.
Cone won his Grand Slam with Alaska in 1996 and is now the winningest PBA coach of all-time with 17 titles. He established a dynasty with Alaska while having Poch Juinio as a center.
Which leads us to Ginebra and Cariaso, who I think is throwing away the potential of Greg Slaughter to become one of the best big man in the PBA of the modern day by asking the team to play the Triangle Offense.
At 7 feet and with so much agility, Slaughter can carry the Kings on his shoulders at least for the next seven to 10 years. But that is not what’s happening now. Slaughter is being asked to not dominate when he easily can, like what June Mar Fajardo is doing at San Miguel Beer.
If Slaughter can be the focus of the Ginebra game, a 20-point, 10-rebound average for the year is certainly achievable. And with that, wouldn’t the Kings be a better team then?