A game that slipped away

Cesar Gorillo

IT was a game that was to create history.  For the first time in the history of the PBA and even of the NBA, there was never any team that resurrected from a 3-0 deficit and to finally snatch the championship.  But it exactly happened on the night of Feb. 3, 2106 in front of 23,000 crowd that packed the Mall of Asia Arena and the millions glued on their TV sets throughout the Philippines and the OFWs throughout  the world on what was known as Game 7.

I bet on the Alaska team despite the protestations of my wife and my children because I still believed that I was on the side of history.  I still believed that Compton can still rally his boys and prevent a defeat they will never forget.

But the opening salvo alone proved me all wrong. San Miguel immediately opened a seventeen point bubble that had the Alaska team trying to crawl away with the nearest at five points in the last quarter.  The combination of Fajardo, Ross, Cabagnot and Santos was simply too formidable for the likes of Baguio, Casio, Abueva, Baguio, Manuel and Hontiveros.

The swarming defense that Compton has been known for cannot match the blinding passes of San Miguel’s feared four with Fajardo waiting at the low post.

Compton provided the damage when he decided to change tactics by fielding his first five and pulling them altogether to give way to the second wave composed of untested reserves.  Thus in the second wave, Abueva was no longer there and when Hontiveros was already hitting his treys in succession, he was suddenly pulled out after he committed a foul against a three-point throw.  He was never seen again except in the fourth quarter.  What an unmitigated disaster!  The Chinese never do that.  The reason why they lord it over the other Asian team is that they have their three-pointers ready at the sidelines.  While we Filipinos always opt for that undergoal stab for a foul bait, the Chinese have none of that.  They just content themselves throwing bombs after bombs from the three-point arc.  And Compton never exploited Hontiveros to the hilt.  He was unceremoniously sidelined while the muscled men like Baguio, Exeminiado, et. al could not foul-bait the wily Ross, Santos, Cabagnot and Fajardo.

But what a game it was.  It was pulsating right from the start.  Although San Miguel led all the way, Alaska simply exploited all the best that they can to prevent a history in the making.  But Fajardo was in his usual dominating self at the low post.  Cabagnot, Ross and Santos hit their treys at times when the enemies were at their gate while the Alaska Aces could not find their mark at times when they were sorely needed.

And I never felt sorry for my bet. It was one helluva fight to create history.