After being crowned as the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup’s Best Player of the Conference, all eyes were on Chris Ross, checking if he would put up BPC-esque numbers in Game Four of their Finals series with the TNT Katropa.
But the continuing jinx among BPC awardees seemingly passed on to Ross, and it affected all the San Miguel Beermen as well.
The 32-year-old scored just eight points on just 3-of-9 shooting from the floor. He still managed to collate five rebounds, four assists, and two steals, though, but his already-lowly stat line was negated by the four turnovers he committed.
Coinciding with his dismal output was the Beermen’s 102-97 loss, which now evens the race-to-four series to two games apiece.
The native of San Antonio, Texas was not in the mood to talk about winning the BPC award after the game. And regarding the sour defeat, Ross takes all the blame.
“I really don’t care about it,” said Ross regarding winning his first BPC crown in his eight-year career. “I didn’t play well enough today for us to win and I feel like I let my team down.
“As one of the leaders, it starts with me.”
But aside from his subpar showing, Ross also lamented the Beermen’s lack of urgency in beating down the Katropa. Had they displayed the same type of intensity they did in Games 2 and 3, they could have moved closer to winning the crown.
“We played decent enough but that wasn’t our style of play. We didn’t play with a sense of urgency of trying to put them down 3-1,” said Ross, who is averaging 14.0 points on 41.46 percent shooting, 5.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 3.25 steals in the series.
“That’s why they won.”
The series has now become a virtual best-of-three. Game Five will be on Friday, still at the Big Dome, and Ross vows to do much better and help SMB move closer to ending their 17-year title drought in the mid-season conference.
“It starts with me. I wasn’t good enough. I’ll be better on Friday.”
