Clearly not the way the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel wanted to tip off their 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals run.
Friday night was the commencement of a titanic Ginebra-San Miguel clash in this year’s All-Filipino title bout, but the Barangay may just want to forget Game One after absorbing a 109-82 beatdown.
An exciting, hard-nosed championship opener was expected from both squads, but all of those hopes were crushed as the reigning Philippine Cup titlists did all they could to make it a lopsided affair.
It was truly an outing unbecoming of Ginebra’s never-say-die mantra. They started out flat, allowing San Miguel to fire on all cylinders right from the get-go. The Beermen even led by as much as 36 in the third canto.
The Barangay have always been identified as solid hijack experts, especially during late-game stretches, but in Game 1, they couldn’t even mount a comeback — or even spark a scoring spree. As a result, they were blown out by 27 points.
Ginebra’s collective effort was also an underwhelming one. They only managed to shoot 37 of their 94 attempts from the floor en route to a 39 percent clip. And, they only sunk three triples in all the game’s 48 minutes.
For top Ginebra floor general LA Tenorio, the best thing Ginebra could do is to leave Game One behind and move on from the disappointing loss.
“We cannot get back to it,” said Tenorio, who finished with just five points on 2-of-8 shooting.
“We just have to move forward and prepare for the game on Sunday. Yun lang.”
Prior to Friday night’s Finals, both teams were coming off respective grueling seven-game stints in the semifinals. Asked if fatigue became a factor in the loss, Tenorio does not believe so.
“Fatigue? Hindi na. Nakapag-break na kami ng isang araw eh. So I think fatigue is not a factor,” the 11-year league veteran voiced.
“Actually it’s not pagod eh. Nakapag-pahinga naman kami kahit paano. We came out flat and they were ready for us lang talaga,” the 32-year-old Batangueño added.
The two-time champion also iterated that there was no reason in particular for the beatdown they received from San Miguel.
“Wala. Actually wala,” he pointed.
“Tulad nung sinabi ko, we just have to forget this game and move forward into Game Two. That’s it.”
And Tenorio vowed that they will exact revenge on the Beermen next game in Lucena, Quezon.
“We cannot bow our heads or umiyak,” the two-time PBA champion said.
“We’ll get back at them next game.”
