Ginebra’s sixth men were immediately silenced by the rampaging San Miguel Beermen
Facing the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings is a daunting task. Besides taking on a formidable line-up coached by one of the best in the game, every game becomes a road game as the entire Barangay fill up an arena, drowning the opposing team with chants of “Ginebra!”.
“We didn’t do it, the crowd did it. The crowd did it for us,” reflected Ginebra head coach Tim Cone as the Gin Kings tried to battle exhaustion and fatigue in their grueling seven-game series against the Star Hotshots.
“I think the edge was not the players, and not the coaching. The edge was really the crowd.”
Friday evening, 14,062 fans filled the SM Mall of Asia Arena to witness Game One of the 2016-17 PBA Philippine Cup Finals — majority were clad with Ginebra’s colors.
They were abuzz during the pre-game, and went bonkers when Ginebra’s line-up was being announced. But when the game began, the San Miguel Beermen immediately silenced the crowd as they erected a 17-2 lead that eventually ballooned to 36 points during the third frame.
“We just wanted to come out strong. We knew that those guys, they had a game on Tuesday, and I think they only had a day to prepare for us,” said Chris Ross, who scored eight of his 17 points in the first quarter.
“We kind of wanted to jump on them early and get the crowd out of the game. It kind of worked for us.”
There were only a few spurts of “Ginebra” chants in the game — including a very brief one during the third quarter when Ginebra went on a 7-0 run early in the fourth quarter. Mostly though, the crowd was out of it, as Ginebra struggled to find their bearings all throughout the game.
“That’s always a bonus, they got into it a little bit,” added Marcio Lassiter, who finished the game with eight markers. “We just gotta expect it.
“The crowd’s gonna be there and we have to play our game, not worry about other factors, and just try to be mentally focused.”
The Beermen continued to push the pedal, leading to a 109-82 Game One win. And for Ross, they have to sustain the momentum heading into Game Two as they are expecting a hostile Lucena crowd on Sunday.
“It’s going to be tough on us because we’re getting up early in practice and we’re traveling. It’s a quick turnaround and we know that out-of-town, the crowd is going to be crazy for Ginebra,” the eight-year league veteran said.
“We just got to come out and silence the crowd, try to bring the same intensity that we had, and make some adjustments.”
