The Final Score: Ginebra goes Airborne

Surely you must've noticed by now. There's something different with Ginebra this season. Ginebra used to torch opponents on the street. They didn’t win games per se. They ruled high-stakes drag races. Ginebra roared through tournaments like souped-up Lancers and Civics. Hence, anytime Jay-Jay Helterbrand or Mark Caguioa or both go down with injuries, Ginebra loses velocity the way drag race cars decelerate when the rear parachute deploys.

Although Helterbrand flourished during Caguioa’s absence last season, Helterbrand missed running 2-on-1 fast-breaks with Caguioa. Let’s face it, there’s more fun scoring on a 3-against-2 Ginebra blitz than on a one-on-one crossover jumper against the opposing point guard. Helterbrand and Caguioa cranked it, floored it and let it rip. Their tire marks were all over the scene like signatures on valuable paintings. They were, after all, The Fast and The Furious. But as I watched Ginebra battle Burger King last Sunday, it was obvious Ginebra is spending less and less time on the asphalt and more and more time in mid-air. Fans used to imagine Vin Diesel and Paul Walker guiding Ginebra through urban chicanes. Nowadays, Ginebra is letting Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer go 10 g’s on the hardcourt. You’re no longer watching Talladega Nights. This is old-school Top Gun. Norman Black asked the perfect question during a slow-motion replay of Ginebra’s running attack, “What do you do on defense if you’re facing JC Intal and Cyrus Baguio on a two-on-one break?" What do most defenders end up doing? They watch. We all do. Even Helterbrand and Caguioa, still nursing injuries, have no other recourse but to do the same. And it’s been quite a show. Intal is averaging 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block and one “top ten play of the week" in his last four games. Baguio is scoring 22 points per contest in his last two games. Add those numbers to Ronald Tubid’s steady 17.5 PPG and you have a squadron all ready for the next air strike. Suddenly Jong Uichico doesn’t look like Burt Reynolds in Driven or Robert Duvall in Days of Thunder anymore. In the ongoing Philippine Cup, Uichico is quickly morphing into Viper. His task is to teach Top Gun rules of engagement to a bunch of intrepid flyers that often look like Maverick and Iceman when their games are on but sometimes appear like Maverick and Ariel when their games are off. Intal, Baguio and Tubid had a combined nine turnovers against Burger King. While Alaska staggers to the finish line of the elimination round, Ginebra soars with a four-game winning run. If Alaska continues to slide, Ginebra might even snatch the last automatic semifinals berth. Swapping V8 Aston Martins for F-22 Raptors will, then, appear like a stroke of genius. What happens, though, when proven playoff winners return to join this season’s great discoveries? Is there a way to combine The Fast and the Furious with The Flight and The Fearless? Only Viper has the answers. - GMANews.TV