The Final Score: Rain or Shine’s Jervy Cruz finally playing like UST’s Jervy Cruz

You don’t have to be a Rain or Shine fan to be happy for Jervy Cruz. Jervy is finally having the best conference of his PBA career. Granted, he is still not dominating opponents the way he dominated opposing big men in the UAAP. But because he is performing well against the biggest, strongest professional players in the country, I can say Jervy is having the best four months of his basketball life.

I am convinced. There is a UST jersey under Jervy's ROS jersey.

— Mico Halili (@micohalili) January 3, 2013

I sent out a tweet during Game 6 of the PBA Semifinals between Rain or Shine and San Mig Coffee: “I am convinced. There is a UST jersey under Jervy’s ROS jersey.” It was re-tweeted 138 times. Some took this message literally and asked for visual evidence. It made sense, actually. His old jersey could’ve been a lucky charm. Maybe he wore his UST socks for all I know. But the rest understood my intended message.

Perhaps, like myself, they were all just waiting for Rain or Shine’s Jervy Cruz to finally play like UST’s Jervy Cruz. Perhaps, like myself, they finally watched the Jervy Cruz they always hoped to watch.

[Related: Rain or Shine slay San Mig Coffee in six, advance to Philippine Cup Finals]

I will always remember Jervy’s dominance in the UAAP. It wasn’t so much statistical dominance as it was psychological dominance. He knew he could score against anyone using his height or strength or speed or footwork or midrange shooting. On top of his skills, he also had a competitive edge over his peers. People felt it. Defenders knew it. Teammates relied on it. It wasn’t just confidence. It was often sheer will. That, in my opinion, was his best quality.
 
Truthfully, when Jervy was in UST, he reminded me of a young Alvin Patrimonio. I apologize to the fans of San Mig Coffee. I know it’s ironic. But you should’ve seen Jervy the Growling Tiger. I always felt sorry for the guy who had to guard him at the post. That was a brutal assignment; to try and push him away from his sweet spots, to absorb every contact initiated by him, to exchange forehand-to-forehand combat during rebounding situations. It was painful to just witness this live.

Here’s the funny part. Although Jervy was UST’s raging bull under the basket and it was entertaining to watch him fold varsity players in half, his face-to-the-basket-jump-shot was my favorite weapon. No contact. No pushing. No bruises. Yet his jump shot sent the strongest message: “I can score the hard way. I can also score the easy way.” Unstoppable. Alvin na Alvin. It was the ultimate demoralizer.

Jervy is posting career-best numbers in the PBA Philippine Cup (11 ppg 8 rpg 28 mpg this season compared to 7 ppg 4 rpg 15 mpg last season). His midrange jumper has been lethal all conference-long. He owns 5 double-double games and has 7 almost-double-double games in this tournament. With Jervy, however, it’s more than just about the rising numbers. He returns to the PBA Finals as the bull-strong and iron-willed Jervy Cruz we’ve always wanted to see. Old Jervy is back. -- GMA News