The Final Score: Dominance and transcendence from game seven of the PBA Finals

Half of me wanted Petron to win game seven of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals. It wasn’t out of fandom, really. As a teenager, I never cheered for San Miguel. I admired all the San Miguel greats from the 80’s to the early 90’s: Mon Fernandez, Samboy Lim, and Hector Calma. In fact, my teenage dream was to learn how to play point like Calma. Didn’t happen. Instead, ang natutunan ko lang noon ay uminom ng San Miguel.

[Related: Blakely, Pingris come up big as San Mig slays Petron for Governors' Cup crown]

Half of me wanted Petron to win game seven because it seemed logical. They were the best team at the end of the elimination round. They had an 11-game winning streak. They had Best Import runner-up Elijah Millsap. They had season MVP Arwind Santos. They had phenomenal rookie June Mar Fajardo. They were due for a championship breakthrough.

Half of me wanted Petron, a stacked team so bizarrely linked to heartbreak, to finally celebrate at the end of a tournament.

That’s just one half of me.

The other half watched Marc Pingris in game seven.

If you want a friend to fall in love with basketball, even if that friend has never watched a game, can’t differentiate a double dribble from a slam dunk, can’t differentiate James Yap from Mark Caguioa, isn’t aware that the Philippines will compete in the 2014 World Championships, and doesn’t know that the sport of basketball exists, you make that friend watch Marc Pingris.

Pingris is effervescent. When he’s on the court fighting for rebounds, chasing stray balls and blocking shots, he’s impossible to ignore. The game becomes a theater for his adventures. Hence, every move becomes theatrical, in a good way. A rebound is never just a rebound. His emotional state is never a mystery. His transparency has become his trademark. You can feel Marc’s heartbeat even if you’re stuck all the way in Upper Box B.

In Petron, we saw the future. But in basketball, normally men of the future – men like Gee Abanilla, Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, and Chris Lutz - are made to wait. Often, the wait is a painstaking process.

In San Mig Coffee, we saw the familiar. Tim Cone won again. James Yap won again. Peter June Simon won again. And Pingris, who was in total Gilas-versus-Korea-do-or-die-game-mode in game seven, won again. Cone-Yap-Simon-Pingris lead a winning formula.

Why couldn’t Petron win game seven?

They already had Fajardo, Petron’s new weapon of mass production. He scored points and grabbed rebounds whenever he wanted to. Sobrang laki. Sobrang lakas. Yet his sudden emergence in the postseason may have caused some confusion in their plan of attack. An ironic twist, I know.

Do you stick with the system that allowed you to finish number one at the end of the elimination round?

Or do you continue feeding your newfound monster at the post?

Here was my tweet from September 11, 2013, back when Petron was winning every game in sight:

“Petronovela isn’t automatically a negative circumstance. Telenovelas can be both saddening and inspiring. This Petronovela is all good vibes.”

Petronovela isn't automatically a negative circumstance. Telenovelas can be both saddening & inspiring. This Petronovela is all good vibes.

— Mico Halili (@micohalili) September 11, 2013

I posted that tweet at 9:11pm.

Two minutes later, Jutt Sulit, a writer for SLAM Magazine Philippines, replied.

I actually saved his reply and kept it in my favorites folder even if I was convinced that Petron could go all the way. Siguro pang-just-in-case lang. On several occasions, I thought of removing it. Yet for reasons I can’t fully explain, I kept the tweet. Fortunately for San Mig Coffee and unfortunately for Petron, Sulit’s reply has regained relevance.

He posted this tweet at 9:13pm.

@micohalili I'm just afraid of the next twist. Telenovelas never run out of twists.

— Jutt Sulit (@juttsulit) September 11, 2013

“I’m just afraid of the next twist. Telenovelas never run out of twists.”

Clearly, San Mig Coffee didn’t have anyone like June Mar. And since no one else in the PBA has anyone like June Mar, he will become a problem for opponents for years to come. By extension, Petron will become a problem for everyone else for years to come.

How did San Mig Coffee win game seven?

Clearly, Petron didn’t have anyone like Pingris. He’s the kind of player who emboldens a team to win do-or-die games. Grabe si Ping against Korea. Grabe ulit siya against Petron. Even a first-time PBA fan will agree. You don’t need to be a basketball expert to appreciate what Pingris did in game seven.

Fajardo and the Boosters proved that they could be dominant.

Pingris and the Mixers, however, proved that they could be transcendent.  - AMD, GMA News