PBA: Stars align for Ginebra in game six

You knew it was going to go seven games.

For the conspiracy theorists, the grumpy, hyper-critical fans, you got your moment. A referee whistled a questionable foul on James Yap, which led to a pair of converted Mark Caguioa charities, 16.2 seconds left. And yet, the San Mig Coffee Mixers still had a shot to overhaul the lead, and then had a chance to force overtime. That's two more opportunities than what most so-called screwed-over teams get.

For the believers, the devout members of the Barangay, you got more than one moment. You had signs, portents that this night was going to go your way, even before tip-off. Between super fan Erson Villangca getting to meet LA Tenorio after writing a rah-rah open letter to the Gin Kings point guard, and the halftime locker room pep talk from PBA legend Sonny Jaworski, it would have been rude if Ginebra flamed out horribly, if they allowed their story to come to a crashing halt with a one-sided bellyflop versus their sister team.

And yet for a good 44 minutes, it seemed like the Mixers knew exactly what to do to stymie Ginebra.

There was Marc Pingris in full-on South Korea mode (20 points on 9-of-14 shooting), Mark Barroca doing his best impersonation of a whirling dervish (14 points, five assists), even rookie Ian Sangalang got into the act, scoring in double-figures for the first time in the postseason.

But despite coming up against a handful of double-digit leads, Ginebra did not back down. The big names all contributed - Mark Caguioa (21 points), Greg Slaughter (20 markers plus 11 rebounds), LA Tenorio (16) and Japeth Aguilar (13). At the same time, role players like Chris Ellis and Jay-R Reyes came up big on the glass (13 rebounds, 7 offensive).

And so when things went down to the wire, when the difference was a mere point between the two sides with time winding down and the fans going nuts, you can understand how PJ Simon, hot in the final canto up to the last minute, fell cold, ditto for James Yap, who was fresh off hitting a game-winner in game five

[Related: Ginebra refuses to die, forces Game 7 against San Mig]

The basketball gods wanted a game seven, and a game seven, they got.

And so now comes the tricky part, because no matter how good this victory was for Ginebra fans, they still haven't figured out how to stop San Mig Coffee. They've done nothing to prevent the likes of Pingris, Barroca and Melton from winning their match-ups. And for all the signs in their favor in this game, Mixers can, just the same, point to the fact that they've won all the odd-numbered games in this series, and oh yes, seven happens to be an odd number.
 
On the flipside however, Tim Cone and company have to be pissed that they weren't able to finish off this series in six. And now they have to worry about what to do, if Ginebra puts it together, if the Barangay's shooters can put together a hot outing, if Greg Slaughter has an extra gear at his disposal.

After a game whose ending seemed predetermined, there's probably not a single fan or expert who can definitively say they know which team will advance to face the idle Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. That's a good thing. It's only going to make game seven that much more fun to watch. - GMA News