Gallent’s adjustments

Game Two of the San Miguel Beer-Barangay Ginebra semifinal series in the PBA Governors’ Cup turned out to be a humdinger that kept fans at the edge of their Smart Araneta Coliseum seats until the last few seconds of overtime last Friday night. San Miguel pulled off a 131-125 win. If that was an indication of things to come, expect a war of attrition in the best-of-seven duel that’s now tied at a win apiece.

Ginebra clobbered San Miguel, 122-105, to draw first blood last Wednesday. A barrage of four-point and three-point shots buried the Beermen under an avalanche of baskets. Justin Brownlee hit five-of-six from four and three-of-five from three to lead the rampage where in the third quarter, he scored 20 points by himself and San Miguel had the same total. Brownlee played only two minutes in the fourth period as Ginebra coach Tim Cone went all-local to finish off the Beermen. Ginebra outscored San Miguel from the perimeter, 62-44, had more assists, 32-26 and ran the Beermen to the ground with an 11-0 edge in fastbreak points.

San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent came up with key adjustments in Game Two. First, Jericho Cruz and CJ Perez started at guard with Marcio Lassiter at three, EJ Anosike at four and June Mar Fajardo at five. Cruz had come off the bench in 13 previous games but Gallent wanted a bigger body than Kris Rosales to match up against Mav Ahanmisi. It also allowed Perez to play point guard and get his touches. He averaged 20.5 points in the elims but only 12.2 in the playoffs so the ploy was to get him into the flow of the offense early. Perez, who’s been searching for space with EJ and JMF leaving little room to operate, wound up with 28 points.

Second, there was no over-reliance on Fajardo. That made San Miguel’s offense unpredictable. Five players scored in double figures, one more than in Game One. JMF didn’t even need to score in OT as his teammates took care of business. Third, Anosike did his damage close to the basket and used his heft to carve out space in the interior. He was 0-of-1 from four and 0-of-3 from three but tallied 35 points, including 15-of-16 from the line. Anosike was aggressive and gradually, wore out Brownlee who was his primary defender.

Fourth, Mo Tautuaa was unleashed in the fourth quarter as JMF rested. Down the stretch, Tautuaa provided relief. The timing was perfect as JMF, paced by Gallent, delivered 23 points and 21 rebounds. Fifth, San Miguel ruled the glass, outrebounding Ginebra, 62-49. The Beermen’s size was a big factor in San Miguel hitting more second chance points. Gallent made sure the focus was to control the boards. Sixth, San Miguel converted more free throws, 30-of-35 compared to Ginebra’s 22-of-30. Staying aggressive brought San Miguel to the stripe in critical situations. Seventh, the Beermen put the cuffs on RJ Abarrientos who was introduced to a high level of physicality by Cruz. RJ was held to four points from 13 in Game One. Eighth, San Miguel played unselfishly, matching Ginebra’s total of 29 assists. Making the extra pass was critical to unsettle Ginebra’s defense. Ninth, Terrence Romeo got the go-signal and the minutes to display his wares. He led all scorers in OT with nine points and fired a conference-high 26 points. Finally, Gallent’s deep rotation clicked with only four players logging at least 30 minutes compared to five for Ginebra. Minutes were more evenly distributed by Gallent and in the homestretch, it made a difference as the team with more gas in the tank emerged on top.

Game Three in Dasmariñas, Cavite, tonight will be a dogfight as both teams are out to break the deadlock with a crucial out-of-town win.