All-out war expected in Game 5

CEBU, Philippines – Expect an all-out war in Game 5 of the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup Finals between defending champion Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer on Monday.

Afterall, winner of the 7 p.m. match at the Araneta Coliseum would move just a victory away from winning the championship of the season-ending tournament.

And just how important a Game 5 is in a best-of-seven series that is tied at two games apiece?

According to PBA statistics, 68 percent of the team that won Game 5 of a Finals series that is tied at 2-2 went on to win the championship.

Translated into numbers, 19 of the 28 teams to win Game 5 of a tied best-of-seven series proceeded to win the title.

Still, that doesn’t guarantee a championship as only one team in the last four PBA Finals managed to bring home the bacon after breaking the tie with a crucial Game 5 win.

Sta. Lucia was the last team to do it against Purefoods in the 2007-08 Philippine Cup.

Barangay Ginbera coach Jong Uichico however, isn’t concerned about the figures, although he’s conscious with one aspect where his Kings were obviously outnumbered.

“Just take two or four points off those we could have won it,” he said shortly after the league’s crowd darlings lost Game 4 with a gripping 106-104 setback.

Uichico is obviously talking about the big discrepancy in offensive rebounds. The Beermen had 24 off the offensive glass, which they translated into 23 points.

In contrast, the Kings only had eight offensive rebounds.

Perhaps, the most crucial of that San Miguel offensive board was snatched by import Gabe Freeman, whose rebound off a missed by Mike Cortez with 26.3 seconds left put the Beermen in front for good, 103-101.

“In the end, we thought it all boiled down to those missed free throws,” Uichico said. “But San Miguel’s offensive rebounds that really hurt us most.”

For the record, Barangay Ginebra went 23-of-33 from the foul line compared to San Miguel’s 18-of-27 shooting from the same area. – PBA News Bureau (THE FREEMAN)