King-sized heart, old mettle pull Ginebra thru

The losing coach best summed up the amazing feat of injury-hit Barangay Ginebra over Air21’s, winning Smart PBA Fiesta Conference crown before a record crowd of over 23,000 at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.

“I have to commend Ginebra for fighting and wanting it more. It’s not that we didn’t want it. We wanted it badly but they showed they wanted it more,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol.

Ginebra coach Jong Uichico had no ready answer on how they did the trick, giving the credit to his players for not giving up in the face of tough challenge and adversities.

“It’s hard to explain how we won it,” said Uichico..

The Kings leaned on their never-say-die attitude to overcame a series of player injuries that hounded the team from the start of the tourney to the finish route to their eighth title in 17 finals appearances

It helped that Ginebra got an import also with a winning attitude. Chris Alexander himself got hurt in the third quarter of the deciding Game Seven, but played on.

“Chris just told me, ‘It’s the last game. I’ll just play this through,’” related Uichico.

In the end, the injury-and-foul-saddled Alexander finished with 19 rebounds, 16 points, four blocks, one assist and one steal and made life hard for Air21 counterpart Steven Thomas.

The 7-foot-1 behemoth shone throughout the tourney, leading Ginebra to a 20-6 win-loss record after taking over from Ernest Brown.

With practically all their teammates hurting, Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk seized the moment, powering the team with a combined outputs of 43 points and 17 rebounds in the 97-84 title-clincher. The two were later named Finals co-MVPs.

Experience and defense proved to be vital factors in the all-or-nothing game with the Kings thriving under pressure and the Express crumbling down, going scoreless in the last four minutes of the contest.

Perasol, for his part, said they hoped they become a better team with the experience and put the bitter defeat on a spiritual perspective.

“If we win, I promised God I’ll give Him the glory. If He thinks a Ginebra win will give Him more glory, then so be it,” he said. “Siguro, He wanted to make so many more people happy. So, if that would mean we would be the one to take the toll, that would be fine.”

A predominantly Ginebra crowd of over 23,000 watched the match. PBA officials said that’s the biggest crowd seen in the league since the glory days of the Crispa-Toyota rivalry.