PBA Commish Cup Semis: Never Say Die

The 6th Man cometh

Barangay Gineba San Miguel, after a slow start and 7th seed finish at the end of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Eliminations, are back in the PBA Finals after dismantling the mighty Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters.

Say what you will about Ginebra, but they won the series and bonded together over the course of the conference. From a team that appeared to have absolutely no identity and chemistry, they've once again become a league powerhouse thanks to the great efforts of head coach Alfrancis Chua.

Before we proceed, our hats off to the Texters for putting up a heroic effort and going toe-to-toe with Ginebra until tonight's epic Game 5. Just imagine that the guys who are leading this team have been pulling "double duties"for so long, burning themselves out with their mother team and then also suiting up for Gilas Pilipinas. Fatigue and injuries spelled the Texters doom yet again-- Kelly Williams, Jared Dillinger, Jimmy Alapag (who suited up and played because that's just how the Mighty Mouse rolls) and then tonight, Ranidel de Ocampo.

Back to Ginebra. The team rallied around point guard L.A. Tenorio-- the man has pretty much taken over the Barangay specially with reigning PBA Most Valuable Player Mark Caguioa out. The team thrives on Tenorio's on-court wizardry, they feed off his leadership and he pretty much set the tone for Ginebra. Mac Baracael and Chris Ellis did their thing, dominating their counterparts at the wing position. Kerby Raymundo wasn't looking like the Purefoods version, but he was out there battling night in and night out. Then there's import Vernon Macklin, who could pretty well be the single X-factor for Ginebra come the Finals (more on this on a separate entry).

Let's see here: Ginebra finished 7th, had to go through the heavily favored 2nd seed Rain or Shine Elastopainters before facing the Texters in the semifinals which is no easy feat despite the considerable lack of manpower from the boys in blue.

The team has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts, with veterans Raymundo, Jayjay Helterbrand and Rudy Hatfield all putting in work the last couple of games for Ginebra. Raymundo has gotten his confidence back and is working around Macklin. Helterbrand is sinking his patented pull-up jumpers like it was 2008. Hatfield? The man should be given a Purple Heart (if he still doesn't have one that is) for the hellacious defense he put Texters' import Tony Mitchell through every time they were matched-up on the floor.

Moving forward, we still haven't seen the best that Ginebra can play. Josh Urbiztondo hasn't really been going lately, and there's always more room for consistency when it comes to Baracael and Ellis. Plus, we'd like to see how well Caguioa is doing and how he'll play alongside Tenorio (they achieved some semblance of chemistry this conference before MC47 hurt his knee).