Barangay Ginebra is just one win from another shot at the PBA Governors' Cup finals following a masterful two-way performance in a lopsided 121-92 victory over the San Miguel Beermen. TNT awaits the winner after cruising to a 110-90 win over Rain or Shine to close out the series and advance.
Now with one semifinals series done, let's look at how Ginebra solved San Miguel's offense and whether the Beermen still have options they can tap into to force a Game 7.
Ginebra exposes a San Miguel defensive weak link
In the first quarter, San Miguel looked like they picked up where they left off in Game 4 and started hot to lead by 33-20 late in the first chapter. Ginebra then locked in on both ends of the floor with RJ Abarrientos off the bench and breezed to a 14-0 run to seize the lead at the end of the quarter.
"When RJ [Abarrientos] and Joe [Devance] came in, they settled us down. I think we were just too pumped in the beginning and were thinking about the game too much," coach Tim Cone said about the slow start.
Abarrientos provided a big lift to Ginebra's offense - scoring a career high 28 points on 64.3% field goal percentage. His presence put San Miguel's defense in a bind, with multiple ball screen actions of Abarrientos involving June Mar Fajardo. That itself could be Ginebra's adjustment, as they aim to wear Fajardo out by having him defend in space. It was not just Abarrientos who relentlessly attacked his drop coverage in screens, but Justin Brownlee and Stephen Holt punished Fajardo's drop through pick-and-roll and used it to score on drives of the same ball screens as well.
A big check mark for Ginebra was the activity of Scottie Thompson, as he posted numbers of 22 points, eight rebounds, five rebounds, and two steals. He did his damage when his team needed it the most - with a 18-point first quarter that kept Ginebra afloat during San Miguel's early onslaught. Another notable thing to look moving into Game 6 is how Justin Brownlee's usage was reduced in this game, with Ginebra needing fewer points but more of an all-around performance. Brownlee finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
On the other hand, the reality for San Miguel is that their shooting came back to earth in Game 5 - only shooting at 22.2% (6-27) from beyond the 3-point arc. It enabled Ginebra to once again put extra defenders at the post, which stagnated and made San Miguel's offense predictable. However, San Miguel did find success with the CJ Perez-Fajardo pairing in the pick-and-roll, where it opens up a lot of opportunity for them to score easier through Perez drives, Fajardo's rolls to the basket, or when Ginebra decides to help off one of their shooters. And obviously San Miguel cannot let Ginebra score 121 points again in Game 6.
TNT's masterclass over Rain or Shine
From the start of the series, TNT established they can play multiple styles which Rain or Shine is uncomfortable with. They can play deliberately in the half court and tighten up their defense. TNT is also adept in playing with Rain or Shine's fast pace in transition, as they were one of the best teams in that play-type for the whole conference.
In Game 5, Rain or Shine just had one thing in mind - always have a ready a guy ready to help the primary defender of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to make his shots tougher. This opened up wide open looks for the four other players on the court, which Hollis-Jefferson has no problem locating. The defending champions made sure to capitalize on long closeouts by knocking down 51.9% from 3-point range and were able to drive the ball to the paint that led to a 46-36 advantage in the points in the shaded area.
What makes this performance frightening is TNT's potential to be a high-level defensive team while remaining lethal on offense. Though they haven't shown this consistently, if they unlock their offensive game to support Hollis-Jefferson in the finals, they will be tough to beat as TNT awaits the winner of the San Miguel-Ginebra semifinals.
"There's no secret to our game, we hang our hats on stopping the other team. When we make stops, we get a lot of [scoring] opportunities," coach Chot Reyes said.
For Rain or Shine, it's clear that their roster still needs more help to be able to keep up with the strong contenders of the PBA. The success of being a run-and-gun team was tamed in a slower paced playoffs, which showed their inability to generate good looks in the half court. With head coach Yeng Guiao not using the inexperienced roster card as an excuse for Rain or Shine, this puts the pressure for their main guys to speed up the growth and they continue to build on something special. It also might help to have a reinforcement that can become their bucket getter in the next conference, especially when the defenses force them to play slower and challenge them to execute in the half court.