SAN Miguel Beer owns the best starting five the last three years that is why it won the last three PBA Philippine Cup titles.
Add the fact that SMB also possesses the league’s four-time Most Valuable Player in June Mar Fajardo. That ties Fajardo with Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio with four MVP plums apiece.
Thus, armed with such solid soldiery going into the Finals blasting off on Friday, the Beermen were installed heavy favorites to prevail over the Magnolia Hotshots.
That appeared unquestionably valid when San Miguel, firing shots at will, zoomed to a 20-point lead before settling for a 14-point, 89-75 spread after the third quarter.
But didn’t someone say one can never be too sure of making one thing happen to one’s design, liking?
Magnolia magnified that dictum when it limited SMB to just 14 final quarter points, escaping with a 105-103 squeaker on Ian Sangalang’s two free throws to complete an improbable comeback from 20 points down.
The 6-foot-8 Raffy Reavies, aided by a referee’s indiscretion, blocked an overtime-sending shot at the buzzer by 6-foot-4 Arwind Santos as Magnolia drew first blood in the best-of-seven Finals.
The 6-foot-7 Sangalang was easily the star, his 14 points from his game-high 31 markers all coming in the final canto where Magnolia outscored San Miguel, 30-14.
And if the Beermen behave badly again in Game Two as they did on Friday—the 6-foot-10 Fajardo had only six points in Game One’s final 12 minutes after firing 25 in the first three quarters—Magnolia might yet wave a 2-0 lead on Palm Sunday.
More frightening than a Dengvaxia vaccine—for SMB, that is.
GOLF. My panyero, the esteemed Atty. Louie Sison, is right to say that in a one-on-one situation between a player and his accuser in an argument over a manner of play during a golf round, the player’s word wins outright. Thus, Miguel Tabuena, who denied Nick Paez’s accusation that Tabuena’s stroke in a bunker had touched a leaf, should have been absolved and not been given a 2-shot penalty on the 11th hole of The Country Club.
“I was there and I saw everything that happened,” said Louie, an ardent student of golf rules. Good thing Tabuena bucked the infraction and won the Philippine Open. Whew!