Long 8-year wait over: Barangay Ginebra wins PBA Governors' Cup

MANILA: In front of the man – and close to 23,000 others – who started Barangay Ginebra’s never-say-die attitude, the Gin Kings’ eight-year title drought came to an end using the very style that has endeared this team to this basketball-crazy republic.
Robert Jaworski didn’t only watch his former team, but he also gave the Kings a pep talk at halftime that perked the squad up as Ginebra came roaring back from 15 points down in the first half before Justin Brownlee hit the marginal three-pointer in a 91-88 win over Meralco at the buzzer that ignited a wild celebration at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night.
“Wow, what an ending,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone opened up, just minutes after winning his 19th championship as the Kings won a third straight game and closed out the best-of-seven series, 4-2 in the PBA Governors' Cup.
“Sometimes, players overcome bad coaching,” Cone said of the Brownlee game-winner, which wasn’t actually designed for his import as Ginebra didn’t need a three-pointer.
“I wasn’t a great coach tonight. He just made a great shot. I got some great players,” said Cone, who bared that the final play was intended for LA Tenorio to drive to the basket and fish for a foul at the very least.
Tenorio would go on to win the Finals MVP award, shooting 25 points for Game 6 and going on to average 17.2 points, 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds in the series.
The 5-foot-8 spitfire fired 21 of his total in the last two periods, including 14 in the third as Ginebra slowly nibbled away at a 32-45 halftime deficit.
Brownlee scored the last five Ginebra points inside the last 27.3 seconds, with his previous basket forging the game’s last tie at 88, before Allen Durham missed a very makeable layup on the other end that left 5.5 ticks on the clock and a lot of time for Cone to design the championship-winning play.
“It could have gone either way,” Cone said of Game 6. “Durham could have made that lay-up and he would have been the hero. That (Durham) layup could have been the winning shot. It could have been them (Bolts, who won the game).”
Snapping the long titleless spell was made even special when the Kings rallied in the second half – just after getting some words of encouragement from Jaworski himself, who made his way to the dugout during the halftime break to the surprise of Cone.
“He (Jaworski) came (to the locker room at halftime) and he was very calm and friendly,” Cone said. “I was surprised. And he told us that we were playing tentative, not playing our game.
“He made everyone relax,” continued Cone. “The tenseness in the whole room just went out the window. It gave me goose bumps, to tell you frankly.”
Coming in as a replacement to Paul Harris in Ginebra’s second game, Brownlee proved to be the savior for the Gin Kings. On Wednesday night, Brownlee finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Scottie Thompson was the third man in twin digits for Cone with 10.
Chris Newsome, who was named the Rookie of the Year before Game 4, led the Bolts with 19 points, with Durham shooting just 15 for his new series low.
Still, there was nothing for Meralco to be ashamed of as the Bolts also overachieved in the conference and for the entire season, all things being considered.
“I want them to keep their heads up, we have no time to hold our heads down,” Meralco coach Norman Black told reporters as he was gracious enough to grant an interview despite the stinging loss.
“My talk to them (Bolts, at the end of the game) was pretty positive,” Black said. “That was a huge shot by Brownlee – a buzzer-beater – and there’s no way you could have stopped that.”
The next PBA activity will be the Rookie Draft on Oct. 30 at Robinsons’ Place in Ermita, with the next season to open on Nov. 20.