The-Fast-and-the-Furious-are-nearing-the-finish-line

Flashback to Ginebra’s last game in the Philippine Cup: San Mig Coffee opened up a double-digit lead heading into the second quarter. At that point, it looked like the Mixers were going to run away with game seven of their semifinals matchup. Enter Mark Caguioa.

The Spark single-handedly brought Ginebra back into the game thanks to one of his signature scoring barrages. But looking closely at how he scored, there was something noticeably different. He wasn’t hitting fade-aways, pull-ups and floaters like everyone was used to. Caguioa was scoring from the free-throw line, off offensive rebounds and broken plays.

This wasn’t beautiful basketball. It was gritty. It was dirty. It was primal. Watching Caguioa during that second quarter stretch was like watching a trapped bear gnawing its leg off. There was a sense of desperation, a damning rage in his game.

Ginebra would go on to lose that do-or-die game. PJ Simon exploded in the fourth quarter and blew out the Barangay. A footnote to that game seven win by San Mig Coffee was Simon’s defender during that searing-hot scoring run: Jay-jay Helterbrand.

A lot of people would look at that match-up and see how Helterbrand was overmatched. The younger, more athletic Simon just dominated him repeatedly. But the flipside of that match-up was how Helterbrand, ever so cooly, accepted the assignment and gallantly faced Simon without question or complaint.

Helterbrand was put in a terrible situation but made no qualms about it. He was a faithful soldier that was sent on a suicide mission. He stood his ground and played good defense. Simon was just unstoppable that night.

This season is an important season for Ginebra. They are a team in transition. Caguioa and Helterbrand are old school muscle cars that are running alongside newer, faster, younger models.

In this year’s Philippine Cup, Ginebra unveiled the Twin Towers, their new weapons Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. The offense changed decidedly, with a lot of the action running through the two beasts inside. Additionally, LA Tenorio has taken up a larger responsibility as point guard of the team. He has slowly adopted a leadership role and is bit-by-bit living up to his moniker as Ginebra’s Gineral. Chris Ellis and Mac Baracael have also emerged in the past few conferences as versatile players on both ends of the floor. Looking ahead to the Commissioner’s Cup, Ginebra has recruited a hotshot import in Leon Rodgers to ramp up their scoring even further.

source: GMA Network

Nakakalungkot pero ganun tlaga, sana tulungan na nila JJ & Kuya Mark yung mga bagito sa team ng mga natutunan nila, bigyan na din sana ng coaching staffs ng playing time sila Dylan & Forrester, sayang ang mga talents ng mga batang 'to kung di naman mabibigyan ng chance to showcase their basketball talents...

last chance na ng FAST & FURIOUS mag champion this season.... GO GINEBRA.... tulong tulong lang....

i hope na kung magretire man sila sana mkapag champion muna..

sana after magretire sila, makita natin ulit sila sa bench as part of the coaching staff.............