Intriguing match-up in PBA Finals could bring back excitement to spectators
TNT Tropang Giga has won the opening game of their best-of-seven series of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup against Barangay Ginebra, 104-88, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
It was also a historic night for the league as Game 1 was attended by 11,021 spectators - the largest ever crowd in the venue and it was also the biggest of the season.
What excites the basketball enthusiasts to return back to watching live games? Assessing the game, it’s the intriguing match-ups, and the culture of winning for both teams.
First, the battle of the coaches.
Tim Cone and Chot Reyes have known each other for so long since their Alaska days when coach Chot was still the deputy of Cone. And now they are working together again in Gilas Pilipinas.
Throughout the years, Cone has a lot of championships tucked under his belt, 25 to be exact and he’s running for 26. In fact, he is now the winningest coach in the history of the PBA. He was also awarded the “Baby Dalupan” Coach of the Year award five times.
But Reyes is not that far behind as he had nine championships and is looking for his 10th. He even had more Coach of the Year plums with six under his name.
What is more interesting in their match-up is that they split their head-to-head bout in the PBA Finals, 3-3.
A win over the other might give bragging rights to any of these tacticians who are very good friends outside the hardcourt but are foes when it comes to competition.
Coach Tim might have the advantage with all of his accolades but a former student or deputy are the ones who usually succeed their mentor, and it might ring true in coach Chot.
Another match-up that the fans are looking for is the battle between imports, Justin Brownlee and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. It’s like finally watching Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in the Finals. It doesn’t happen in the NBA but these two competitive and quality imports can give that vibe in the PBA.
Brownlee has been successful all throughout his PBA career with six titles under him and most people see him as the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T). And the numbers do not lie. He even had an unblemished record before but there was someone who put a stain on it.
The one in Justin’s 6-1 Finals record was given to him by none other than Hollis-Jefferson who led TNT in winning the 2023 Governors’ Cup trophy in his first stint in the PBA. He was even named as the Best Import of the Conference that season, and he can duplicate that feat again as he is now leading the BIC statistical race.
Rondae, though, was defeated by JB in their 2022 Asian Games battle. Despite the PBA being a different field, they also split their head-to-head match-up.
The two imports have so much respect for one another and they love the game so much — and that brings the level of their play to a notch higher.
There are more interesting head-to-head battles in the series just like the match-up between Gilas teammates Scottie Thompson and Calvin Oftana, rookie RJ Abarrientos facing his idol Jayson Castor, who’s a two-time best point guard in Asia, athletic veterans Japeth Aguilar and Kelly Williams, the bench of both team and a lot more.
But that will be in part two of this Dribble Report Analysis.
