Chris Ross and San Miguel Beermen during the PBA Philippine Cup Finals Game 2 against TN Tropang 5G. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Chris Ross is making sure that he walks the talk in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals as San Miguel Beer tries to repeat over TNT and take the series lead.
“I was kinda begging them to play more during the season, so I gotta make plays,” Ross said after leaving an imprint in the Beermen’s bounce-back Game 2 victory that evened the series at 1-1 two nights earlier.
Game 3 is set on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. inside Smart Araneta Coliseum, with Ross expected to build on his important presence since the semifinal decider against crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra.
It was after San Miguel’s heartbreaking defeat in Game 6 that Ross asked coach Leo Austria if he could get some significant playing time, confident of being a steady contributor even at 40 years old.
Ross and Austria have been in many battles and championships together—and they’ve had their share of disagreements.
“I know that every championship that he would always step up and we saw it in Game 2,” Austria said. “His leadership was there, his ball distribution and the players are comfortable when he’s on the floor.”
Ross had seven points, four rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the 98-92 win that atoned for the disappointment and frustration of the Game 1 loss marred by Mo Tautuaa’s dunk that was nullified at a crucial moment in the stretch because of a basket interference.
Tautuaa also was a factor in the win, so were Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano, the high-point man with 22 and Jeron Teng as the Beermen’s second unit showed up to ably support Ross and June Mar Fajardo.
While San Miguel had plenty of heroes, TNT will look to regain its bearings after some of its stalwarts became nonfactors.
RR Pogoy cooled off after sizzling in Game 1 by posting just six points on 1-of-9 shooting, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser dealt with foul trouble, though eventually ending the contest with 10 points, four rebounds and five blocks while it took some time before Jordan Heading got into a groove.
But a massive concern is the potential absence of Poy Erram, who tweaked his ankle in the second half and had to leave the venue on a wheelchair.
Calvin Oftana fired 23 points for TNT, and was virtually the lone guy carrying the squad before going scoreless in the fourth.
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Turnovers plus uncharacteristic misses also cost TNT a chance to pull off a comeback win after being down by 13.