View from the Backboard: did anybody see that one coming?

San Sebastian is a terrific team.

A legitimate MVP candidate in Jimbo Aquino. The second-best big man rotation in the league with Ian Sangalang, Gilbert Bulawan, Calvin Abueva and Dave Najorda. A natural scorer off the bench in rookie Ronald Pascual. Plenty of veteran shooters in Pamboy Raymundo, Anthony del Rio and even Raymond Maconocido. 15 consecutive wins in the elimination round.

This is a very talented team, with a fantastic coach that has brought everything together. Ato Agustin may be new to the coaching business, but he knows his basketball. In a year where they lost their top scorer in Jim Viray and the likely MVP of the NCAA if not for a rule that bars players from non-Final Four teams to win the prize in Smart Gilas National Team member Jason Ballesteros, this should have been a team that would get weaker, and not stronger.

But now they’re heading into the NCAA Finals.

San Sebastian no doubt has the tools to blow any team in the league right out of the building. Still, did anybody expect them to get into the finals as easily as they did? Right off the bat, the dangerous Stags built a 19-point advantage and spent the rest of game keeping the JRU Heavy Bombers at bay.

A little anti-climatic?

I guess, but it wasn’t like the Heavy Bombers weren’t trying. They worked hard, but the outside shot just wasn’t falling for them tonight. JRU shot 1-20 from the three-point line as a team, missing their first 18 attempts. That one conversion was made less than two minutes to go in the game when Jhe Agas banked in a three from the left elbow.

Yes, he banked it in. And I don’t think he meant to at all.

We talk quite a bit about the law of averages on this blog, especially when the UE Red Warriors are involved, but it just wasn’t there tonight. After going 0 for 9 in the first half, even Butch Maniego expected them to start making their threes in the second half. No such luck.

JR Sena showed up tonight, sort of. And I know he turns the ball over a lot, and he’s prone to making offensive fouls. He hasn’t been a guy who makes the most of his touches. Not this year, at least. But they should have pounded it more to him.

His midrange game was on target. He drew a nice number of fouls. And in a game where the three-point shot just wasn’t falling, they should have just went for the high percentage shots and gotten to the line.

For a brief stretch to open up the third, that strategy worked. Sena, along with John Nchoutu Njei and Marvin Hayes, pounded it in the paint. (They had to, since none of these guys can stick a three). The Bombers got to the line. That big lead shrunk down to just eight. And then John Wilson and Agas came into the game and pretty much chucked their team out of the game.

By the time the quarter ended, the Stags had it back up to 20.

It was just an ugly game, from the opening tip. I guess the final score indicates that. San Sebastian 79, JRU 64. Low scoring games aren’t usually pretty. But kudos to the Stags for knowing how to win ugly.

Abueva was his usual self, grabbing every rebound and loose ball. He roughed up Hayes quite a bit, too. His game personifies ugly, but that gets the job done. The consistency of his energy is unmatched. This guy looks like he never gets tired, and that’s huge for this team.

Everybody chipped in. Bulawan played his hard-nosed brand of defense. Raymundo was making the nifty passes that were missing in their games against San Beda. Pascual and del Rio hit big threes whenever their team needed it. Even skinny point guard Eric Gatchalian made a couple of big plays against the JRU defense.

And Jimbo? He started the game off right, putting his full arsenal of offensive moves on display. He missed his share of open threes in the second half, but by that time, they had a big enough lead that it didn’t matter.

But it doesn’t do to talk about what each individual did, because these Stags are much more than just the sum of their parts. The crisp ball-movement was there. The spacing on offense was just right. They challenged every shot and battled for every rebound.

And they won; which is the important thing, really.

So now, it’s down to two. The San Beda Red Lions and the San Sebastian Stags. Number one versus number two.

This should be interesting.