Ginebra has a new weapon

Brgy Ginebra, when they have their full complement of players, is dangerous. This team is just loaded. Actually, even without the full house, Ginebra is pretty good. Ronald Tubid, Cyrus Baguio and Eric Menk have held the fort admirably this year while backcourt stars Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand struggle with injuries. The Fast and the Furious have combined to miss 31 games this conference, and yet the Kings are a top-4 team in the PBA.

And that only makes the development of JC Intal – ‘the Rocket’ – even scarier.

Intal has always been a prospect. Very few players have that combination of skill and athleticism that he has for his size. At 6’4”, he can almost pass for a big man in the PBA (barely), but with the quickness of a guard. And the hops. Ah, the hops. Intal is a perennial favorite at whatever slam dunk contest he chooses to enter. That’s how he got his monicker in the first place. He makes dunking the ball look like the easiest thing in the world to do.

Intal has always been a bundle of potential. There were rumors in the past that San Miguel Beer had wanted to acquire Intal as a long-term replacement for the aging and oft-injured Danny Seigle. The opinion of many is that once JC develops a reliable three-point shot, he can be close to impossible to guard. Intal’s shown flashes of brilliance through the years, but never quite put it together.

Not until now, at least. Granted, he had that sweat gland disorder that kept him off the floor for a long stretch in his development years. But man, does he look good now.

He’s scored 10 points or more in 16 of the team’s 22 games, including the last nine. In fact, since Ginebra’s December 25 win over Coca-cola, Intal has been averaging 20.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists over a 7-game stretch. He averaged only 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds last conference. In their quarterfinal series against TNT, he’s upped his scoring to 22.3 points per game, to go along with 7.0 boards and 1.3 assists. He’s getting good balance on his shot attempts, too. He’s made 9 three-pointers in three games against TNT, and averaging an impressive 9.5 free throw attempts per game. They’ve needed his output badly, with Tubid shooting .288 eFG% and .365 TS% for the series.

He was it again last night. Eric Menk is going to get the attention for his 20-point performance (only the second time this conference he’s reached 20) and the game-clinching free throws he made. But Intal’s 25 points (.531 eFG%; .667 TS%) and 10 rebounds were big in their first win of the series.

Caguioa and Heltebrand played limited but quality minutes last night. Down 0-2 in the series, that may have been their last chance to play this conference. Now, they’re down 1-2, still with their backs to the wall, still facing elimination, still needing to win two-in-a-row to advance. It’s tough, but if JC Intal keeps his play up, Ginebra might just stand a chance.