Weak Imports Against Justin Brownlee Might Guarantee Ginebra 2018 Governor's Cup Defense

Coach Tim Cone understands the power of the spoken word. He always makes pronouncements early in a conference and his insights usually result in a positive outcome. Take his pronouncements about Greg Slaughter being the best defense against the PBA's reigning MVP Jun Mar Fajardo. While he did this early in the year, and it didn't happen during the Philippine Cup, Ginebra was able to bag the Commissioner's Cup. Having the media play on the facts that Slaughter beat Fajardo when they were in college and that Fajardo and Slaughter have never faced each other in a finals series placed doubt in Fajardo's mind and was used to Ginebra's advantage. Never mind the fact that Fajardo has been the MVP for the past four years. And never mind the fact that Fajardo has faced taller competition in the international arena and bigger and stronger imports like Onuaku and Smith. Suddenly, Fajardo doubted his ability to dominate the paint because of this masterful tactic. So, if San Miguel wants to dominate again, Fajardo has to be mentally tough.

And San Miguel, as a team, should remove the idea of being the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in the PBA. You shouldn't talk about that until you've retired as a team. Lebron shouldn't be in the conversation until he has retired like Michael Jordan. And neither should the current SMB Core, until they are finally done. They still have a lot of future accomplishments as long as they keep healthy and as long as they improve their bench. And many years from now, when that time finally comes, then we can compare this SMB team with the Alaska of the 90's, or Star Hotshots or other PBA teams who have achieved a grandslam. As a fan, having a grandslam would still be one of the benchmarks to be included in the discussion for a GOAT Team.

Now, with the recent article of SPIN on the 2018 Governor's Cup imports, I wonder if any team really wants to beat Ginebra, knowing that they've had the best Governor's Cup import for the past two years. Durham is still there, but we've already seen that Meralco doesn't stand a chance against Ginebra, and more so now that Ginebra has gained confidence against SMB. Arizona Reid was an import who left San Miguel in recent memory. Why would you give this guy another chance at redemption? We know how that story will end since we've just seen it in the recently concluded Commisioner's Cup.

What SMB needs is an import that can do it all just like Brownlee. One who is a three-point threat and can slash to the basket.  And more important than this skill set is that  preferably, this import has beaten Justin Brownlee numerous times in the past. An import that has the mental edge over Brownlee and will cause Brownlee to doubt his ability to lead Ginebra to a title defense. If teams can find that import, then they will have the edge over Ginebra in a potential finals match up. And when the leader of the team doubts himself, then the team begins to doubt their ability, too. And if that happens, Ginebra will no longer be the Governor's Cup champions.

Down 2-3, San Miguel Beer Has To Dig Deep

Reynaldo Balkman should just focus on game 6 instead of the non-calls in the Commissioner's Cup 2018 Finals. In a series where he is fighting against Ginebra and their fans, you'ld expect the PBA would want the heavily favored team to win. This was the same type of mentality faced by Tim Cone when he was coaching for Alaska against Ginebra in the 90s. And what made that Tim Cone led Alaska a great team is that they defied the odds, trusting in each other despite what they were up against.

I don't know if SMB's core has enough in it's tank. Unlike the Beeracle 0-3 run, they don't have momentum this time. And for a team known for it's offensive prowess, the shooters seem to have lost their touch at such a critical time. Arwind Santos was given a lot of opportunities to score, but was firing blanks. He was even doing Stephen Curry type shots, shooting away from his comfort zone. Alex Cabagnot has been a non-factor after his Michael Jordan like performance in game 2. And Chris Ross, being assigned as the primary defender for Justin Brownlee, is probably too tired to score or call the plays when at the offensive end. And in a long series, if your starters are too tired, they can't perform.

SMB should also trust it's bench. Austria should trust Balkman, MGR and Stanhardinger with the defensive chores against Brownlee. Even Heruela can be entrusted to defend against LA Tenorio whom he was effective against before in their other Finals series.

And Fajardo is still the focal point of your offense. Rotate the ball from him from the post. Or he along with the other power forwards should be setting up ball screens to free up the shooters. Ginebra has done a good job forcing awkward shots from SMB shooters since they are not in their comfort zone. But the times when SMB shooters are left open, they shouldn't miss - easier said than done.

I don't know if SMB can still force a game 7. Being dominant for the last 3 years can take its toll on any team. Are they prepared to relinquish the torch to the potential upstarts? Is this the time to give others a chance at league dominance? As an SMB fan, I'd hate to think so.

What I do know is that I saw an SMB team that was fighting in Game 5. Sometimes, shots simply don't drop and calls are not made. But as long as their is still another game to be played in the series, their is still hope. SMB simply needs to refocus on what makes them a great team - trusting each other, giving the open man the chance to score, and defending well against their opponents.

Annoying Google Ads In The Middle of Google Play Games

Google seems to have made recent changes on Android phones. Their ads are suddenly appearing in the middle of a game. I wouldn't mind it if the game was Chess which takes a long time. But if the game were Clash Royale, where 5 seconds of delay can cost you the match - this ad ruins the user experience on a phone running on Google Android. I wonder if the higher ups of Google took this into account before they approved the ad changes with Google Play.

Instead of the ads appealing to a user, I think it creates more detest every time the ad appears on screen. It hurts the Google brand. And while some websites may attribute the ad to possible malware, the fact that the ad has Google's signature on it means that Google is still behind it.

So, this is an appeal to Google from a user. Please change the way you place your ads in your Google Play applications. A Clash Royale match lasts for a few minutes. Being interrupted in the middle of a match can turn the tide and result in a loss. The ad cannot be closed immediately because Google has integrated a 5 second delay before you can press on the close button. The ad can show up before the application starts or after the user closes the application.