Brownlee laments defensive shortcomings vs San Miguel as 49-point eruption goes for naught
MANILA, Philippines – Defensive shortcomings doomed Barangay Ginebra even as Justin Brownlee tried to put the Gin Kings on his back with one of his finest scoring performances in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Brownlee saw his 49-point explosion go down the drain as Ginebra suffered a 131-121 loss to San Miguel that tied their best-of-seven semifinals at 2-2 on Wednesday, October 16.
The three-time Best Import was a picture of efficiency, making 22 of his 26 field goals, including a 5-of-9 clip from three-point range and 2-of-2 shooting from four-point distance.
He also finished with 9 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block in over 40 minutes of action.
But as brilliant as Brownlee was, the Gin Kings’ defensive lapses that paved the way for the Beermen trio of June Mar Fajardo (29 points), EJ Anosike (27 points), and CJ Perez (20 points) to dominate proved to be their undoing.
“I had it going offensively — me personally. And I think the whole team, we did pretty good offensively. But the story of the game was our defense,” said Brownlee.
“We did not perform well on defense. It was a huge reason why we lost this game tonight.”
The 131 points San Miguel scored on Wednesday were the most Ginebra allowed in regulation since its historic blowout loss to the Beermen, 131-82, in the elimination round.
San Miguel shot a healthy 54% from the field (49-of-90) and 43% from beyond the arc (13-of-30) on Wednesday as three more players reached double-figure scoring.
The other time a team breached the 130-point mark against the Gin Kings came in Game 2 of the semifinals when the Beermen escaped with a 131-125 overtime victory.
“Giving up 131 points is not acceptable from us. We’re a team that prides itself on defense, then giving up that many points is not like us. It is not where we want to be,” said Brownlee.
Out of their six encounters this conference so far, Ginebra beat San Miguel thrice — victories which involved the Gin Kings limiting the Beermen to an average of 100.3 points.
Brownlee and Ginebra hope to replicate that feat as they seek to regain control of the series in Game 5 on Friday, October 18, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“We expect this series to just be hard-fought and tough the rest of the way,” said Brownlee. – Rappler.com