By the Numbers: Three BIG Things that Made Ginebra Champions Anew

Just what went well for the Gin Kings in last night's Game 7?

LA Tenorio

Tinyente bagged another Finals MVP award as he led Ginebra to another title. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)



As the 2017 PBA Governors' Cup trophy was finally into the air inside the Philippine Arena, as the confetti rained down the court, as the crowd mobbed the winning team, Tim Cone and the rest of the back-to-back champions, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings finally released a sigh of relief. 

After all, they saw the Meralco Bolts cut down a double-digit lead to just 4 points with just under a minute to play in the 4th quarter. Fortunately, time was on the side of the Gin Kings as they held on to win Game 7 with a 101-96 decision in front of a mostly pro-Ginebra 54,000+ crowd that watched the rubber match. 

Now, let's check out the numbers that enabled Ginebra to win it all, finally:


Tinyete's 26 Points= Another Finals MVP Award

If there was one specific player who deserved all of the praises, it's none other than one of the smallest guys from either team, Lewis Alfred Tenorio. His 26 points, built on 4 long range bombs, 4 assists and 2 steals in 41 minutes of action gained him another Finals MVP award to add to his already full resume. 

Mind you, folks, this guy was playing all conference long with an injured arm but decided to wait until the end of the season to undergo a needed surgery. 

Now that the season has ended with Ginebra being the champs, again, Tinyente's sacrifices were all worth it. That, folks, is the living example of Ginebra's NEVER SAY DIE attitude and whether you like him or not, Tenorio deserves a drop of your respect. 


50% Field Goal Shooting: The Less. The Better

Sometimes, you don't need to shoot more to win a basketball game, especially in a championship game. The Meralco Bolts took 84 SHOTS in Game 7 and they only made 35 of them. In contrast, Ginebra only took 77 shots and yet they made 39 of them, a 50% field goal shooting. Efficient, isn't it? They also better at the 2-point area (53%) and from long distance (43%). Now that's how you win a championship. By hitting your target instead of missing them, horribly. 


55 Points for Ginebra's Giants

As mentioned by this basketball pundit on wheels during the entire series, one of Ginebra's main strength against the smaller Bolts is their height. And if you watched Game 7 last night, then you saw how the bigs of Ginebra continuously pounded on the inside while Justin Brownlee sniped from the outside.

The result: Brownlee, Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar and Joe Devance went on to combine for 55 points- 23 from Brownlee alone. 

That's a big difference compared to the output of Meralco's bigs who got 26 points from Allen Durham and only 7 from Reynel Hugnatan. Now that's dominance.


Conclusion

Meralco may have lost, again but that doesn't make them any weaker. No. It's just that they've lost to a better team, again. They've lost to a hungrier, bigger and more talented team in Ginebra. That's the reason why the Gin Kings are kings again.

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