Push Admin

This Day in PBA History: San Mig Coffee-Ginebra semis game draws record crowd

Article (news)

Rey Joble

The Purefoods-Ginebra rivalry started in 1988 when former teammates-turned nemeses Robert Jaworski and Mon Fernandez were at the height of their bitter on-court feud.Jaworski was the playing coach of Añejo and Fernandez was appointed both as Purefoods franchise player and head coach at the same time.Such rivalry between the two most popular teams carried on through the years and was even branded as Manila Clasico, the PBA’s own version of a rivalry similar to the El Clasico of football pertaining to the colossal matchup between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/06/22/this-day-in-pba-history-era-of-next-gen-greats-begins">This Day in PBA History: Paras reminisces on 1989 draft class</a></li></ul>On this day 8 years ago, February 12, 2014, Purefoods, then carrying the name of San Mig Coffee, and Barangay Ginebra, faced each other in a game considered a battle for the ages.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/03/22/dapat-bang-ipatanggal-na-ang-gilas-special-draft">Dapat bang ipatanggal na ang Gilas special draft? May ilang sang-ayon</a></li></ul>The winner-take-all, Game 7 encounter for a finals berth drew a record-breaking attendance of 24,883 fans back then at the Big Dome, but the drama was at its feverish pitch until 2-time Most Valuable Player James Yap would turn on the switch.Yap, San Mig Coffee&#x27;s top gun, scattered 30 points, including a prolific 7-of-10 shooting from behind the arc while Peter June Simon dropped 28 points as the “Scoring Apostles” of the old Purefoods franchise carried the team back to the finals following a 110-87 win over the Gin Kings.Just a conference earlier, San Mig Coffee won a championship in an epic 7-game series against San Miguel Beer.This time, Tim Cone and his troops would play in another seventh game just to make it to the finals.No one was aware there would be more struggles along the way for San Mig Coffee. &quot;With San Mig Coffee, every conference that we won was like a battle. No one ever thought we would win it and finally we would win it. Next conference, there&#x27;s no way we would win it, we were fifth seed or sixth seed and then we would win it again,&quot; said Cone.But each struggle would be repaid by a victory in the end and in those 3 championships at stake during the 2014 season, San Mig Coffee won them all on its way to winning the league&#x27;s last grand slam. Cone looked back at the hardship of every battle they went through. &quot;We had 9 knockout games that year in 2014. If we lose any of those games, we never would have won the grand slam. We won all those, back-to-the-wall, lose-or-go-home type of games,&quot; said Cone. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/01/22/this-day-in-pba-history-end-of-the-redmanizers-dynasty">This Day in PBA History: A dynasty ends, as Crispa disbands</a></li></ul>&quot;That is a testament to the mental toughness of that basketball team, having guys like Big Game James (Yap), who would show up in those big games. I like to call him Big Game Ping (Marc Pingris), too, because of how he shows up defensively and on the boards, he&#x27;ll just lift the level of his game during those big moments. Mark Barroca always have those big fourth quarters, like Jojo Lastimosa.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/16/22/this-day-in-pba-history-the-birth-of-purefoods">This Day in PBA History: Tanduay leaves league, then Purefoods takes over</a></li></ul>But it was the Manila Clasico encounter, a win-or-go-home match 8 years ago, which started the old Purefoods franchise&#x27;s grand slam bid.&quot;No one&#x27;s gonna beat us when they&#x27;re shooting like that,&quot; said Cone, referring to Yap and Simon, who were making big shots at the firing end to torch the Gin Kings. &quot;They were phenomenal, especially in a Game 7.&quot;By winning Game 7 of their semifinals, Cone also started his own personal journey to greatness as he launched his bid for a second grand slam.Cone is the only coach to win two grand slams and to date, stands as the winningest coach in league history with 23 titles. <div>Rey Joble is a sportswriter who has been covering the PBA since 1998, and a fan of the league way before that. </div><div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1787789" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

In front of 24,883 fans at Araneta Coliseum, San Mig Coffee showed grit to advance to the finals.