Some members of ‘Death 15’ went deathly silent in the PBA Finals

Going into the best-of-seven title series, the stats sheets already forewarned that the Philippine Cup battle royale was bound to be a classic case of offense vs. defense.

Making the work of coaches Nenad Vucinic, Luigi Trillo and Norman Black difficult were prolific duo June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez. But let’s take a look at team stats first.

SMB was the No. 1 team in the 12-team league in points scored with 107.4 points per game, as well as in three-point accuracy (37.5%) and total field goal percentage (46.8%). In comparison, Meralco only ranked 10th in points (90.3 ppg), sixth in three-point shooting (32.6%) and seventh in total field goals (42.9%).

With Fajardo anchoring San Miguel’s board work, the favorites had a league-high 52.0 rebounds a night, compared to the Bolts’ 47.9 rpg. The Beermen were also tops in second-chance points at 16.7 ppg while Meralco was sixth with 13.8 ppg.

On the other hand, the Bolts, gunning for their first-ever PBA championship, were numero uno in points allowed with 86.95 ppg. SMB was not as stingy as it gave up 98.9 ppg. Meralco took very good care of the ball, first in least turnovers committed with only 12.0 turnovers a game, edging fourth-ranked San Miguel (13.1 tpg).

With that, the championship series was set. Many believed the Beermen will get their 30th conference title in a week or so. However, all the underdog talk just motivated Meralco’s think tank all the more.

The Bolts gave Fajardo his shots, perhaps even more than his usual share. But the guys in orange had a mission – to make life difficult for most of the ‘Death 15.’

And the Bolts did.

Fajardo led San Miguel with 23.17 ppg in the Finals, shooting at a 62.68% clip from the field. Certainly impressive numbers.

But the others?

Perez recorded 20.83 ppg, his usual output for the conference. But Perez was bothered by Meralco’s defensive stoppers. Before the Finals he converted 47.6% of his field goal attempts. In the Finals, Perez only hit 37.27% of his shots.

Don Trollano normed 8.6ppg in the finals, down from 13.8ppg. Terrence Romeo played in only three Finals games, submitting 7.33 ppg, down from 12.3ppg. Long-range sniper Marcio Lassiter retained his 11.5 ppg norm. Jericho Cruz was also quiet in the Finals, with his production down from 11.0 ppg to 5.0 ppg.

Veteran playmaker Chris Ross was not one of the team’s top scorers, but his 2.5 ppg while shooting at a paltry 16.67% from the field in 29.2 minutes per game certainly wasn’t what you’d expect from him.

Going to the Finals stats leaders, Fajardo and Perez finished first and third in both points and rebounding. But four Bolts landed among the Top 6 scorers with Chris Newsome ranked second. Cliff Hodge was Meralco’s best rebounder at second while pacing four of his fellow Bolts in the Top 7 among Finals rebounders.

Newsome was the best passer in the Finals with 4.5 dimes a night.

To their credit, San Miguel came up with defensive gems. Perez completed 2.33 steals an outing, Fajardo swatted 1.83 Meralco shots each night and Ross topped the assist to turnover ratio list.

No arguments, the numbers pointed to both Fajardo and Newsome as the go-to guys in the big games and crunch time.

After six well-played and exciting games, the Meralco Bolts bagged their first PBA champion’s trophy – the Jun Bernardino Trophy for winning the PBA Philippine Cup.