By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
SMART CLARK GIGA CITY – A personal milestone beckons for Joe Devance as Barangay Ginebra guns for the historic PBA Philippine Cup bubble championship on Wednesday.
Devance could earn his 11th title and tie Magnolia center and former teammate Rafi Reavis for most championships by an active player if the Kings finish off the TNT Tropang Giga in Game Five of the Finals.
But the veteran Fil-Am big man couldn’t care less of getting that individual record.
“I’m not really thinking about that yet. I’m just gonna think about the next game and try to take care of business,” said the 38-year-old cager, who won all his 10 titles under 22-time PBA champion coach Tim Cone.
Devance, along with fellow seasoned player Jared Dillinger, played a huge role as the Kings notched a 98-88 victory in Game Four that pushed them on the brink of capturing their first all-Filipino trophy since 2007.
The two were part of Cone’s battle-tested starting lineup including LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Stanley Pringle who are all 33 years old and above.
“You can’t put a value on veteran leadership. You know, that just goes so far in a finals series or in any series,” said Devance.
“Me and JD (Dillinger), we’re not the fastest, we’re not the strongest but we use our head and brains to play.”
Devance came through with an all-around effort of eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists in Game Four.
But the eight-time PBA All-Star is not one who rests on his laurels.
“We played well today, but again it might not be good enough for the next game so we gotta see what we can do for next game.”
