By MARK REY MONTEJO
The PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals is back to square one as crowd-favorite Ginebra San Miguel took the last two games with Stephen Holt rising to the challenge on both occasions.
For Ginebra coach Tim Cone, Holt was the man of the hour in Game 4.
Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, and Japeth Aguilar delivered the numbers expected from them but it was Holt who shone brightest.
While Holt was impressive offensively, he was a monster on the defensive end.
“I think the biggest key tonight was, and has been in the last two games is this guy, I mean I don’t want to motivate him anymore, but I think this guy (Holt) next to me,” said Cone after the team’s 106-92 win over the TNT Tropang Giga on Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Araneta Coliseum.
“And the defense he’s been able to play over the last two games. As amazing as Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) is, Stephen is doing just an amazing job as well,” Cone added. “This has been one of the huge keys we’re back in the series.”
Hollis-Jefferson did score 28 points but worked doubly hard for every point as Holt hounded him like a shadow.
At times, RHJ was thrown out of his comfort zone – no thanks to Holt who stood rock-solid.
“For me to try to get loose and make it difficult for Rondae, I know I’m called an import stopper, but we’re not really stopping him, we’re just making it difficult for him,” said Holt. “So we done a great job these last two games, and try to do it for two more.”
“This is the finals, it’s going to be a tough go offensively, everybody wants to win so badly [that] it’s never just about making shots. It’s always about how much guys are gonna defend, rebound and hustle,” Cone continued.
“That’s we’ve been able to do in the last two games.”
Like a thief in the night, Holt also stole the ball five times – his most so in the best-of-seven title series.
But his biggest moment came at 1:28.4 mark of the final canto when he buried a dagger triple to make it a 104-92 cushion. That dashed away the remaining hopes of the Tropang Giga.
“We’ve been doing just that pretty much all conference long, just seemed the other team made a run of it, someone hits a big shot, Stephen was the one hitting those big shots” he added.
With momentum now on its side, Ginebra will try to extend its run to three games on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
As if to warn the Tropang Giga, Cone said: “By the way, he (Holt) was really sick in Game 1 and 2. He battled through it, continued to play through that sickness, so he felt better, so his game got better.”
“I know it’s a tough task, every single possession we have to be locked in, I think the biggest thing for me is I remind myself that I can’t be discouraged when he makes a bucket on me,” said Holt.
