IN the previous three games of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Chris Ross was San Miguel Beer's closer. He was coach Leo Austria's go-to-guy in the fourth quarter and to his credit, Ross, gets things done in the fourth quarter.
But on Sunday, the veteran guard and defense specialist, was on the bench during the tightly fought fourth quarter of Game 4 with their bid for a commanding 3-1 series lead still hanging in the balance.
Instead of directing play and leading SMB's charge, Ross content himself watching the thrilling finish and cheering on Jericho Cruz and company, who got the job done, 105-91, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
"The last four games, I've been playing the whole fourth quarter," Ross said. "So it was good to get a break and watch it from the side."
Ross played the entire fourth of Games 1 and 2 while presided over SMB's offense in a span of 10 minutes in Game 3.
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But Austria shuffled his rotation when TNT erased a 12-point deficit and took a 67-64 lead at the end of the third.
Instead of inserting Ross, the SMB coach turned to Cruz, Don Trollano, Mo Tautuaa and June Mar Fajardo while CJ Perez and Juami Tiongson shared backcourt minutes.
The combination produced 41-points in the fourth while outscoring TNT by 17.
Cruz, highlighted the Beermen's onslaught by knocking down all his three three-point attempt in the quarter while scoring 15 of his 23 during that stretch as San Miguel pulled away to move one win away from regaining the all-Filipino crown.
And for that, Ross wouldn't mind playing the role of cheerleader.
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"I told the coaches that I'm the most unselfish guy you can think of," he said. "Like as long as we're winning and my teammates are doing good, I'm happy. It was amazing watching those guys." (JT)
