There are certain basketball players who seem to negotiate with Father Time a little differently. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant have spent years challenging the idea that age eventually catches up with everybody. In the PBA, for some games, Chris Ross has involved himself in the conversation.
At 41, Ross is no longer expected to carry the offensive burden nor he was in his prime for the San Miguel Beermen. That responsibility always belonged to June Mar Fajardo in the paint, and now with George King as the team's import, paired by the emergence of CJay Perez as one of its most dynamic perimeter creators in the league.
But there are playoff nights that are just inexplicable and Ross delivered one of those performances on Friday.
The two-time PBA Finals MVP was instrumental in San Miguel's 108-102 victory over Barangay Ginebra in Game 4 of their Governors' Cup quarterfinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds, nine assists, and five steals. More importantly, he helped orchestrate a remarkable turnaround that kept the Beermen's championship aspirations alive and forced a winner-take-all Game 5.
The circumstances made his performance even more interesting. San Miguel entered halftime trailing 55-41 and eventually fell behind by as many as 17 points, 61-44, early in the third quarter. Ginebra appeared to have the game under control, particularly with its ability to crowd the paint, challenge San Miguel's interior offense, and force Fajardo to guard in the perimeter to make decisions - whether to go higher or remain in the drop in their ball screen coverage.
Then the game changed rather dramatically, as San Miguel unleashed a 22-0 run, transforming a 17-point deficit into a five-point advantage. The Beermen finished the third quarter with 46 points, their second-highest scoring output in a single quarter this season, while limiting Ginebra to just 18. Ross accounted for 13 of those points, providing the perimeter scoring and downhill pressure that made the entire offensive explosion possible.
The interesting part was how Ross exploited Ginebra's defensive priorities.
Throughout the series, Ginebra has had understandable reasons to live with certain shots from the San Miguel veteran. With Fajardo establishing himself on the block and King possessing the ability to attack closeouts and create his own offense, the Gin Kings have frequently prioritized keeping additional defenders around the Beermen's primary weapons.
That often means helping off Ross, particularly when Fajardo receives the ball in the post or King begins attacking downhill. The defensive calculation is fairly straightforward: make Ross prove he can consistently punish the defense from the perimeter rather than allow San Miguel's bigger offensive threats to operate comfortably.
There is some statistical logic behind that decision. Ross has not been a particularly high-volume three-point shooter this conference, and his 29.2% conversion rate on 1.8 attempts per game gives opposing defenses a reasonable argument for conceding him some space.
But if there is a difference between a regular player who cannot shoot and Chris Ross, it's that he can suddenly turn into a lethal sniper - don't ask Alaska and TNT fans, and Game 4 of this series was the best example.
Ross connected on three of his five attempts from beyond the arc, punishing Ginebra for giving him room to operate. Those shots were particularly damaging because they forced the Gin Kings to reconsider how aggressively they could commit additional defenders towards other San Miguel scorers, evidenced by their 15-for-31 shooting from beyond the arc.
The relatively quiet offensive production during the eliminations, combined with his age, might have made it easier for opponents to treat him as a threat. Ginebra's willingness to sag off him and give him room on the perimeter was perhaps another reflection of that perception.
But for Ross, those decisions have become another reason to prove that he can still make defenses pay.
"As a 17-year veteran, there's a lot of disrespect that I get, and it just fueled me to play that much harder," Ross said.
"I feel like I get a lot of disrespect from certain people. People that don't know me, people that never talk to me and have a conversation with me off the court. And I just think it's very disrespectful."
Ross has never needed to be the leading scorer or offensive centerpiece of San Miguel's championship teams. His value has always been in the things that do not necessarily show up in the scoring column: controlling the tempo, organizing the offense, disrupting opposing guards, and making the right decisions when games become difficult.
With a winner-take-all Game 5 ahead, Ross has given the Beermen another reason to believe that experience, when paired with the ability to still execute, remains a valuable weapon.