Jireh Ibañes is The Star Stopper. By Jutt Sulit.

As the buzzer went off at the end of game 3 of the semifinals between Rain or Shine and San Mig Coffee, I went to my phone to tweet about the result and the best player.  “RoS takes game 3, 98-72. Player of the game is…” I paused. Did Jireh Ibañes really get the Player of the Game with a stat line of 4 points, a rebound and a steal?

In a game where the main objective is to put the ball in the hoop, it’s not often that a guy who only made a single basket and a couple of free throws gets recognized for his efforts. Not unless he lorded over a different statistic. Not unless he hit the game winner. Or not unless those four points were all his team had.

Jireh did not make the winning basket of game 3. He only contributed 4 of Rain Or Shine’s total of 98 points. His stat line was pretty much so-so. Yet, no one disagreed when he was chosen Player of the Game. People knew he was the key to that win.

By putting James Yap in a straitjacket, Jireh changed the complexion of that game and, well, the series as a whole. It’s as if none of the million moves of Big Game James works on Ibañes. 

I remember one possession when Yap had the ball in the post. In my mind, like many other fans, I told myself, “Sure two points na ‘to.” James faced up and jabbed right. Jireh stood still. James took one dribble to his right and faked. Jireh stayed grounded.  James pivoted to the other side. Just as he thought he finally got rid of the pesky defender, guess who was there. Mr. ‘Stick-To-You-Like-Glue’ Ibañes. Left with no other option, Yap had to kick the ball out and reset the play.

Here’s the thing. No one ever reaches the PBA without the ability to score. Give anyone in the league an inch of daylight or an open lane and he’ll make you pay. For sure. But not everyone is willing to make the sacrifice of setting scoring aside and contributing in a different way.

Let’s face it. If you want to really make a name for yourself, you have to score. I mean, fans like us know a great defender when we see one. But no one really becomes a household name all due to his defensive skills. No one becomes a superstar because he can stop the best player on the other team.

Thankfully, for Rain or Shine, in Jireh Ibañes’ mind, he isn’t a superstar. Nor is he trying to be. Jireh just wants to win. (He probably uses his Fighting Maroons days as motivation. He even uses the UP Havaianas.) He’s content with his role in Coach Yeng’s system. He embraced the fact that he is the team’s defensive ammo and takes full responsibility for every point scored by their opponent’s superstar.

In game 3 of the semifinals, the entire time Yap had Ibañes guarding him, Yap failed to register a single point and went 0-3 from the field. But it wasn’t those numbers that spoke of Jireh’s defense.

If you watch the game, you’ll see that Ibañes’ activity on the defensive end was best exhibited by the number of shots Yap didn’t take. It was the number of times James had a make-able look, but opted to pass. I guess it just goes to show that, sometimes, the most important statistics are those that aren’t listed down.

Thinking about it, I never got to send that tweet. I never got to give Jireh the credit he deserved oh so well. Then again, that’s his story. Very few people recognize the impact Ibañes has on the basketball court. But that doesn’t mean he’ll stop doing what he does.

When Rain or Shine booked their second consecutive Finals trip by dropping San Mig Coffee in game 6, only one question popped into Jireh’s head – “Who’s next?” JS

About the writer: When Jutt Sulit is not busy fixing his hair or scoring 40-odd points in a basketball game, he works behind the scenes with the AKTV production team and writes articles for SLAM Philippines. Follow @juttsulit on Twitter.