GAME TOMORROW
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. – Ginebra vs. TNT
IN the fifth match of the series fast turning out to be a veritable chess match, Ginebra coach Tim Cone repeated over TNT counterpart Chot Reyes last Sunday night.
The Kings turned the duel around in the second half and propped up by big games by two do-it-all stars—import Justin Brownlee and former MVP Scottie Thompson—Ginebra now smells blood.
“We did not play a good first half,” Cone said. “We were playing the first half in like second gear, and they (Tropang Giga) were playing in fourth gear.
“We knew at halftime we have to step it up and play at a higher gear to have a chance,” he added.
Cone spoke after his charges fashioned a gutsy 73-66 victory over the Tropang Giga in Game 5 of their best-of-7 finals showdown for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown before a boisterous crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After whipping TNT 95-78 in the fourth clash last Friday night on Brownlee’s heroics despite playing with a dislocated right thumb, the Kings did it anew in front of 12,447 spectators—mostly die-hard Ginebra fans.
Brownlee poured 16 of his 18 points in the second half, to go with 14 rebounds, and five assists while Thompson also shone with 16 markers, 10 boards, and five dimes.
Veteran center Japeth Aguilar and Maverick Ahanmisi combined for 22 as the Kings moved on the verge of end a four-conference title dry spell in Game 6 set tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I think he was having a harder time gripping the ball. You can see he made some turnovers uncharacteristically when the ball was slipping out of his hands. It’s like he was afraid to grab the ball hard,” Cone said of Brownlee. “That’s just something he’s managing as we go and when you first get an injury, it hurts a lot and then usually it takes a day or two, then you really start to feel the injury after a day or two and I think that’s basically what’s happened.
“Hopefully, given another couple of days here, he can recover that a little bit and be a little stronger with that thumb. But, I mean, he’s playing magnificently despite that and that’s what’s really amazing at this point. He’s been such a warrior. We already talked about it.”
A deciding clash, if necessary, will be played this Friday, March 28, also at the Big Dome.
“I think the players saw that and I think that they felt that they really needed to step up for him. I felt we did. I thought we did defensively. We stepped up, did a heck of a job on RHJ (Rondae-Hollis Jefferson). He knew he was going to come back with a strong game. He started the game so well and so hard,” Cone said. “Jamie (Malonzo) and Stephen (Holt) stuck in there and continued to defend him.
“I think that’s where we really stepped up, the effort and the defense and then Scottie doing Scottie things that we all know about.”
Cone said the Kings stepped up on both ends and if they can do it again, a return trip to the Promised Land is not farfetched.
