FOR the fifth time this season, Ginebra posted another win over Meralco last Wednesday night and, more importantly, boosted its chances of advancing to the semifinals.
The Kings simply wanted it more than the Bolts in their 100-92 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-3 quarterfinal series in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“Well, it was really a tough game, especially because Meralco is a very good defensive team and they made it difficult for us to really execute our offense. So, iyon na iyong challenge sa amin, how we can stay disciplined with our execution,” Ginebra top deputy coach Richard Del Rosario, who spoke in lieu of coach Tim Cone after the latter lost his voice, said.
“They do a lot of things that take you out of the execution. But again, I think the players really, iyong grit lang talaga nila ang nagpanalo dito. Also, we challenged them because in our last game against them without an import, we got clobbered in the boards. So I think now we did a better job against Meralco in getting rebounds,” he added.
Former MVP Scottie Thompson unloaded 23 points, to go with seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals for the Kings while star import Justin Brownlee also had 23 markers.
Japeth Aguilar and RJ Abarrientos added 19 and 14 points, respectively, for Ginebra which can close out the race-to-2 battle today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
A deciding Game 3, if necessary, will be played on Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Del Rosario does not see Meralco waiving the white flag just yet.
“It’s going to be tougher. They know what we’re doing, very familiar, and their import looks like he’s already recovered from the back injury,” Del Rosario said.
“Gave us a lot of problems, and the guards got into the paint. So, we still have a lot to work on defensively.”
The Kings are determined to prove Del Rosario wrong in his thoughts that the showdown will go the distance.
“We expect this series against Meralco to go three games. Iyon ang lagi naming expectation. Of course, if we can win the next game, then good,” he said. “But again, you’re talking about playing every other day so crucial iyon and we will take whatever advantage we can get against Meralco.”
