THE rainy season that has officially begun served as a perfect metaphor for Ginebra.
If the Kings intend to reach the Promised Land anew, they have to overcome adversities in the import-less tourney.
Coach Tim Cone’s charges absorbed a sorry loss to the defending champion Meralco Bolts the last time out, but that only galvanized them.
“It was a huge statement game for us, only to us, not to them, but to us. We were playing for our playoff lives. We put a couple of losses together. Would have been tough to get back into the hunt for the top four, but this keeps us firmly in the hunt for the top four,” Cone said. “It still allows us to control our own destiny and we ran into a really good Meralco team the last time out and we knew we were going to get much the same in Magnolia.
“But this time I thought we put up a better fight. We just persevered through adversity and just overall showed a lot of grit tonight and that’s what we’re hoping to develop on this team,” he added.
Cone spoke after Ginebra outlasted Magnolia 85-81 for its sixth win and kept alive its hope of clinching a top-four slot in the quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup last Sunday night.
Veteran big man Japeth Aguilar notched a game-high 17 points paired with 11 rebounds for Ginebra while Troy Rosario backed him up with 15 markers, five boards, and three assists.
Stephen Holt, Jamie Malonzo, and RJ Abarrientos also added 14, 11, and 10 points, respectively. as the Kings atoned for a 72-82 setback at the hands of the Bolts last Friday and rose to 6-3 for fourth in this iteration of the “Manila Clasico.”
“Nothing that I did or anything. In fact, we didn’t even really practice last Saturday. We came together, we talked and then we basically just came back with a better mindset and guys were, you know, like Stephen said and Stephen has led us in many ways this way,” Cone said. “Our culture of being defensive-minded and attention to detail, all those things that we talk about, he’s the leader of all that and just that ability to bounce back, being able to do that again.
“We still control our own destiny, although it’s against really tough teams. They also control their own destiny. So, it should be some really, really interesting down-the-stretch games as the conference closes, as eliminations closes.”
Ginebra is bracing for a titanic duel with TNT on Sunday, June 8, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
To best describe the homestretch of the conference’s eliminations, listen to Holt.
“It just shows you how competitive this conference is. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day if you don’t bring you’re A-game. Obviously, we want to build off this, confidence-wise,” he said.
“Again, we’re going to play TNT. We know these guys. We’re so familiar with them. They’re familiar with us. So, it’s going to be a battle come Sunday.”
