FOREIGN guest team Eastern got a taste of how it felt like battling crowd darling Ginebra last Sunday night but the wards of coach Mensur Bajramovic refused to falter against the Kings.
“We made a plan knowing that Ginebra is a good team. They have individual players and they have a good style offensively and defensively,” Bajramovic said. “We tried in the past few days to make a plan on how to play against them.
“I’m happy the players believed and trust in the plan,” he added.
Bajramovic’s sentiments came on the heels of Eastern’s gutsy 93-90 victory over Ginebra for its third straight win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Aside from bring its A-Game, Eastern also got a big boost from three players led by forward Hayden Blankley who suited up for Bay Area in the same edition of the import-spiced meet two years ago that wound up as bridesmaid to the Kings.
Bay Area battled Ginebra in an epic title series where the Kings prevailed in a historic seventh tiff that set a record attendance of 54,589 spectators at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“Glen (Yang), Kobey (Lam), and I are experienced against a lot of those guys (and) with the same system. After the Blackwater game, we tried to add what coach’s plans were, give our little tips on the personnel, like the individual players and what we could do with their system. That experience helped,” Blankley said. “Just the mental toughness I guess because we’ve battled them before in seven games, in front of this crowd before.
“For me, I think I was able to help block out the crowd and the noise because I’ve done it in a whole playoff series two years ago.”
Blankley showed the way for Eastern with 25 points while import Chris McLaughlin chipped in 20 markers and 21 rebounds.
Ramon Cao and Yang also had 14 and 11 points, respectively as Eastern sustained the grit it showed in an 84-75 triumph over Blackwater Tuesday last week and rose to 5-1.
After winning their first two outings, counting a 94-72 victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters last Friday, the Kings absorbed their first loss for a 2-1 mark.
Getting booed was just fine for Eastern—it had the last laugh anyway.
“To be honest, for some of the guys, it’s even the first time to play in front of these fans. Obviously, you saw we missed a lot of free throws in important moments because of it,” Bajramovic said. “Of course, it’s a great experience for all of us. I enjoy being here in the Philippines to play basketball. I enjoy any contact (with people) from the street and anywhere. The people are following basketball.
“We are all basketball guys. We are living basketball and we are happy when we see everybody likes basketball. When you win some games, you should be happy. You cannot ask for more.”
