THIS could be the Last Waltz of the Big Dance, unless Meralco could find an answer to Ginebra’s sheer offensive might.
Ginebra tries to reach the Promised Land anew when it battles Meralco tonight in Game 6 of their best-of-seven finals duel for the PBA Governors Cup crown before another expected big crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The match is set at 6 p.m., with Ginebra eyeing to wrap up the series and Meralco trying to forge a knockout battle.
Game 7, if necessary, will be played this Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Although holding a 3-2 lead and with momentum on their side after winning two straight games, including a 115-110 triumph in Game 5 last Sunday, Kings coach Tim Cone maintained the Bolts are far from done.
“It seems that it’s close but it’s still very far away. We were in this situation, and they forced a Game 7,” Cone said, recalling their finals battle with Meralco in 2017 that went the distance.
“We had to play a Game 7 in front of 54,000 fans at the Philippine Arena. So, we know that trying to beat this good team three times in a row is nearly impossible. We’re gonna try our best to focus and get ready,” he added.
The likes of Best Import Justin Brownlee, conference top player Scottie Thompson, Christian Standhardinger, LA Tenorio, Arvin Tolentino, Nards Pinto, Jeff Chan, and Japeth Aguilar will lead Ginebra’s bid to bag its fourth title in the last five editions of the season-ending tourney, all against Meralco.
Coach Norman Black said his team is bloodied but unbowed.
“It takes four wins to win the championship. They’ve only won three games,” Black said.
“I’m not giving up. My players aren’t giving up. We still have a chance at tying the series.”
The Kings’ torrid shooting from deep doomed the Bolts in Game 5, according to Black.
“It was an amazing shooting game by Ginebra,” Black said. “I thought there were a lot of times that we actually played decent defense, but they were still able to knock down their threes.”
Ginebra shot 51 percent from the field punctuated by 16 three-pointers.
There’s nothing much more Meralco could do the last time out.
“It’s hard to beat a team that shoots like they shot. We did do well offensively in the second half, but Standhardinger hit a couple of crucial shots there in the endgame that really helped Ginebra,” Black said. “So, we actually fought back, but it wasn’t enough.”
Black said Bolts reinforcement Tony Bishop could not afford another slow start.
“He’s our import, and he scored just four points in the first half. So, it’s hard for our locals to make up that amount, especially when you’re going up against Justin (Brownlee),” he said.
“So, we struggled a little bit in the first half maybe because of the lack of production coming from Tony. But he tried to make up for it in the second half.”
Aside from Bishop, Meralco will pin its hopes on Chris Newsome, Aaron Black, Allein Maliksi, Cliff Hodge, Bong Quinto, Chris Banchero, and Raymond Almazan to avoid wounding up as bridesmaids to the Kings for the fourth straight time.
