GINEBRA coach Tim Cone is convinced his charges’ mini-slump would only serve them in good stead in their PBA Philippine Cup title bid.
“We’re still trying to put our teeth out, trying to get the effort that we need. After you come off a championship there’s always these flaws in your team and you have to handle that.
Sometimes, you need a kick on the rear end to get yourself going and I think the past two games gave us that kick on the rear end,” Cone said.
“If we wanna try to compete again for a championship we’re gonna have to play with a lot of fire and bigger energy and that should translate to our effort,” he added.
Cone spoke after the Kings tripped NorthPort 100-93 last Sunday night in his return calling the shots for the team after a brief stint as a member of the Miami Heat coaching staff in the NBA Summer League.
The win snapped Ginebra’s two-game losing skid, counting an embarrassing 73-90 loss to Meralco six days ago and more importantly enabled the Kings to clinch a quarterfinals slot with a 7-3 card.
Ginebra no longer has a shot at a top two finish rewarded with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarters but that’s just fine with Cone.
“I wasn’t (concerned about our two straight defeats). In fact, like what I’ve said sometimes you need that little kick in the rear end and that’s kinda what we got and that’s gonna help us in the long-term getting into the playoffs. It would have been nice to fight for the top two but that’s never really our big goal, our goal is the process and preparation and get into the highest seed that we can,” Cone said.
“We don’t want to finish seventh or eighth with a twice-to-beat disadvantage, but best-of-3 is good for us. We feel comfortable with that so that’s really our target. Anything else beyond that is a bonus for us.”
The Batang Pier, coming off a 95-92 decision over Phoenix last Thursday, fell on the brink with a 3-7 mark.
Reigning MVP Scottie Thompson barely missed a triple double with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists for the Kings, while John Pinto tallied 18 markers, six boards, and three dimes.
Japeth Aguilar played through dengue fever and notched 14 and eight, while LA Tenorio and Jeff Chan combined for 24 points for Ginebra.
After taking a 47-42 buffer at the half, the King broke the game wide-open and stretched the difference to as much as 80-58 on a Chan layup in the final minute of the third canto.
Robert Bolick led a furious NorthPort fightback in the payoff period, with the Batang Pier slicing the lead to 93-98 on a Kevin Ferrer jumper but that proved to be too little, too late in the last 1:16.
