Ginebra eyes 2-0 lead
Barangay Ginebra and TNT KaTropa bring their PBA Governors Cup semifinal showdown in Batangas City today, each side bracing for a battle after splitting their first two games in the tourney.
GAME TODAY
(Batangas City Coliseum) 7 p.m. – Ginebra vs TNT KaTropa
The Kings and the Texters left Manila as early as yesterday so that they could hold practice session at the Batangas City Coliseum, and have a better feel of the playing venue come game time at 7 p.m. tonight.
“Truly, I think that Batangas is gonna have a treat of a game because I think they (the Texters) are gonna come back strong. They’re gonna have extra energy to focus coming into the game. That’s gonna be an awesome game,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
Ginebra pummeled a lethargic TNT side and pulled off a dominant 121-94 win in Game One of their best-of-five semis showdown Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum – a complete turnaround from their elims setto where the Texters bludgeoned the Kings, 121-92.
“We feel we suffered from the ill effects of burnout. We played two tough games against Rain or Shine in the quarters, and we hardly had a rest in playing Ginebra Monday,” said TNT team manager Virgil Villavicencio.
TNT played nine players in their previous outing with their starters – Glen Rice Jr., Jason Castro, Kelly Williams, Anthony Semerad and Troy Rosario – all playing heavy minutes. The Kings, meanwhile, were well-rested coming into Game One.
“I can’t say we expected it to be this way but we hoped that they be lethargic after that tough Rain or Shine series. But they will get their legs back, come back and that should be quite a game Wednesday,” said Cone.
The Kings, however, stress they will be ready for the TNT fightback.
“TNT is a very dangerous team. We’ve got to stay aggressive, maintain intensity and execute on offense,” said Ginebra behemoth Greg Slaughter.
“We have to use our advantage and make them play our game and not us playing their game. We’ve got to control the tempo. TNT is a fast team. Being a big team, we’ve got to get them play our tempo,” said Slaughter.
On Monday, the Kings took control right away on the early splurges of Joe Devance and Scottie Thompson.
And repeated turnovers kept the Texters from getting into the game.
The Kings pounded the Texters, 23-11, on points off turnovers and 5430 on bench production.
“We’ve got a core of players that are playing really well right now that we don’t need to reach deeply to our bench, but we do feel we’ve got a deep team and in a series like this, you need guys to come out and do the job that they did tonight,” said Cone in lauding reserves Mark Caguioa, Jervy Cruz and Aljon Mariano for their sterling effort Monday.
Caguioa contributed 13 points on 5-of-6 clip, Cruz put in 10 markers while Mariano added four markers and eight rebounds.
“We have faith in them. But our core is playing pretty well, our big lineup is playing pretty well and it’s hard to take LA (Tenorio) and Scottie off the floor. Some guys don’t get the minutes they deserve. But we certainly don’t doubt them,” Cone also said.