Ginebra, Air21 win openers in Governors’ Cup

It was obvious that Barangay Ginebra struggled under a new coach, a new system.
Still, the Gin Kings were still too much to handle for Globalport.
Committing an atrocious 21 turnovers on Tuesday night, the Kings manhandled the Batang Pier just the same, 89-71 in the PBA Governors’ Cup, to give Jeffrey Cariaso a nice gift in his debut game as a coach at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Globalport failed to capitalize on that turnovers number by the Kings, scoring just nine points off those boo-boos as the Batang Pier also continued to struggle under Pido Jarencio.
“What impressed me so far, and it has only been three weeks (since I took over), is the willingness of the players to run the Triangle (Offense),” said Cariaso, the former Rookie of the Year with Alaska and who, just less than a week ago, was assistant to Tim Cone at San Mig Coffee.
“It really is not easy (running the Triangle), especially when you feel like it’s not working,” he continued. “The turnovers are part of it. They’re not so used to making those passes. There’s a progression that you have to follow. Hopefully, we can clean that up (in our next games).”
Import Zaccheus Mason fired 21 points and had 15 rebounds, and Greg Slaughter scattered 19 that went with 17 boards as the duo dominated action underneath and matched the entire Globalport squad’s rebounding total for the night.
Mark Caguioa, the former MVP and team leader of the Kings, scored 15 points, with Chris Ellis adding another 10.
Ginebra, which bowed out with a whimper in the quarterfinals of the Commissioner’s Cup, played with control despite not taking care of the ball pretty well, able to do it because of coming down quickly on defense.
In fact, the Kings scored 10 points off the Batang Pier’s nine turnovers, as Globalport’s transition defense – along with some other aspects of its game – looked in disarray for most of the night.
Leroy Hickerson scored 20 points and Alex Cabagnot fired 21, but after that, it was the six points of Jay Washington that was the third best effort of the squad which won just one of nine games in Jarencio’s first conference calling the shots in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Meanwhile, Air21 also won its first game here after also getting double-doubles from two people, 103-96, over Rain or Shine, in the curtain-raiser.
The Express, who came within a win of making the Commissioner’s Cup Finals to be the biggest overachievers of that conference, broke away from a 9-all game and never looked back to join Meralco, Alaska and the Kings for the early lead.
Air21 led by as large as 67-50 at the start of the third period and needed to just fend off a mild uprising by the Elasto Painters in the final two minutes.
“Our mindset now is not just about competing – being happy by losing a game by just a few points,” a beaming Air21 coach Franz Pumaren said. “Our goal right now is to make sure that what we accomplished last conference is not labelled as a flash in the pan.”
Dominique Sutton hit 25 points and had 10 boards, and man-mountain Asi Taulava, the 41-year-old veteran, contributed 19 points and 14 boards to complete a 1-2 punch that the Painters didn’t have an answer to.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao was not in the game after flying to Taipei to attend to a personal matter.
Arizona Reid, the former Best Import winner, scored 20 points, had 12 rebounds and five assists for the Painters, semifinal losers to Talk ‘N Text in the Commissioner’s Cup and champions here two years ago with Jamelle Cornley as an import.
“Once you taste success, it’s so hard to let go,” Taulava said. “We want to build on that momentum, stay focused and not give the people (the impression) that it’s (semifinal stint) was a fluke.”
Joseph Yeo scattered 18 markers, including a crucial triple and two free throws that scuttled two rallies by the Elasto Painters in the dying minutes.