To coach Jong Uichico, though, there’s still a lot more to work on.
“Until now, we’re adjusting,” Uichico said. “What we want is to get Sloan accustomed to our players and get better chemistry. We’re trying to find his strength. This was a very important game.” Sloan may need more games to perfectly fit in, but the replacement import did a pretty good job in powering Ginebra to a crucial victory at the close of its elimination round stint Wednesday night, a 98-90 triumph over the three-point-shot loving Rain or Shine in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Sloan finished with 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting and had nine rebounds, and Mark Caguioa had a team-high eight points in the final period as the Kings rebounded from an 83-79 defeat to Alaska last July 16 to tie sister-team Petron and the Aces at second spot going into the single-round, carry-over semifinal round that begins tomorrow.
“We could have been better (in the standings),” Uichico said. “But right now, we’ll take it one game at a time. All the games now are no-tomorrow games.” It was one of those nights when Ginebra pounded Rain or Shine in its fastbreaks and points off turnovers. The Kings had 17 points in the open court, and 19 off the Elasto Painters’ errors. Rain or Shine, on the other hand, only had a combined 10 points in those two departments.
Yet Ginebra still got the scare of its life.
The Painters, who let loose 34 attempts from rainbow country, were still within striking distance at 94-90 after Beau Belga converted on a follow-up off a miss by Ronjay Buenafe.
But Caguioa knocked in a stop-and-pop jumper, and then capped his end-game heroics with a spectacular shot – a reverse lay-up while airborne after snatching an air-ball attempt by Erik Menk, 98-90.
Ginebra thus heads into the semi-finals carrying a positive attitude, confident that it can draw more from Sloan to complement a guard-heavy line-up that adores the running game.
Caguioa and Menk each added 13 points, and Ronald Tubid had nine points and seven rebounds for the Kings, who will start their Final Six campaign against B-Meg on Sunday.
Arizona Reid played for 44 minutes and scored 29 and pulled down 16 rebounds, while Ronjay Buenafe contributed 20 points. Jeff Chan added 12 points for Rain or Shine, which dropped its second game in a row for a 4-4 (win-loss) record.
Earlier, Celino Cruz connected on a three-point shot with 32 seconds left, and Powerade survived the loss of an 11-point deficit in the game’s final four minutes to defeat Meralco, 86-81.
The also-ran Tigers came into the game with nothing in mind but to secure a fourth win, and they conquered the Bolts simply by hanging tough when they failed to protect a 79-68 lead and allowed Meralco to tie the score at 81 after Sol Mercado came up with a steal and an easy lay-up with 46 seconds left to play.
But Cruz, who was shooting 0-of-5 from rainbow territory, still had the guts to launch one after getting a nice pick from import Chris Porter. Mercado tried to tie the count in the next play with a triple attempt but missed, and Asi Taulava bungled an easy follow-up.
Will Antonio pulled down the rebound and was fouled, and sank both charities for the final count.
So, the Tigers have been technically eliminated even with the victory, losing to B-Meg and Rain or Shine via the quotient system.
Powerade ended the tournament with a 4-4 (win-loss) record, while Meralco wound up with a 3-5 slate.
For the season, the Tigers ended up with a 9-22 record while Meralco 13-20.
“I’m just so proud on how we finished,” said Tigers’ coach Bo Perasol. “For a long time, this is the first that we have a 50 percent winning percentage. Everybody’s proud. It’s just a pity that we didn’t make it to the semi-finals.” Gary David led Powerade with 17 points, Chris Porter had 16 rebounds and 15 points and Chico Lanete contributed 14 points and five assists for Powerade.
Champ Oguchi, who came back to reinforce the Bolts after Tim Pickett suffered a pulled hamstring, scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Meralco. Mark Cardona played his first and last game for the tournament and had 13 points, while Mercado added 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
