MANILA: Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted that — because he didn’t sue for time — his Gin Kings’ final offensive play was one “that was heading nowhere.”
That was until Sol Mercado plucked down the biggest offensive board of the night and scored on a putback against giants that keyed an 82-79 Ginebra win over Meralco on Sunday night for 1-1 in their best-of-seven PBA Governors’ Cup title series before another mammoth crowd at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“Fortune shined on us tonight,” Cone said after coming out on top of the defense-oriented game where he described Mercado as being the MVP after playing top-class defense on Meralco import Allen Durham all night.
“That (offensive) play was going nowhere,” Cone said with a smile even after reporters questioned him on the logic of not suing for time after they gained possession with the game tied at 79.
“I’d rather have the opponent not be able to set-up defensively,” Cone said. “I like that better than us having to set up a play by calling time out. Our offense is a thing we do everyday and the players know what to do.”
That Mercado follow-up of an LA Tenorio miss with 28.2 seconds left to break a 79-all tie was the most critical basket of the night, which came before Mercado himself forced Allen Durham to throw up a bad jumpshot that resulted in Tenorio being fouled for a split from the line with 13.4 left for what turned out to be the final count.
“We had a tough shooting night and we can’t make the shots we normally would,” Cone said. “Your defense is constant, and your offense varies from game-to-game. That’s where we hang our hat on – our defense.”
Ginebra led by as many as 15 points in the third as the Gin Kings’ defense held the Bolts to just 16 points in the third period.
But Meralco came alive and made a game out of it again in the first six minutes of the final frame, before also squandering several golden chances in the stretch to pull the game out of the rubble.
“Not really, we were down most of the game,” Meralco coach Norman Black answered, when asked if he felt that it was a game that got away from them. “I was actually quite happy that we were able to get back in the game considering that we were down big.”
And asked to point a finger as the reason for losing and seeing a four-game winning streak dating back to the Final Four come to a halt, Black was quick about it.
“Mentally, we have to focus on the fact that we got beat on rebounding,” he said. “That will be the top conversation in (today’s) practice. We got beat by that Sol Mercado (offensive) rebound.”
Game 3 is set for Wednesday night at 7 also at the Big Dome, and Cone will see what his charges have learned from the San Miguel Beer Final Four series where they couldn’t win back-to-back games.
“That we will have to see,” Cone, a two-time Grand Slam champion coach, said.
Ginebra, which is in its first title series appearance in three years and which is looking to win a first title since 2008, won the odd-numbered games in the semifinals against June Mar Fajardo and the Beermen but were beaten soundly each time after coming off a win.
“The learning process continues for us, I think,” Cone went on. “One thing I know is that this was a must-win for us, that we couldn’t afford to be down 0-2 in a best-of-seven series.”
Justin Brownlee paced the Gin Kings with 32 points and 12 rebounds, bouncing back mightily from an 18-point effort in Game 1 on a night he lost the Best Import award to Meralco’s Allen Durham.
Meanwhile, Jason Castro won the Player of the Conference award in simple rites held before tip-off of Game 2, doing it at the expense of hot season MVP candidate Fajardo, Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle of GlobalPort and Calvin Abueva of Alaska.
“I am very happy, but of course, I would have liked it better playing in the Finals,” Castro told reporters after failing to make it in time for the awards ceremony because of traffic at NLEX coming from Subic.
“I just want to play as hard as a I could every game,” Castro said. “My goal is to lead my team to the Finals each time.”
That was until Sol Mercado plucked down the biggest offensive board of the night and scored on a putback against giants that keyed an 82-79 Ginebra win over Meralco on Sunday night for 1-1 in their best-of-seven PBA Governors’ Cup title series before another mammoth crowd at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“Fortune shined on us tonight,” Cone said after coming out on top of the defense-oriented game where he described Mercado as being the MVP after playing top-class defense on Meralco import Allen Durham all night.
“That (offensive) play was going nowhere,” Cone said with a smile even after reporters questioned him on the logic of not suing for time after they gained possession with the game tied at 79.
“I’d rather have the opponent not be able to set-up defensively,” Cone said. “I like that better than us having to set up a play by calling time out. Our offense is a thing we do everyday and the players know what to do.”
That Mercado follow-up of an LA Tenorio miss with 28.2 seconds left to break a 79-all tie was the most critical basket of the night, which came before Mercado himself forced Allen Durham to throw up a bad jumpshot that resulted in Tenorio being fouled for a split from the line with 13.4 left for what turned out to be the final count.
“We had a tough shooting night and we can’t make the shots we normally would,” Cone said. “Your defense is constant, and your offense varies from game-to-game. That’s where we hang our hat on – our defense.”
Ginebra led by as many as 15 points in the third as the Gin Kings’ defense held the Bolts to just 16 points in the third period.
But Meralco came alive and made a game out of it again in the first six minutes of the final frame, before also squandering several golden chances in the stretch to pull the game out of the rubble.
“Not really, we were down most of the game,” Meralco coach Norman Black answered, when asked if he felt that it was a game that got away from them. “I was actually quite happy that we were able to get back in the game considering that we were down big.”
And asked to point a finger as the reason for losing and seeing a four-game winning streak dating back to the Final Four come to a halt, Black was quick about it.
“Mentally, we have to focus on the fact that we got beat on rebounding,” he said. “That will be the top conversation in (today’s) practice. We got beat by that Sol Mercado (offensive) rebound.”
Game 3 is set for Wednesday night at 7 also at the Big Dome, and Cone will see what his charges have learned from the San Miguel Beer Final Four series where they couldn’t win back-to-back games.
“That we will have to see,” Cone, a two-time Grand Slam champion coach, said.
Ginebra, which is in its first title series appearance in three years and which is looking to win a first title since 2008, won the odd-numbered games in the semifinals against June Mar Fajardo and the Beermen but were beaten soundly each time after coming off a win.
“The learning process continues for us, I think,” Cone went on. “One thing I know is that this was a must-win for us, that we couldn’t afford to be down 0-2 in a best-of-seven series.”
Justin Brownlee paced the Gin Kings with 32 points and 12 rebounds, bouncing back mightily from an 18-point effort in Game 1 on a night he lost the Best Import award to Meralco’s Allen Durham.
Meanwhile, Jason Castro won the Player of the Conference award in simple rites held before tip-off of Game 2, doing it at the expense of hot season MVP candidate Fajardo, Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle of GlobalPort and Calvin Abueva of Alaska.
“I am very happy, but of course, I would have liked it better playing in the Finals,” Castro told reporters after failing to make it in time for the awards ceremony because of traffic at NLEX coming from Subic.
“I just want to play as hard as a I could every game,” Castro said. “My goal is to lead my team to the Finals each time.”
