FILIPINO-AMERICAN guard Stanley Pringle chalked up his first Cignal-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Press Corps Player of the Week award following his scintillating performance in GlobalPort’s king-sized upset of defending champion San Miguel Beer.
The shifty guard out of Penn State churned out all-around numbers of 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, leading the Batang Pier to a 98-94 win over the Beermen on Wednesday.
Pringle, fresh from representing the Philippines in the recent 2018 Fiba 3×3 World Cup, saved his best in the final period when he scored eight points, grabbed two rebounds and made a crucial steal that led to a Mo Tautuaa basket in the dying seconds to seal GlobalPort’s fourth win in eight matches.
GlobalPort is currently tied for fifth to sixth spots with San Miguel Beer with the Commissioner’s Cup elimination round heading to its last three weeks.
Pringle sterling effort enabled him to seal his first weekly citation this conference, beating Meralco’s Jared Dillinger and KG Canaleta, Rain or Shine’s James Yap and Beau Belga and Ginebra playmaker LA Tenorio.
GlobalPort will have two big games coming up this week, starting with Phoenix on Wednesday, before facing Columbian Dyip two days later—the results of which could determine their playoff fate in the mid-season conference.
A retooled Barangay Ginebra, meanwhile, looks to save its Commissioner’s Cup campaign when it battles Columbian Dyip today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Sweet-shooting guard Jeff Chan makes his debut for the Gin Kings (3-5 won-lost) as the crowd darlings hope to climb in the standings from its dangerous spot in the ninth position as they battle eighth-place Columbian (4-5) at 7 p.m.
In the appetizer at 4:30 p.m., GlobalPort (4-4) aims to send a ton of problems to skidding Phoenix (3-6) as the playoff picture takes shape with a few games left in the schedule.
Barangay Ginebra banks on the addition of Chan to negotiate the team’s three remaining matches with ease following their two-game win streak against Magnolia (104-84) and NLEX (93-85).
Being a master of his craft, Head Coach Tim Cone knew they are on a precarious situation heading into the critical stretch of the elimination round.
“We can get to the top 6. That’s our goal. But we still got three tough games. We must play our best game in our next game,” he said. “We are kind of in desperation mode right now.”
Justin Brownlee was again phenomenal against the Hotshots with his 35 points, eight rebounds and four assists. LA Tenorio got good contributions of 22 markers, six boards and five dimes, while Greg Slaughter added a 12-7 off the bench.
Chan’s arrival in Barangay Ginebra means a shooting spree with fellow snipers Tenorio and Kevin Ferrer, and a better relief to big men Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar who are banging bodies in the shaded lane.
“Jeff fills a big hole for us, his ability to spread the floor for Greg and Japeth,” Cone said.
With the right tools in place, Cone believes the team needs more effort to secure a playoff spot
“We’re in playoff mode. We have no margin for error and we have to keep finding ways to win,” he added.