BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel made it 2-0 over TNT Katropa in the Finals series of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Wednesday night but the Gin Kings’ Head Coach Tim Cone came short of hating himself for that victory.
Isn’t that ironic?
“I sound like a broken record, but again, we are thankful for the win, but we are not happy,” Cone told BusinessMirror in a text message on Thursday, the morning after their 92-90 victory that kept them unbeaten in the race-to-four series.
“We were out coached and outhustled for the most part. But I don’t want to take anything away from our guys who persevered and found a way to win,” Cone said.
Cone even praised Roger Pogoy for filling the void left by Bobby Ray Parks Jr. who is recovering from a strained left calf he sustained in Game One. Pogoy posted 38 points in Game Two.
And the most successful coach in the league wants his team to play Game Three set for 6 p.m. on Friday even more prepared.
“We know that we have to find the best of ourselves to continue to win games in this series,” he said. “Otherwise the tide could turn very quickly.”
Aljon Mariano sneaked in an explosive game when the Katropa were looking elsewhere to double up on defense in Game Two, and so did Stanley Pringle, although he usually does that.
Mariano finished with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in that Game Two squeaker. But he is aware they need two more victories before they could celebrate.
“We haven’t proven anything yet and we haven’t won the series yet,” Mariano said. “We’ll shoot for 3-0 tomorrow [Friday]—one game at a time. It’s a race to four,” said the former University of Santo Tomas star who only had six points in their 100-94 overtime win in Game One last Sunday.
Mariano took over when the usual suspects—Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio and Earl Scottie Thompson—almost played dud and combined for a measly 14 points in Game Two where Ginebra overhauled a 15-point deficit.
“It’s just a conscious effort on my part,” Mariano said. “I expect TNT to come out aggressive tomorrow and I want to be more aggressive, so I really need to work harder.”
Pringle remained in his elements and had 34 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
TNT Coach Ferdinand “Bong” Ravena, meanwhile, remained optimistic.
“I think we have to protect our lead until the end. We suffered a breakdown in defense so we have to figure this out,” said Ravena, noting the 6-foot-4 Parks remains doubtful for Game Three. “We just have to pray also. I know we can still pull this off.”