BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel opens its championship rematch with Meralco today—a series that is expected to again end up as another classic showdown for the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
The game kicks off at 7 p.m. with the Kings hoping to retain the crown they won in six games over the same team last season.
“It’s really nice to be back here. It’s getting to be a tradition. Everyone took a tough road to get here. We can use that experience as motivation heading into this one,” Barangay Ginebra Head Coach Tim Cone said.
Cone is now the most successful coach in the league. He is seeking his 20th crown.
The Gin Kings ranked third in the elimination round with an 8-3 win-loss record and used their twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals to end sister team San Miguel Beermen’s grand slam hopes.
In the semifinals, Ginebra faced heavy contender TNT, but emerged victorious in four games of the best-of-three series.
They took Game One (121-94), lost Game Two (96-103) and scored two straight victories (106-103 and 115-105) to book a return trip to Finals.
“Having to get through San Miguel and TNT is a tough one. We have our challenges out there but our guys are ready. We are all hungry to win,” said Cone, who is expected to draw a bigger game from reinforcement Justin Brownlee.
Meralco, on the other hand, topped the elimination phase with 9-2 record and repelled Blackwater in two games in the quarterfinals.
The Bolts, powered by the reigning Best Import Allen Durham, showed its might further by sweeping the Star Hotshots in three games (72-66, 98-74 and 91-88).
And it’s time for Head Coach Norman Black and his Bolts to exact revenge—but they have to hurdle the biggest trial and try to match the size and ceiling of the Gin Kings.
“They are the biggest team in the league. They constantly pound the ball inside and that will create problems for us. But we have versatility in defense,” Black said.
“We cannot go as big as them. The important thing is for us to get the rebounds and make stops,” he added.