LESSONS, NOT PAYBACK
There was nothing gentle with the way Barangay Ginebra sent Blackwater into the night on Tuesday, as the Gin Kings whipped the streaking Bossing, 112-98, to get even and improve to 3-2 in Group B of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
The triumph, led by Scottie Thompson’s triple-double of 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, made it look like the Gin Kings were out for retribution.
Tim Cone doesn’t want to look at it that way.
“I wouldn’t call it a revenge tour. We’re just trying to win, you know,” he said on the heels of the triumph fashioned before a partisan crowd at Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Cone said the prompt for the second half of the tournament was about learning lessons. It started against Blackwater, and now, he hopes the trend carries over when his charges battle Rain or Shine this coming Friday in a duel that could very well influence the standings.
“You learn lessons. Hopefully, you learn lessons from the last time you played. We hope we learned lessons the last played Rain or Shine,” he said.
“[We hope] to make adjustments and come with a more clear game plan [as] that was a game which we led for three and a half quarters before they basically blew us [out] in the last. We got to learn from that,” the decorated mentor added.
The crowd darlings bowed down to the ElastoPainters, 73-64, in Candon City, Ilocos Sur, last Aug. 24, in a match that saw Thompson finishing with just four points. Highly-touted rookie RJ Abarrientos was hardly a factor as well, shooting a laughable 1-for-15 to finish two points.
Better grasp
Things have changed for Cone and his crew. The former feels he now has a better grasp of Group B leader Rain or Shine’s schemes six games into the tournament.
“If you look at Rain or Shine’s pattern, that’s basically the way they play. They play the other guys, keep their guys fresh and fourth quarter they come out and beat you up. We got to figure out a way to combat that,” Cone said.
Interestingly, that’s exactly how Rain or Shine prevailed against Phoenix in the earlier match, playing with sustained brilliance until the enemy sputtered.
Guiao had said that the return game against Gin Kings would determine whether or not the ElastoPainters have finally grown into a title contender.
Cone took his counterpart’s remarks in stride.
But it also felt like the beginning of a covert skirmish. Gamesmanship, if one may.
“Perceptionally, it’s better if you’re the underdog. I think we try to achieve the idea of being the underdog. I think when your players play with a chip on their shoulder, they play a lot harder and a lot better. And there’s no doubt that Rain or Shine’s been playing with a chip on their shoulder,” Cone said.
“You can see they’re playing with a chip on their shoulder and you know, we all know how great a motivator coach Yeng is. He’s always been that way throughout his career. He’s been in the league, what, 32 years? I think I’ve been in the league 34 years,” he added.
“We kind of know each other pretty well.” INQ
