Cone believes Ginebra can recover from 0-2 start
By JONAS TERRADO
Winless Barangay Ginebra San Miguel could mull the possibility of replacing import Charles Garcia after a lackluster showing in the first two games of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Garcia averaged 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in Ginebra’s losses to Rain or Shine (108-89) last April 29 and TNT KaTropa (96-92) two nights ago, leaving supporters begging for management to make a change.
Coach Tim Cone was noncommittal when asked about Garcia’s future, though his tone sounded as if Ginebra may trigger a switch before returning to action Friday against Blackwater at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
“That’s something we’ll talk about internally,” Cone said.
One obvious option for Cone and company is to recall resident import Justin Brownlee, who helped Ginebra win the last two Governors’ Cup championships.
Brownlee was expected to rejoin Ginebra after playing a major role in San Miguel Alab Pilipinas’ title victory in the ASEAN Basketball League last week, but Cone decided to give Garcia another try against TNT.
But Garcia only produced 15 points and nine rebounds against the KaTropa, his frustration clearly evident when he had a mild verbal tussle with TNT counterpart Jeremy Tyler.
Cone refused to pin the blame solely on the 6-foot-10 Garcia, saying that his locals are culpable for their struggles.
“We always get to slow starts and I wonder why we do. But we have a lot to learn, a lot to teach on our system and we’re kind vulnerable to that,” Cone said.
“But we feel we’ll be there at the end. Obviously, we don’t want to fall too far behind in this conference but we’ll find a way to get there at the end, I think,” he added.
Meanwhile, Cone revealed that Greg Slaughter may suit up in Ginebra’s match against Blackwater after missing the last 10 games dating back to the Philippine Cup eliminations due to an injured left ankle.
The 7-foot center’s return, however, may depend on his progress in this week’s practice and will be given limited minutes if Slaughter is given a green light to play.
“We will be very careful with him,” Cone said. “We don’t want him to go down again but we will see how he does this week and maybe he’ll play on Friday. But that’s probably less than 50-50.”
