By Jonas Terrado
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel believes the best is yet to come even after advancing to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup via a seven-game winning streak dating back to a 1-5 start in the eliminations.
LA Tenorio is hoping that Ginebra, which swept Meralco in a best-of-three quarterfinal affair, has yet to reach peak form as they prepare for a semifinal showdown with either Rain or Shine or GlobalPort.
Rain or Shine and GlobalPort were playing at presstime in a do-or-die match at the Mall of Asia Arena. GlobalPort forced last night’s rubber after Tuesday’s thrilling 114-113 win.
“We still have a best-of-five semis na lalaruin. Hopefully, we still have a finals to play,” Tenorio said after a 104-90 rout of Meralco Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Hopefully ang peak talaga namin is more pa, sana more pa. Yung tinatawa namin na peak, sana wala pa kami dun sa top of the mountain. Medyo nagka-climb pa kami,” he added. “Hopefully, makuha namin yung right timing.”
But coach Tim Cone warned his players not to have a sense of comfort with the current streak and being in the final four of the midseason conference, knowing that things could turn in a hurry.
“That’s the wrong thing because when you have momentum, that’s when you really gotta push hard and go at it,” Cone said when asked if it is the right time to give his players the deserved break.
“It’s when you’re in losing streaks when you need to step back and go look at what’s going on. You need to step back, take a day off and get a good perspective on what’s going on.
“But when you’re on a winning streak, you don’t take days off, you keep going and take it for as long as you can,” added Cone, referring quotes from American motivational speaker John Maxwell.
Ginebra progressed into the quarters despite dealing with the imposing presence of Meralco import Arinze Onuaku.
While he did get his usual numbers, Onuaku was worn down in the fourth quarter as Greg Slaughter and others did excellent jobs in containing the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup Best Import.
But Ginebra will have its work cut out regardless of which team it will face in the semis. Rain or Shine has a bulkier frontline in import Reggie Johnson, Beau Belga and Raymond Almazan while GlobalPort will be powered by import Malcolm White.
