BY JONAS TERRADO
Game Tuesday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – Ginebra vs Meralco
Support for their hardworking imports and rebounding are some of the things Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Meralco believe will determine the outcome of their third PBA Governors’ Cup Finals meetings which starts Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
All subplots that came out during the Christmas break will now be put aside as the Kings and Bolts look to draw first blood in the series opener slated following the 7 p.m. introduction of the protagonists.
It is given that imports Justin Brownlee of Ginebra and Allen Durham of Meralco will provide the numbers the two sides needed in order to lift the trophy, thus making the roles of the locals important.
“We know that AD (Durham) will get his numbers, but I think we really have to control their locals,” said Ginebra guard LA Tenorio. “I think lahat naman sila X-factor and you cannot say that this guy is an X-factor for the series because every game it’s gonna be a different player who will be the X-factor.
“I mean, we just have to be ready sa lahat ng mga players. The players coming off the bench can be a surprise as well so we just have to be ready,” added Tenorio.
Meralco’s Chris Newsome seconded Tenorio’s assessment.
“This is the Finals and you got two great teams here. But neither of these teams are in the top five in the Best Player of the Conference race, which means that says a lot of the teams in general that there is no one guy that really stands out at any point,” said Newsome.
“We just gotta prepare for all things, do your best and try to make it hard on them. In this championship, you know Brownlee’s gonna get his buckets, but it’s about the supporting cast. Whoever comes to play, that’s gonna be good for them but it’s gonna be on us to try to limit that as much as we can.”
Meralco coach Norman Black said there’s no need to be worried about whichever team has the edge, stressing instead the importance of capitalizing on his team’s strength.
“Instead of looking for advantages, I think we should just concentrate on what we do well,” said Black. “We defend well, we rebound the ball well. If we don’t do those things, we’re not gonna beat them. Those are the things that got us to this point. We’re in the championship so for us to beat them, we gonna have to do that.
“On the other side of it, we got to find a way to score because they’re also a great defensive team,” he added. “So it’s just like they can’t defend because they can so we just to figure out how we attack, who we can attack and how to put points in the board.”
Hearing Black’s thought, Cone used a boxing term to describe how Ginebra will approach things.
“I feel kinda like the counterpuncher right now,” said Cone. “I mean, because Meralco has been good with the way they play and with the way they have been successful in terms of their defense, in terms of their rebounding and we’re trying to find ways to counter that.
“We recognize that that’s a real strong part of their game and we’re gonna try and figure out ways to get our offense going and find out ways to keep them off the boards. And that’s where the battle comes in, that’s really where the battle gonna be fought and won. It’s really defending and rebounding.”
