By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gone were the days where a team could sit on a zone defense and Ginebra would mightily struggle finding baskets.
Today, a team could use that ploy and would end up getting punished by its outside shooting with guys like RJ Abarrientos, Justin Brownlee and Maverick Ahanmisi all efficiently ringing the bell from the distance.
And that was TNT head coach Chot Reyes pointed out during the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals press conference at the Atrium at Enderun College on Thursday, Oct. 24, as his Tropang Giga brace for a tough battle ahead against the Kings.
“Ginebra used to be a team that takes the fewest three point shots of any team in the league and now they are the No. 1 in the league in three point shooting and even four point shooting,” said Reyes.
“Of course, Justin and Mav have a lot to do with that and RJ, so that’s a big departure from the way they normally play in taking much, much fewer number of three pointers as against today,” he added.
In the semifinals against San Miguel, Ginebra shot an impressive 36.61 percent from the three-point territory and a 31.43 percent from the extra arc which also perfectly complemented its 55.3 points per game average inside the paint.
Reyes said the change of Ginebra’s point of attack is largely due to the change of personnel which Cone easily adjusted to according to the Tropang Giga mentor. The Kings have added Stephen Holt and RJ Abarrientos, two great perimeter players, as part of the deal that also sent Christian Standhardinger away.
“That is dictated by circumstance because he has a very different team than his previous teams. He is making a great adjustment which is the mark of a great coach, the ability to adjust so that’s the difference,” he added.
In contrast from being a known offensive-minded team in the past, TNT has forged a defensive identity in this conference – something that would certainly be tested against Ginebra.
“We really made a conscious, intentional effort to focus on defense because when we analyzed our past performance that was our weakness, our inability to stop other teams. We really made a concerted effort to make defense our identity,” said Reyes.
Through the semis, TNT only allowed 91.5 points scored on them while also topping defensive categories in steals and blocks with 8.8 takeaways and 4.8 rejections per game.
