By REYNALD MAGALLON
It is one of those times where it pays to have a short-term memory.
Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, if he has his way, would certainly like to easily forget and move on from an “embarrassing” 104-88 Game 1 loss at the hands of the defending champion TNT.
Cone admitted that they were simply outclassed by the Tropang Giga in the series opener and they need to identify what exactly hit them to prevent it from happening again if they want to tie the best-of-seven affair in Game 2.
“So it’s just one of those games. You hate to see how it happened in the first game of a championship series. They were more locked in than we were. Weren’t just locked in as much as we would like to be,” admitted Cone.
Game 2 of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals is at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Oct. 30, with the Kings raring to break out of their shooting slump at the end of the contest that tips off at 7:30 p.m.
Coming into the Finals as the best outside shooting team, the Kings’ three-point and four-point shot completely abandoned them in Game 1. Ginebra had a 2-of-21 clip from three-point territory and 1-of-5 from the extended arc.
In contrast, TNT simply had its way on the offensive end, firing 12 triples to highlight an impressive 52-percent clip from the field.
“They took a lot of what we wanted to do away from us. We shot the ball poorly with 2-for-21 from the three-point line,” said Cone.
“They beat us up individually one-on-one and really embarrassed our defense,” he added.
While the rousing Game 1 win certainly gave TNT a lot of confidence boost at the start of the expected arduous affair with Ginebra, Tropang Giga head coach Chot Reyes immediately warned his wards of complacency.
“It’s just one game. We know Ginebra is going to come back and make their adjustments. We have to be prepared for Game 2,” said Reyes.
The Tropang Giga jumped the gun on the Kings early, racing to a 15-2 lead in the opening frame – a strong start the wards of Reyes also hoped to replicate as they also try to further polish their offensive and defensive thrusts.
“I think yung mga kaunting lapses namin na pwedeng magbigay ng momentum sa kanila kasi yun yung iniiwasan namin knowing Ginebra pag binigyan mo sila ng momentum ng ganung chances nag all the way sila,” said Rey Nambatac.
