BEING the tallest player in the PBA today only takes you so far.
Greg Slaughter learned it the hard way on Wednesday night, when Barangay Ginebra was sent packing after losing to San Mig Coffee, 87-110, in Game Seven of their PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
They Said It!
“Pingris was dominant even though he wasn’t scoring much. He was doing everything else." - Ginebra center Greg Slaughter
Although he tallied 12 points and one block, the 6-foot-11 ¾ rookie center was held to a conference-low three rebounds in 36 minutes during the do-or-die encounter.
The performance of this year’s top overall pick was obviously a far cry from that of the undersized yet big-hearted San Mig forward Marc Pingris, who registered 10 boards, eight points, seven assists, and four blocks.
“Pingris was dominant even though he wasn’t scoring much. He was doing everything else,” Slaughter said of the 6-foot-4 bruiser. “He almost had like a friggin’ quadruple-double out there.”
Slaughter felt he could’ve done better on the boards.
“It was just tough. At the start of the game, they wanted me to guard Pingris, so my first concern was getting a body on him, because he was very active on the boards.”
But Pingris also got a lot of help from fellow big men Rafi Reavis and rookie Ian Sangalang, who each had 15 points to back up the torrid shooting of guards James Yap and PJ Simon.
“We got outplayed in every position. Every piece of them was really clicking,” Slaughter said.
They may have underperformed, but Slaughter is confident the top-seeded Kings have a bright future ahead.
“We definitely are a young team, but I know everyone was expecting higher. It sucks that we didn’t meet those expectations, but I think we have all the tools to be a good team.”
“I’ll take a couple days off to reflect on this conference and talk to our vets and coaches to see where I can improve,” he concluded.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
