ROOKIE center Greg Slaughter admitted he needs to learn how to pace himself for the rest of the PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series after being reduced into a non-factor in the final period of Barangay Ginebra’s 89-97 Game Three loss to San Mig Super Coffee on Sunday.
The 6-11 big man out Ateneo finished with a PBA career-high of 29 points along with 13 rebounds in a 41-minute effort in Game Three - a strong follow up to his 21-point-13-rebound effort in Game Two which the Gin Kings won, 93-64, just two nights earlier.
“We just had a three big men rotation with me, Billy (Mamaril) and Japeth (Aguilar). You want to win so bad, but again, I need to be wise in conserving my energy next time,” said the big man from Cebu.
Interestingly, missing from Ginebra’s rotation was backup center Jay-Ar Reyes, who was left on the bench as coach Ato Agustin decided to stick with a three-big man rotation.
Nevertheless, Slaughter vowed to stay aggressive for the rest of the series, saying the aggressor in the race-to-four-wins semis series will come out victorious.
“I think we didn’t have any fastbreak points, barely. Even the attempts. And in the first half, they (Mixers) came out aggressive on us,” noted the soft-spoken top overall rookie pick last year.
“I think this series is all about the aggressor. The most aggressive one gets the other one more tired, that’s how things came out in the endgame.”
Ginebra will try to even the series on Wednesday in Game Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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