IT’S just one game.
Notwithstanding the 28-point blowout defending champion San Miguel suffered in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals against Barangay Ginebra, Renaldo Balkman said the team has enough time to recover and regroup.
Balkman had a team-high 27 points and 13 rebounds in his first game in the finals which unfortunately ended in a 127-99 blowout loss to the Gin Kings at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But the good thing, according to the 34-year-old import, is that the title series still has a long way to go.
“It’s a long finals,” said Balkman, calm and composed even after the rout. “The good thing about it it’s only Game One. We’re just down 0-1, and it’s not like we’re down 0-3 and just one more game and it’s over.”
“We got a Game 2 on Sunday. It’s very frustrating, but guess what? That’s why we’re in the playoffs. That’s why there’s Game 1. They haven’t won Game 5, Game 4, and now it’s over.”
The Kings surprised the Beermen with their hot shooting in the opening half in which they went 69 percent from the floor (29-of-42) to take an early 66-47 lead, from which the reigning champions never recovered.
Justine Brownlee typified Ginebra’s scorching offense, dropping 29 points in the first two quarters to finish with a game-high 42 on an impressive 17-of-19 shooting including 5-of-5 from three-point range.
“They came out there with a bang,” said Balkman of the Kings.
“Brown had a great game. He missed no shot,” he added of his ‘brother’ and former Alab Pilipinas teammate. ”It’s hard to stop a player who missed no shot.”
The same can’t be said of the Beermen, who ended up shooting 39 percent from the field (39-of-100).
Rookie Christian Standhardinger played his best game in a San Miguel uniform with 26 points and eight rebounds, while four-time MVP June Mar Fajardo was the only other local to finish in double figures with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
“We win as a team, we lose as a team. There’s no player to blame. We just had to go out there and play harder,” said Balkman, who looks forward of bouncing back strong in Sunday’s Game 2.
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.
