ARVIN Tolentino believes a confluence of events led to Northport’s 115-93 blowout loss at the hands of Barangay Ginebra in the opener of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals series.
From the long layoff to NorthPort's lack of playoffs inexperience to, of course, the Kings’ tough defense, Tolentino said everything just went wrong in the Batang Pier’s first semifinal appearance over the last six years.
READ Ginebra deals top seed NorthPort a demoralizing Game One loss
“Andun yung kalawang factor, pero hindi ko naman puwedeng sabihin na 'yun ang rason. They played a great game, yun lang yun,” said Tolentino when he talked to waiting reporters at the hallway of the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Batang Pier last played on Feb. 6 in a 107-103 quarterfinal win over Magnolia, going on an almost a three-week break heading to the best-of-seven semis.
And then there was Ginebra’s clampdown defense on Tolentino, the top favorite to win the Best Player of the Conference award.
Averaging 23.2 points in the conference, Tolentino finished with only eight points on 2-of-11 shooting while adding six rebounds and two assists.
His eight points was his only single-digit output in a game for the last two seasons, according to the league's chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
Tolentino admitted his former team did a great job of limiting him in Game One.
“I’ll definitely watch the tape and watch how they defended me and be better the next game,” was all he could offer.
Lack of playoff experience
Only Tolentino. Paolo Taha, and Sidney Onwubere have reached this deep in the playoffs before as part of Barangay Ginebra in the past and the lack of playoff experience showed for the top-seeded Batang Pier.
“I can’t really say, but based on the way we played tonight, [the lack of playoff] experience is a big factor also. I’m not sure if may jitters 'yung iba, pero sila lang 'yung makakapagsabi kung talagang meron,” he said.
“Pero [lack of] experience, 'yun ang malaking factor sa amin. First time kasi nung ibang teammates ko. Pero that’s good also na na-experience na nila ngayon yun.”
Yet, Tolentino said it's too early to feel down after one loss.
“This is not the time to feel down, talo, tambak. We just have to stay positive. It’s a long series, it’s just Game One,” he said. “We’ll forget about this. Tomorrow is another day, another game.”
Game 2 is set Friday at the Philsports Arena.
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