BARANGAY Ginebra and Rain or Shine face off in a playoff series for the first time in nearly six years as the two ballclubs compete in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup semifinals beginning on Wednesday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.
The last time the two teams squared off in a playoff series was way back in the Clark bubble on November 13, 2020 when a twice-to-beat Ginebra defeated Rain or Shine, 81-73, in a No. 1 vs. No. 8 quarterfinal showdown.
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Since then, both teams have only been played each other in the elimination round, until this conference.
Though both squads aren't perennial playoff rivals, Ginebra coach Tim Cone knows what to expect from a Yeng Guiao squad.
“I just know how hard it is to go up against Yeng Guiao and his teams,” said Cone. “They play the game extremely hard. They play the game extremely fast. They compete all the time, and they can wear you down in a seven-game series because of their deep bench and who they go to.
"So there is a lot of concerns going into a team like that,” added Cone.
Though they haven't been against each other in a playoff series a lot, Cone has been coaching against Guiao way back in 1990 when Guiao was named coach of Swift, a year after Cone took the same post at Alaska in 1989.
“Coach Yeng is so experienced in all these things. Sometimes I feel like maybe I have a little bit of an edge on that most of the time. But with Coach Yeng, no. We came in the league, same time. We've been coaching the same number of years. He's been through it all. I expect it to be a really, really tough series,” said Cone.
The Gins dominated the Elasto Painters, 114-90, during their elimination-round match last May 3 but Cone said that game was more of an abberation.
“That was one of our better games in the conference. I think that was one of their worst games in the conference. When someone is at the top of their game and the other is not on top of their game, oftentimes, it can turn into a blowout.
“And we were coming from the Meralco game just two days before which we got blown out,” said Cone, referring to Ginebra's 112-91 loss to Meralco two days prior to the Rain or Shine. “We were highly motivated (against Rain or Shine) just like Meralco was against us. Except for looking at the game like that and deciding adjustments and stuff, you don't put too much salt in that game.
"You kinda let it go, and we know what kind of team that they present. That's what we are get ready for, not on our last game,” said Cone.
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