A CASE of mental miscalculation proved costly for Barangay Ginebra in Game 3 of their PBA Governors' Cup semifinal series against Meralco on Sunday.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted LA Tenorio thought the Kings were behind by only two points and not three, 86-83, going to their final offensive play that he opted to go coast-to-coast for a layup which NLEX was more than willing to give him.
Mental mistake
It turned out the Road Warriors were up by three and merely allowed Tenorio to get his two-point basket - then let the fraction of the second tick away to secure a thrilling 86-85 win that cut Ginebra's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-five playoff.
"LA thought they were up by two instead of three," said Cone. "But you know, that happened to me many times when I thought were up by two and find out we were down three or up three, whatever."
Barangay Ginebra was without a timeout after NLEX import Cameron Clark completed the three-point play that broke an 83-83 contest with seven seconds to go.
The Kings went to Tenorio for the final shot and the veteran guard made his way unmolested towards the basket for the final count.
Double blackeye
That led to a double blackeye for Tenorio, who also made the haphazard backcourt pass which Clark turned into the marginal three-point play. But Cone wasn't about to blame his star guard, saying such things happen.
"It's so easy to lose especially after a free throw goes in because your mind is already thinking it's two points, then they forget that the free throw goes in," explained Cone about the situation.
At the same time, he came to the defense of his veteran point guard, who has played for him even during his days with Alaska.
"But LA has won so many games for us," Cone said. "He's gonna get a bye on this one, that's not a problem.
"The key for him is just moving on - put it away and move on. That's what all we gotta do. We gotta put it away and move on."
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