ANTIPOLO – Tim Cone was once in a situation where his team’s fate lies on the quotient and point differentials.
He isn't relishing being in the same situation again.
Barangay Ginebra closed in on a quarterfinal berth on Sunday after his team’s 106-89 win over Phoenix Super LPG in their penultimate game in the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup eliminations.
For Ginebra to advance to the quarterfinals, the Gin Kings must either win against Blackwater or not lose by 24 points or more to the Bossing on Friday in the final day of the eliminations at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.
SCENARIOS: Ginebra has inside track on Group B's last QF spot
The situation is similar to his stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the recent 20th Asian Games.
In their final group stage game against China in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, Gilas needed only to win or not lose by 36 points or more to clinch a berth in the quarterfinals.
Gilas ended up losing by 44 points, 105-61, to get ousted early.
“I don’t really want to talk about quotient because I’ve had some bad experiences with it,” said Cone after the win over Phoenix Super LPG.
“When we played against Georgia in the Olympic qualifying tournament, we had a 20, 19-point advantage and by the end of the first quarter, we were down by 21 points. And then just recently in the Asian Games with China, we had a 37-point quotient and by halftime, we were down by 35. Luckily, we came back and almost beat Georgia, lost by a couple of points. But China, we didn’t get back to,” said Cone.
One can argue that Blackwater isn’t in the same caliber as China or Georgia, but Cone doesn’t want to take any chances, and hopes that his players won’t take the Bossing lightly.
“We are very aware of the quotient, and hopefully, our guys won’t fool around and collapse, and we'll play the game the way we’re supposed to.”
“But I rather have that quotient than not have quotient. So we’ll live with it and do what we can with it,” Cone said.
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