BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone said San Miguel proved on Wednesday how strong it really is with its victory in the opener of their semifinal playoff in the PBA 48th Season Commissioner’s Cup.
Cone said the Gins generally played well in Game One of their best-of-five series, but their opponents were just too good as Bennie Boatwright and June Mar Fajardo produced their usual numbers.
READ SMB escapes with Game One win as late lapses cost Ginebra
Making matters worse, CJ Perez played his best game offensively for the Beermen this conference, leading the way with 26 points in the 92-90 win.
“We tried to stay with them,” Cone said after emerging from the Ginebra dugout at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. “We stayed with them but they made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t make the plays down the stretch. Basically, that was the game. We are going to look at the video and see what needs to be adjusted.”
“I liked our effort tonight. We didn’t play a sharp game. We can play sharper than that. Obviously, San Miguel can play sharper than that as well. I just like the way our guys stuck in the game despite not playing up to what we felt was up to par, and gave ourselves a chance to win, but came up short,” said Cone.
Cone said the current San Miguel team can be comparable to the past Beermen teams that were once called the ‘Death Five’ that featured the likes of June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, and Alex Cabagnot.
“We just have to pay a little bit more attention to detail. We are going to try to find a way to beat this good team, tough team. They have a lot of different kinds of weapons. They got their own version of the ‘Death Five’ except that Boatwright is playing Arwind Santos,” said Cone.
“It’s like Arwind and June Mar together and the Death Five except Boatwright is five inches taller, 30 pounds heavier, and shoots his ball as well as Arwind did. Just makes our job even harder,” Cone added.
SMB depth
Cone said he also expects another player to step up for San Miguel in Game Two on Friday, just like what Perez did on Wednesday.
“CJ had a great game. When you put so much focus on June Mar, to defend June Mar, and now we have to defend Boatwright, and they have other guys who can step up. And tonight, it was CJ.”
“Terrence didn’t play. I assume he might come back on Friday. But he might be the next guy to step up. Or Marcio. Or Chris. Or Trollano. They have a lot of weapons. That’s kinda like the choices you make. Focus on June Mar and Boatwright, and someone else is going to beat you,” said Cone.
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