Game 7 of the PBA 48th Season Philippine Cup semifinals is slated for Friday in San Jose, Batangas.
But Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone has no intention of risking a knockout game against Meralco. He aims to finish the series on Wednesday.
“I’m sorry to the fans of Batangas but if we don’t see them, I’ll be very, very happy,” said Cone. “But if we do, hopefully, we can put on a show for them.”
Cone wants his team to close out the series on Wednesday in Game Six at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum considering the effort they put on to gain the upper hand in their best-of-seven affair.
The Gin Kings are now one win away from a seat in the PBA Philippine Cup finals after overhauling a 15-point deficit to defeat Meralco, 89-84, in Game Five on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Cone said the team’s focus will definitely be solely on Game Six as they look to make adjustments despite their comeback win.
“That’s not something we worry about,” said Cone, referring to Game Seven. “Certainly not something we want to think about. Right now, it’s just one ahead of us. And that’s what we want to think about, just that one game.”
Start out better is key to Game Six
To have a better chance of winning, Cone said Ginebra must start out better than they did in Game Five where they committed 12 turnovers in the first half, only to limit their errors to two in the second.
“I just think our readiness to start the basketball game is key. I think that getting off on the right foot with this team (Meralco) is really been a challenge for us and for them. I think the team that gets off to the right foot really has an advantage to the game,” said Cone.
“We just try to grind wins out, that’s what we are trying to do in this series,” Cone added.
In the event though that the series do go into Game Seven, Cone said they will be prepared to play the out-of-town contest that will be played on just a one-day rest.
“Those are things that are I always try to tell the team that it’s totally out of our control. If we have to go to Game Seven, then we will do the best we can to make it as smooth as we can in terms of getting there, getting prepared, and understanding the gym, and doing what needs to be done.”
“We are going to have full support from the management in terms of anything we need at the point to go into the Game Seven there.”
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