AS TIM Cone simply put it, Game Four was Barangay Ginebra’s best game inside the PBA bubble.
It came at the most perfect time for the Gin Kings as they soared to a 98-88 victory over TNT to move one victory away from capturing the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup inside the Smart Clark Giga City.
“This is our best game of the series by far and, I think, the best game of the conference,” Cone said. “We hit big shots all night, we made plays, we made defensive plays, held the lead for the most part and then they made their big run. But I felt we played well tonight. I hope we can carry it over into Wednesday.”
The performance was one day after Ginebra took a different approach to its preparations for Game Four when the coaching staff decided to give the Gin Kings a day-off on Saturday following their first defeat of the championship series.
Following the rest, Ginebra went down to business by doing light practice on Sunday morning.
“I just felt we played well in the first quarter and then we looked tired going into the second and tired for the rest of the game,” said Cone in explaining the decision behind resting his team a day after the Game Three defeat.
“We just decided to give them an extra time off. We didn’t practice yesterday but we practiced this morning. Went through about an hour, 10 to 15-minute walkthroughs on what we want to do and adjust today. We just tried to give them a little extended time in terms of recovery. We were afraid that we will wear them out today but we felt that the recovery time is more important,” said Cone.
The ploy worked as Ginebra appeared to have the legs to finish the game, with LA Tenorio burying a crucial three-pointer after another in the 10-point win that put the Gin Kings on the cusp of their first Philippine Cup crown since 2007.
Cone hopes that the strategy will also pay off now that Ginebra waits for two days before Game Five is played at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center.
“That’s really what the NBA does when they have a game on Monday and Wednesday. They will take a Tuesday off but they’ll have shootaround-type practice on the day of the game. We took a page from the NBA only because I just felt they were tired. It seemed to have worked. We did win and we did look like we played with a lot more energy tonight. Now we have two days (in between games),” said Cone.
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