BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone got tongue-tied as he struggled to utter the words “three fresh guys,” referring to how three players took turns in defending against Meralco import Arinze Onuaku.
“Tagalog lang ako, mahirap mag-English eh. Nag-nose bleed ako,” said Cone, drawing laughs from reporters during the post-game press conference.
That perhaps was one of the few things the Kings did wrong in Game Two of their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinal series against Meralco - and in a win streak that now stretches to seven games.
Cone, however, remains guarded as Ginebra marches on to the Final Four.
“Coming into the semifinals with a seven-game winning streak, it’s a blessing and it’s a curse at the same time,” said Cone after Ginebra completed a sweep of Meralco with a 104-90 win on Wednesday nght.
“It’s a blessing because you got some momentum and you are playing well. A curse because at some point, you’re gonna come off the mountain."
Cone said he is seeing signs that the Kings are losing their focus, saying he wasn’t satisfied with the team’s practice on Tuesday.
“The more you win, the less you focus. When you are losing and try to get out of a losing streak, you have a tendency to have a really razor-sharp focus. When you are winning for quite a while, the focus kinda dissipate.
“I thought we didn’t have a good practice yesterday for the first time in a while and they heard it for me … Hopefuly, it doesn’t happen too often. When it does, that’s the time you begin to tumble off the mountain. When you start tumbling, it’s hard to get your feet and get back up again.
The Kings now get a little break while awaiting the winner of Thursday’s rubber match between top-seed Rain or Shine and eighth-ranked GlobalPort, but Cone has no plan of giving the Kings a break.
“We will see how we can stay on top of the mountain,” said Cone.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
