ONLY in his sophomore season, but Chris Ellis already learned to embrace the good old never-say-die attitude Barangay Ginebra has always been known for.
With the Kings’ title hopes on the line, the high-flying Fil-Am swingman vows to come out with `all heart and intensity’ Monday for Game 6 when the team tries to salvage its semifinals campaign against San Mig Coffee Mixers in the PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup.
The Kings are standing on the verge of outright eliminations after losing Game 5 Saturday night, 76-79, to trail the best-of-seven series, 3-2.
But the 6-foot-4 Ellis, who banged a conference-high 20 points the last time, very much likes the chances of the team that finished as the top seed going into the playoffs.
“I think we flourish more when our backs are against the wall,” Ellis frankly told Spin.ph on Sunday.
“We come out there will all heart and intensity, so you can expect more from all of us, and come out with more sense of urgency.”
The no. 6 overall pick during the 2012 Draft out of Mary Liarden Baylor noted though, the need for the Kings to step up their defensive energy and take care of the ball after committiong a conference-high 24 turnovers in Game 5.
“We emphasized defense throughout the game because majority of their (Mixers) points come from turnovers,” said `Air Force’ Ellis.
“And their fastbreak, I think that’s lack of effort on our part, so we just have to push up the intensity.”
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