KOBEY Lam anchored Bay Area’s defensive stand that shackled Barangay Ginebra in the Dragons’ 99-82 win in Game Two of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Wednesday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
While Andrew Nicholson, Zhu Songwei, and Hayden Blankley carried the offense, it was Lam who stood at the forefront of the Dragons’ defense that limited the Gin Kings to their fewest points in a finals game since their 83-74 loss to Meralco in Game Three of last season’s Governors’ Cup, according to chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
Kobey Lam on defense vs Ginebra guards
The 6-foot-2 Lam had moments shadowing Scottie Thompson, but focused on LA Tenorio in the second half.
Dragons coach Brian Goorjian admitted he wanted to put a bigger guy on the 5-foot-9 Tenorio, who was held to just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting after dropping 22 points on 18 shots in the series opener.
“100 percent,” Goorjian said. “Kobey on Thompson, Kobey on that matchup (vs Tenorio) was a really, really important one. They made adjustments. We made adjustments. And we’ll continue to.”
“But the matchup on what I had Kobey do in last game, wasn’t really smart from my position,” he added.
While he also contributed on offense with 11 points for the second straight game and six assists, Lam was glad to execute their defensive adjustments in Game Two.
“We were able to key in on that with our new game plan,” the Chinese-Canadian wingman said.
Lam also did a solid job boxing out Thompson, who could only collect nine points and three boards in 39 minutes after scattering 14 points and nine rebounds in Game one.
“(Scottie’s a) great player. A monster on the boards, so whenever any of us sees a shot go up, we just got to watch him, because he can grab those rebounds,” Lam said.
Lam, tough, is refusing to get carried away by the Dragons tying the series at one game apiece.
“I wouldn’t say ‘figured them out.’ We’re always still learning, so they’re going to adjust to our game plan and we’re going to have to adjust to that game plan as well.”
“I want to say we have the momentum right now, but we can’t get complacent,” he ended.
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