THE 'Never Say Die' spirit of Barangay Ginebra showed up once again on Wednesday night despite playing a relatively bad Game 1 in the eyes of head coach Tim Cone.
Cone was glad to come out as victorious in the series opener of the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup semifinals, gutting out a 73-71 win over San Miguel after trailing by as many 18 points in the first half.
READ: Holt, Troy, Japeth help Ginebra steal Game One from San Miguel
In winning the game, the Gin Kings only shot 37.3 percent from the field. And despite limiting the Beermen to only 32.1 percent themselves, their lowest scoring output of the conference, Cone said that doesn’t mean they played excellent defense.
“The good news is we just battled tonight,” said Cone after Wednesday’s win. “We didn’t play great. We didn’t shoot great. We didn’t even really defend that great.”
The fact that Ginebra last played at the Mall of Asia Arena last March 16 in Game 2 of the Commissioner’s Cup finals contributed to the bad shooting night, as well.
“We haven’t played here at Mall of Asia for quite a while, so it was a little difficult for us in terms of getting the feel for the rims. We didn’t have a chance to practice, to shoot here. But the bottom line is we found a way,” said Cone.
Japeth, Scottie come up clutch
Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson played key roles in the comeback from 43-25 down in Game 1. Aguilar had 18 points, nine rebounds, and one block which happened in the final seconds when he denied a layup by June Mar Fajardo. Thompson also had 16 points and eight rebounds in the series opener.
The way that the Gin Kings were able to win Game 1 despite their unimpressive play, at least in Cone’s view, is enough reason for them not to make a huge deal out of the Game 1 victory.
“But it’s only one game. We’ve got to play better as the series goes for us to have a chance. But it’s nice to always have a lead in the series,” said Cone.
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