STANLEY Pringle is just thrilled being in the PBA Finals for the very first time.
And the prolific Fil-Am guard is making sure he’ll be ready for the party once the title series gets underway on January 8.
“Definitely I’ll try to get my legs back as soon as possible. We got a little break,” said Pringle as he welcomes the more than two-week break Barangay Ginebra will have prior to the finals after defeating NorthPort, 120-107, on Friday night to wrap-up their Governors Cup best-of-five semis series, 3-1.
“I think that would be the perfect amount of time to get my knee back. I expect everybody to be healthy and ready to go. So it should be an exciting finals.”
But certainly, Pringle will be savoring his first-ever finals appearance in six years in the league.
“It’s real big, it’s my first finals appearance,” he stressed. “I’m going to give everything I have. They know that, my teammates know that. We’re going to be ready to play.”
Pringle finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists in the Game 4 win as the Kings swept the last three outings of the semis series after losing to NorthPort in Game 1 by 34 points.
The 32-year-old San Diego, California native made his first trip in the finals at the expense of NorthPort, the same team that picked him No. 1 overall in the 2014 draft until he was traded midway through the season to the Kings for the trio of Jervy Cruz, Sol Mercado, and Kevin Ferrer.
Pringle said that’s just the way life is in the league.
“We’re all brothers off the court. When it comes to that, I want them to play hard, they want me to play hard. Win or lose, after this they’re still going to call me. So it doesn’t matter,” he added.
With the other series between Meralco Bolts and TnT Katropa still not yet over, the Kings have the luxury of resting a bit for the holiday season.
Pringle though hopes that won’t cause the team to lose its momentum especially after getting its rhythm back in the semis following a slow start owing to the long Southeast Asian Games break.
“I’m thinking about my rhythm. We had a break, and luckily for me, I was playing with Gilas, and that kept my rhythm going,” he said. “Right now, maybe coach is going to schedule some tune-up games or something, and that’s the biggest thing to keep your game rhythm. So I’m going to try to find new ways to keep my rhythm.”
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