WHILE Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson got most of the praise from Ginebra fans, Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone gave credit to Greg Slaughter for being the 'difference-changer' in the Kings' run to the championship.
“I think the difference maker, the guy that didn’t really get a lot of credit to, we did but maybe not enough, was Greg Slaughter,” Cone said.
So appreciative was Cone of the effort of Slaughter that he even personally told Slaughter’s father at the hallway leading to the Ginebra dugout how his son made a big impact for the Kings in the finals series against San Miguel.
Slaughter had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Gin Kings in their title-clinching 93-77 victory in Game Six on Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Fajardo had his usual numbers in Game Six, getting 29 points and 15 rebounds on 13-of-17 shooting from the field. But Cone said Slaughter’s impact for Ginebra goes well beyond the stats sheet.
By making Fajardo earn his points, Slaughter, Cone said, was able to change the way San Miguel played.
“The energy that he played throughout the series against June Mar, he was the difference maker for us because he was the one guy that made them change the way they play,” said Cone.
“They usually come down and feed June Mar. But with Greg, they just couldn’t do that over and over, not consistently. It changed the way they played and that gave us an edge.”
“We were able to take them out of what they do,” said Cone.
Cone also said that due to Slaughter’s defense on Fajardo, the Gin Kings didn’t find the need to throw constant double-teams on the four-time MVP.
“What often opens up the shooters on that team is June Mar Fajardo. Teams have to double down, help, or collapse on June Mar all the time. Otherwise, June Mar really dominates the game.
“The difference in this series, why we were able to stay with him is the fact that we had Greg Slaughter. We didn’t need to double down, we didn’t need to collapse on him so that allowed us to stay on the shooters. Lassiter didn’t get many open shots, Cabagnot didn’t get a lot of open shots."
"They didn’t go to the post directly all the time which what they normally do. We took that away because of Greg. He was the equalizer,” ended Cone.
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