GINEBRA’S answer to the PBA’s current best scorer?
Matched him up against the league’s best defender.
For the second straight game, the Kings assigned rookie guard Stephen Holt on Arvin Tolentino and came away with a 119-106 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals Friday night at the Philsports Arena.
READ Ginebra cruises to another easy win vs NorthPort for 2-0 lead
With Holt all over Tolentino again, the top favorite for the Best Player of the Conference award went 5-of-17 from the field and finished with 12 points.
“Arvin is the best player in the league and he’s playing in my mind, the best defensive player in the league in Stephen Holt. So it’s a real interesting battle between those two,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who tasked the 33-year-old sophomore guard to hold down Tolentino from doing his thing.
In the two games played between the two teams so far, Tolentino is averaging 10.0 points on a 7-of-28 shooting from the floor.
Holt had Tolentino locked down in the first half of Game 2 where the 29-year-old forward went 2-of-9 for four points, allowing the Kings to outscore the top-seeded Batang Pier, 33-17, for a commanding 68-39 lead at the half.
Tolentino got into rhythm in the third period, hitting two three pointers, but not enough to spark a huge Northport comeback.
“Stephen’s done a real well job against him (Tolentino) in the first half,” said Cone. “But you know Arvin is so explosive. In the third quarter, he had open 3s, and he just knocked them down with such ease.”
While Cone appeared very pleased with the way Holt and the rest of the Kings have been clamping down on Tolentino, he knows at one point in the semis, the former Ginebra player will be able to get his rhythm.
“Right now we’re doing a really good job on him (Tolentino), but it’s a seven-game series and we just have to continue doing it,” added the Ginebra coach.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
