TIM Cone lauded the effort of Barangay Ginebra’s second unit and at the same time, called out the way his starting five played in a 95-82 loss to San Miguel Beer in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cone made special mention of the way his second group led the Kings back from the depths of a 24-point deficit and gave the Beermen a huge scare only to fall short in the endgame.
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The quintet of import Tony Bishop, Stanley Pringle, Sidney Onwubere, Von Pessumal, and rookie Raphael Cu made it a game when they went on a 23-9 run that got the Kings to within 82-75 with less than five minutes to play.
Only the poise and timely baskets of Jericho Cruz and Chris Ross cooled down the Ginebra rally as San Miguel dealt the reigning champions a second straight loss for a 4-3 record.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys who finished the basketball game, but I couldn’t be more disappointed with the way our first group played,” said Cone after the game.
The Kings’ starting unit consisted of Christian Standhardinger, Maverick Ahanmisi, Jamie Malonzo, LA Tenorio, and Bishop.
“That first group is there not because of their names or who they are, but because they deserve it,” stressed Cone. “They’re supposed to be earning it every night, (but) tonight they didn’t.”
“The second group came out, played so much better, came with life and intensity,” added the Ginebra coach.
Pessumal finished with 11 points – all of which he scored in the fourth quarter, while Pringle added 10 including 10 in the final period.
Bishop shows way
Bishop had eight of his game-high 20 during that stretch when the Kings made a run and gave their sixth man inside the Big Dome a lot to cheer about.
Unfortunately, the Kings couldn’t just finish off the job.
“It’s just a really disappointing performance overall,” Cone summed up.
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