BARANGAY Ginebra hit the ground running in its return to training on Friday, almost a month after their PBA Governors’ Cup title conquest.
Gin Kings coach Tim Cone was glad his players didn’t abuse their vacation time after ruling the season-ending tournament at the expense of Meralco.
“We are not in shape, but we’re not in bad shape,” Cone said after practice at Upper Deck gym. “Our guys came back in pretty good shape, no one's overweight or out of shape so that means we will be able to get back to what we were.”
“And we just want to make the players understand that there is much growth left to make and we want to continue growing and staying away from letdowns and hangovers,” he added.
[See Jammer Jamito compared to Espinas, wants to be like Pingris]
The Gin Kings try to continue making up for lost time as they undergo twice-a-day training sessions starting on Saturday in the hope of integrating newcomers Paolo Taha and rookies Kevin Ferrer and Jammer Jamito along with another pick, Jericho de Guzman, who has been a practice player since last year.
“We know we have a limited amount of time,” Cone said. “That’s one of the reasons we took a longer break - we want the players have that sense of urgency that they gotta comeback and make every practice count.”
After the first day of their twice-a-day practice, the Gin Kings play their first preseason game, against Blackwater, in Batangas City.
“It’s really making habol and getting ready for our game,” Cone said.
[See Ginebra bolsters championship core with Ferrer, Jamito, Taha, De Guzman]
Even injured players are hitting the ground running as Greg Slaughter continued his knee rehabilitation after paying a visit in practice.
“Greg was here earlier this morning and he left to go to rehab,” Cone said. “We want him to keep coming and visiting the team while he's doing rehab but its rehab that's really the important job for him right now. Even practices dont take priority over his rehab.”
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