THERE is a slim chance that Barangay Ginebra can still clinch the twice-to-beat advantage in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, but head coach Tim Cone said that's no longer in his mind.
The Gin Kings are currently in a share of fifth place with Eastern on 7-4 win-loss cards ahead of their match against Meralco, which itself is also vying for a twice-to-beat spot in the playoffs being at third with a 7-3 slate.
Cone said they’ve been trying not to look at the standings ever since, and just focus on each game. In this case, Ginebra's undivided attention is on Meralco which they will play on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
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“All we can do is control what we can control and that’s ourselves,” sad Cone. “We always talk about it. We try not to look at the standings too much because if you’re down in the standings, you put a lot of pressure on yourself to try to move up. And it can be a distraction. You get frustrated.”
“Top of the standings, then you get a little bit kampante. So you really try to avoid looking at the standings. We know where we are but we also know we control our destiny,” said Cone.
On the positive side, Ginebra is already assured of a place in the Top Six, avoiding the No. 7 and No. 8 spots where teams will be at put in a twice-to-beat disadvantage.
“We feel if we beat Meralco, we can get to that Top Six and we’ll take it from there. That’s our goal. Getting to the top, it’d be nice to get to the top too, but that’s really out of reach already for us,” said Cone.
Ginebra is also looking to reassert its mastery over Meralco this season. The Gin Kings swept the Bolts, 3-0, in their quarterfinal showdown during the Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
Barangay Ginebra is coming off a 120-92 win over Rain or Shine last January 22, a game where Cone described as the team’s best game of the conference after that 91-86 defeat against TNT last hast January 17.
In the ROS match, Ginebra shot 53 percent from the field and limited the Elasto Painters to their second-lowest scoring output of the conference.
Cone hopes that their level of play would be close to that effort against the Elasto Painters especially with the quarterfinals approaching.
“We have another tough opponent in Meralco. We have a tough finishing kick here with Talk ‘N Text, Rain or Shine, and Meralco in our last three games. So this is the time when we really need to step up the defense, step up the details of what we’re talking about.
“(Against Rain or Shine) it came together and hopefully, we can continue. I don’t expect us to play like this every night. But if we can continue to come in with this kind of focus, I think that we have a chance to win games,” said Cone.
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