TIM Cone doesn’t see his Barangay Ginebra team going past mighty San Miguel Beer if it plays the same way against Rain or Shine on Friday night.
The Kings botched a 16-point lead after going cold in the homestretch to lose against the Elasto Painters, 118-112, in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup encounter at the Astrodome.
With just a day to prepare against the Beermen, Cone knows the Kings can’t afford to have the same mindset and expect to beat the league’s top team.
“We had a 14-point lead in the first half (last night) and then a 16-point lead in the second half, and still managed to lose the game,” said Cone. “We played some good stretches, but couldn’t put a complete game together.”
“Against SMB, we’ll need to play great the whole game to have a chance to beat them.”
The loss denied Ginebra from keeping in step with the Beermen for the no. 1 spot in the standings as it fell to fourth place at 5-2 behind second and third running Star (7-2) and Meralco (7-2).
San Miguel, on the other hand, remained on top with a 6-1 record following a 114-108 win over luck-less NLEX also on Friday.
The Beermen drew 37 points and 19 rebounds from monster import Charles Rhodes, while Chris Ross added 15 points along with 11 assists, and Marcio Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot with 12 each to highlight the team’s balanced scoring.
Those numbers are certainly not lost on Cone.
“We’ll need to be a whole better defensively than we were last night,” said the Ginebra mentor.
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