BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone paid tribute to NorthPort for making the Gin Kings earn their return trip to the semifinals after winning their PBA Governors’ Cup series in four games.
Cone said he was relieved that the Gin Kings will not have to play a rubber match for a finals berth against the Batang Pier, knowing they are capable of pulling off an upset again this conference.
“They came out and play a heck of a first game and it was quite frightening to see how good they can be in that first game. It kinda shook us a little bit. We gained our bearings and started to play with the way we wanted to play,” said Cone.
The first game Cone was referring to was of course the series opener in which NorthPort stunned Barangay Ginebra, 124-90. The Gin Kings, however, won the next three games in convincing fashion.
Cone said NorthPort can be a dangerous team as proven by its victory in the quarterfinals where the Batang Pier upset top-seed NLEX after overhauling a twice-to-beat disadvantage.
“It’s good that we didn’t have to go to a fifth game. I’m just so happy that we didn’t have to go to a fifth game. We are taking about it in the locker room. This team was in the twice-to-beat situation earlier and they showed great character in beating NLEX in that first game. They dominated them and then coming back and win that triple overtime game which is going to go down as one of the greatest PBA games of all time. We knew they have the character in them to play us,” said Cone.
In the end though, Cone said the injuries NorthPort had to battle through kept the Batang Pier from clinching a finals berth. Sol Mercado and Kevin Ferrer were out for NorthPort in the semifinal series due to an ankle and foot injuries respectively.
“In a series like this, when you are playing every other day, it’s a best-of-five and the semis is every other day, depth becomes very important and we obviously have the depth that they didn’t have especially with the injuries of Sol and Kevin,” said Cone.
“Those guys would have made big impacts, Sol on the defensive end and Kevin helping the space the floor. Of course, Bolick, we all know how good he is. But we were just able to wear them down with our depth throughout the series,” said Cone.
Cone lauded his team for staying focused against NorthPort.
“The thing I appreciate is our guys came out focused and ready and we didn’t take anything for granted. We had our game face on from the very beginning. That’s what you are looking for from a coaching standpoint,” said Cone.
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