BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone considered it a huge bonus that Northport played without its best player during their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals playoff on Friday night.
Cone considered the absence of Arvin Tolentino a big break for the Kings, who proceeded to demolish the Batang Pier, 106-93 to secure a berth in the semifinals.
"Without a doubt, Arvin's absence was huge for us and a difficult void for them to fill," said Cone after the game.
Tolentino, who is nursing a knee injury which he sustained in the team's last game against Ginebra, was averaging a league-best 22.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists before the injury.
He's also running third in the race for the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award.
And so it was a relief for Cone upon seeing Tolentino in civilian clothes while sitting on the Northport bench.
"A lot of our game plan was based on him being there and we were surprised he wasn't," said Cone. "I'm not going to say I was not happy about it because when I saw him in street clothes, I kind of say that was good for us."
Northport coach Bonnie Tan tried to find a stop-gap measure to fill in the shoes of Tolentino, but to no avail.
Sophomore JM Calma had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, Joshua Munzon also had 19, Paul Zamar added 12 and import Venky Jois had a triple-double of 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists.
Yet Tolentino's absence was still obviously felt.
"Coach Bonnie was trying to put different guys out there and figure out who could fill that spot," said Cone, who remembered Tolentino torching Ginebra for 27 points in their first meeting this season which the Kings won, 103-93.
Still Cone wishes Tolentino the best of health, having the Gilas Pilipinas stalwart played under him with Barangay Ginebra before.
"I'm hoping he'll get healthy and play. He was a big part of what we did when he was with us," said the Ginebra mentor.
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