39 assists proof of Ginebra’s ‘unselfish mentality’
Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Barangay Ginebra playmaker LA Tenorio made a beeline drive to the basket then set up Greg Slaughter for the uncontested dunk at the 5:24 mark of the third quarter.
A little over a minute later, Scottie Thompson penetrated the lane before dropping a dime to Slaughter for another throwdown.
Those couple of plays made for two of the Gin Kings’ whopping 39 assists in their wire-to-wire win over the Kia Picanto on Wednesday.
“I’m really proud of that. I’m proud of the way we’ve been assisting the ball. It just shows the unselfish mentality everybody has,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone after his team’s 120-99 victory.
“LA is the leader in that but I think the key guy is Scottie. He’s so infectious with his passing and everybody wants to do it. Joe also loves to pass and Justin also loves to pass. It becomes infectious after a while and guys really look to move the ball,” Cone added.
Thompson dished out a game-high 10 assists while Brownlee and Tenorio finished with seven and five, respectively.
Ginebra’s assist total was the most in 14 years, as per league head statistician Fidel Mangonon.
The Kings made basketball simple by moving the ball and finding the open man, assisting on 39 out of their 44 made field goals.
And with Ginebra playing unselfish and getting contributions from almost everyone, Kia, which trailed by as much as 34 points, was just lost defensively.
“We change good shots into great shots with our ball movement,” Cone said.
