Japeth Aguilar. PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines—It was a show of force Friday night as Ginebra tied the semifinals series at 1-1 with a sound 93-64 drubbing of San Mig Coffee in the 2014 PBA Philippine Cup.
But for the Kings’ beanpole Japeth Aguilar, the whopping winning margin hardly matters in what is shaping up to be an unpredictable best-of-seven series.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Aguilar when asked about the 29-point rout. “We just tied up the series. So next game is back to 0, so nothing special.”
But after such convincing win, it’s hard not to see the momentum greatly tipping towards the Kings after they dominated the Mixers on almost all fronts.
Ginebra, after getting outrebounded by the Mixers in game 1, finally owned the glass, 55-32, and also the assists department, 25-14.
“We finally won the rebounds, that’s a good sign for us,” said head coach Ato Agustin, whose ploy to stick with the zone paid dividends.
The Kings also attacked the Mixers early, as their crafty guards effortlessly penetrated the lanes for either a nifty finish or a timely dish to their big men.
But they also never let any of San Mig Coffee’s heroes to get hot enough to cause troubles, nipping the Mixers’ run in the third quarter right in time.
“Defensively, we had to be more aggressive [after game 1]. So we focused on that and I think we did a good job,” Jayjay Helterbrand said.
Helterband said that in the game 1 set setback, “we kinda beat ourselves. We knew we could win that game but we made a bunch of bad decisions.”
But the Kings were careful not to make those same mistakes again.
The veteran guard, who carried the Kings’ second unit which sparked the onslaught in the first half, said he expected his team to bounce back.
“Whether it’s a 29-point lead or a 2-point lead, a win is a win. Our whole team expected we were going to win,” Helterbrand said. “Coming into this game, we knew that [mistakes] and I think we were confident.
Both teams just have a day to prepare as they square-off anew on Sunday for game 3.
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Ginebra Kings rout San Mig, tie series at 1-1