PBA IMAGES
Facing off against June Mar Fajardo was the least of Greg Slaughter’s concerns on Sunday.
“I wouldn’t really think about individual match-ups because we got down pretty big,” Slaughter said, shunning talks about his much-awaited duel with his fellow Cebuano behemoth.
“San Miguel’s a pretty complete team and coming into this game, I was saying it’s not about the individual match-ups. It’s team-on-team.”
The latest showdown between the Slaughter and Fajardo was the complete opposite of their previous encounter last year where the Gin Kings handily beat the Beermen, 110-86, in what was SMB’s worst defeat of their entire 2016 season.
This time, it was the Gin Kings who stared at a 26-point deficit in the third quarter before making a run that fell short in the end.
Despite the result, Slaughter can take solace knowing that Ginebra never ceased fighting despite staring at a huge lead.
“That’s our calling card, never say die. We play all the way to the last buzzer, and just didn’t have enough time to make that comeback tonight. But I know we’ll probably see them again maybe in the playoffs so it’s just some game we have to learn from,” he said.
One factor that has been constantly brought up for the Gin Kings’ lackluster start was fatigue, as they were coming off a 98-81 win over Blackwater last Friday.
But rather than dwell on the defeat, Slaughter shared that the loss to San Miguel should be an eye-opener for Ginebra as it sets its sights on the playoffs.
“We can’t make any excuse because when it comes time for the playoffs, we’re going to have a schedule just like that, when we play Friday and then we play Sunday. So for us, no excuses,” he said.
“We just have to recharge, refresh ourselves, and get ready for these playoffs which are coming up,” said Slaughter.