Ginebra head coach Tim Cone had no qualms about the glaring free throw disparity between his team and TNT in Game 3 of their semifinals series in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Friday.
The Gin Kings, who are now a win away from a Finals berth, had 43 free throw attempts and converted 30 of them, while the KaTropa had just 14 tries on the charity stripe and made 12 of those shots.
“We went to the line a lot because we were the more aggressive team tonight,” said Cone at Smart Araneta Coliseum after their 106-103 win. “I don’t care what TNT may say, that’s the way it is.”
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TNT also committed more fouls than the Gin Kings tallying 30 infractions, seven more than what Ginebra had.
“You are the more aggressive team, you can get to the free throw line. I’m okay with the free throws.”
Cone added his team was the one that got the short end of the officiating stick back in Game 2 when the KaTropa had 35 free throws while all they had were 18 attempts.
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The league’s winningest coach said it’s all a give and take affair in terms of free throw shooting.
“We gave up 35 free throws in Game 2… they were the more aggressive team in Game 2,” said Cone of TNT. “I wasn’t happy with the officiating in Game 2 because they [the KaTropa] were beating us up. They were grabbing and holding Greg [Slaughter] and doing all kinds of stuff and they weren’t able to do that today.”
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“We’ll see what happens in Game 4, but to me it’s just tit for tat.”