Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Pundits lauded Scottie Thompson’s effort in grabbing 15 rebounds in Ginebra’s 88-80 Game 1 victory over Rain or Shine in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals on Monday.
But on the other hand, Elasto Painters were again out-rebounded by the Greg Slaughter-less Gin Kings for the second straight game.
“It’s always a challenge for us when we’re facing Ginebra. Even though they don’t have Greg, they have Japeth (Aguilar), Joe (Devance), and Scottie,” he said.
Compared to the Elasto Painters’ 92-100 triple-overtime heartbreaker to the Gin Kings last Friday, where they were dominated in the rebounding department, 76-54, the series opener saw Rain or Shine only getting out-rebounded by a slim margin, 49-43.
Still, Belga wants more effort from himself and the rest of the Painters as they seek to deliver a stronger fightback in Game 2.
“This is not the time to point fingers because we got to the playoffs without blaming anyone. This game, we came out flat that it felt like we’re telling Ginebra that we’ve already surrendered. We gave them a leeway to do whatever they wanted,” he said.
Despite falling behind in the series, Belga remains defiant believing that his team has what it takes to topple the Gin Kings.
“This team was built through adversity that we still find ways to win. We can’t use our injured players as an excuse to play bad because we got to the playoffs in spite of those circumstances,” he said.
“We know in ourselves that we can beat Ginebra, but we just have to grind it out. The series isn’t over yet, so come Wednesday, we rneed to go really hard against Ginebra. We’ll prepare and see what happens.”