Time to face the monster

After disposing of a Rain or Shine team that dragged his team into three tough battles in five days, Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone is now bracing for what he calls the “monsters” of the Philippine Basketball Association.

The league’s winningest coach was referring to three-time Philippine Cup defending champion San Miguel Beermen and their prized big man June Mar Fajardo, the four-time Most Valuable Player.

Either way, Cone knows there will be little room for error against a team that packs so much depth and firepower.

“We’re hoping for one heck of a series,” said Cone, after the Gin Kings hammered out a 99-91 victory over the Elasto Painters to complete a sweep of their best-of-three quarterfinal series Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“San Miguel has won the last three championships of this conference for a reason. They’re playing great basketball and they have June Mar (Fajardo). TNT was playing well and they still couldn’t beat San Miguel.”

The Beermen did not need their twice-to-beat advantage to advance to the semifinals as they bundled out the Texters, 106-93, with Fajardo banging in 35 points.

The other semifinal series will feature Magnolia vs NLEX after the Road Warriors also swept Alaska after an 87-83 victory in the other game.

This marks NLEX’s first semifinal stint in franchise history.

Nonetheless, Cone was relieved to overcome Rain or Shine, which forced them into a triple overtime battle last Friday and put up a brave stand in the quarterfinals, particularly in Game 2 when they came within 92-89 on Beau Belga’s layup with under two minutes remaining.

Joe Devance and Japeth Aguilar made back-to-back baskets to push the lead back to seven before LA Tenorio hit three free throws to seal the victory for the Gin Kings, who lost to the Beermen in the finals of last year’s All Filipino tournament.

“It’s a huge relief to get through (Rain or Shine) and now we face the monsters that’s San Miguel and June Mar,” he said.