Ginebra Gin Kings salvage Game 1 with defense

If the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals was tipped to be between Barangay Ginebra’s offense versus Meralco’s defense, the Gin Kings didn’t wait that long to dispel that notion.

With a roster loaded with firepower, the Gin Kings on Tuesday night played catch-up against Meralco and then tightened the noose when they really needed to at winning time to frustrate the hard-fighting Bolts and pull out a 91-87 Game 1 victory before an animated gallery at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

It was a nip-and-tuck game that Ginebra coach Tim Cone, winner of two Grand Slams and the most titles in the league, didn’t mince words to show respect to the Bolts—a side that can become a sorry footnote to the crowd darlings’ dominance of the season-ending conference for the third time in the last four seasons.

“Grinding it out was a real testament to our guys—staying with it despite not playing the way we wanted to,” Cone told reporters shortly after the victory. “We threw out a lot of size at them and tried to take away a lot of their forays to the basket. They are so disciplined.”

Of course, Cone also saved some praise for Japeth Aguilar, who was lethal on both ends of the floor—especially at the time when the Kings needed him.The high-flying forward finished with 16 points and was responsible for the defensive gem of the night—and possibly the tournament—when he smothered Allen Durham’s layup which would’ve knotted it all up at 89 with 13.9 ticks left.

“He’s done it so many times offensively, and he’s also done that defensively, but that was really spectacular,” Cone said. “One-on-one with Durham with a full head of steam? And getting up and getting a hand on that shot? That was really tremendous.”

Justin Brownlee finished with 38 despite losing some offensive steam in the stretch. LA Tenorio tossed in 14 to help in the late-game effort and title series first timer Stanley Pringle had 10.Defensively, Meralco was in character, putting the clamps on the local Kings for three quarters. The Bolts’ showing on offense, meanwhile, was an entirely different thing, and that helped doom them.

“Normally, we do a very good job of shooting a high percentage, but we did not [in Game 1]. Even when we had open looks, we just couldn’t make them,” coach Norman Black said.

His usually reliable outside guns, Baser Amer, Allein Maliksi and even rookie Bong Quinto, fired blanks most of the night.

“That hurt us a great deal,” he added, ruing his charges’ marksmanship. “We normally shoot about 37 percent. We shot in the low 20s.”

It also didn’t help that Meralco drew so little from its supporting cast. Usually fetching 20 or more points from its bench, the reserves were only able to account for six in the series opener.

“That’s something we have to fix going into [the next game] because I have to take my starters out for a little while to give them a rest,” Black said. “We want to at least maintain whatever advantage we have or increase that advantage if possible,” he added.