Cone not surprised as Caperal gets his chance to shine for Ginebra

Prince Caperal carries Ginebra to latest win. PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—Prince Caperal had always played in the shadow of established Ginebra names such as Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, but opportunity won’t be missing anymore for the versatile big.

In their second game of the PBA Philippine Cup, the Gin Kings relied heavily on the hot shooting of Caperal as they downed Blackwater, 103-99, Thursday at Angeles University Foundation.

Caperal led Ginebra’s offense with 24 points, on 5-of-7 shooting from deep, and six rebounds in a performance that head coach Tim Cone already expected.

“Prince can score and if you don’t get a hand on him he’s going to knock down his shots, it’s the question of opportunity for him,” said Cone Thursday. “It might surprise everybody else, but it doesn’t surprise us.”

“He was backing up Greg and Japeth before because he’s a center by trade. Now with Greg not here, he’s getting the opportunity to show what he can do.”

Caperal, who has been in the PBA since 2014, averaged barely a field goal in the 2019 All-Filipino Conference and put up lowly numbers of 1.8 points and 2.0 rebounds.

He had moments before, though, especially in the 2018 Philippine Cup semifinals against eventual champions San Miguel, which won 4-1 in the series.

Caperal shone against June Mar Fajardo in that series including a 26-point outburst in the second game of that series

Cone said that although Caperal had another brief moment of brilliance, his 6-foot-7 center can still have improvements in his game.

“There are still holes in his game,” said Cone. “We’re all happy for his success and we expect it to continue and him to continue to improve.”