Barangay Ginebra guard Scottie Thompson during Game 1 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at Mall of Asia Arena. PBA IMAGES
Coach Tim Cone made reference to a familiar line from a not-so-recent past to describe how Barangay Ginebra performed amid the Christmas Day revelry.
“We came out fast, we came out furious, even though we don’t have Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa,” Cone said as the Gin Kings gave 18,252 fans a fitting present with a 96-81 win over the Bay Area Dragons to draw first blood in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Cone lauded Ginebra for setting the tone in the series between the country’s most popular team and the visitors from Hong Kong, with his main cogs meeting expectations of delivering on a holiday that a song describes as “the most wonderful time of the year.”
“[I]t is a special moment, a special time. People are coming with their families to come to see us. They’re watching the Philippines play, and that’s what makes it special,” said Cone.
‘First step forward’
“That’s the way we treated it,” added Cone, who 20 years ago lost in the first PBA Christmas Day game when Alaska fell to Coca-Cola for the all-Filipino crown.
By drawing first blood, Ginebra put the responsibility on Bay Area to adjust going into Game 2 set on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“This game doesn’t win us a championship, it doesn’t lose the championship for Bay Area,” said Cone. “But the bottom line [is] we got the first step forward. We wanted to set the tone and I thought we did that today.”
Multiple Finals Most Valuable Player winner LA Tenorio, who stayed behind as his family flew out of the country for a previously-arranged vacation, delivered 22 points in a win that served notice that the veteran playmaker, rarely used in the eliminations, shows up in the games that matter.
Scottie Thompson, now in strong consideration for the Best Player of the Conference after climbing to second in the statistical points category after the semifinals, had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists along with intangibles that have no unit of measurement on the stats sheet.
Special mention
And then there’s Best Import front-runner Justin Brownlee, now three wins shy of going a perfect six for six in championship play, topscoring with 28 points and 13 rebounds.
The Ginebra mentor also gave special mention to Christian Standhardinger, not only for posting 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, but for his defensive showing against Bay Area import Andrew Nicholson.
Nicholson had 27 points and 12 rebounds, but was not the same player whose performance helped a great deal in the semifinal series triumph over San Miguel Beer.
Bay Area’s locals, who have significantly improved as its guest participation progressed, had its troubles against Ginebra’s defense and it contributed to the inconsistent plays of Kobey Lam, Glen Yang, Hayden Blankley and Zhu Songwei.
“The ball’s on our court to make some adjustments,” said Dragons coach Brian Goorjian after his team got a taste of how Finals basketball is a common thing for Ginebra, whether it’s a holiday or a normal day at the office.