Barangay Ginebra guard Stanley Pringle. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—A perfect shooting night from Stanley Pringle fueled Ginebra back in the lead in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals on Friday.
Pringle finished with 22 points on a 100 percent field goal shooting clip as he sank all seven of his attempts including six from beyond the arc.
His performance did not go unnoticed by coach Tim Cone, whose squad buried Tropang Giga, 117-103, for a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven PBA Finals series.
“We shot the ball really well tonight in different angles led by, of course, Stanley. He kept us in the game, got us ahead and kept us in the game during the first half and gave big shots in the second half,” the top tactician said.
Pringle bounced back from a forgettable Game 2 on Wednesday where he only scored five markers in the 95-82 loss.
Pringle, a dependable bench piece for the Gin Kings, explained it was all about the opportunity given to him by his teammates.
Simply enough, Pringle’s cohort has a memo for the streaky shooter: just let it fly.
“It feels good that I’m on a great team. Whenever I get a chance to come out and hit some shots, it means a lot that they support me to do whatever I can do to help them,” he said.
“Coach expected me to come out and be aggressive so I stayed locked in.”
Ginebra import Justin Brownlee. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Cone also explained that giving Pringle and the others more chances to shoot the ball was to relieve Justin Brownlee from getting all the touches.
Cone’s mentality worked wonders as the Ginebra import bounced back from a forgettable Game 2 with a stat line of 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
“It was more of a job that the other guys knew. They had to pick it up for Justin, we can’t go to Justin all the time,” Cone said.
The Gin Kings look to take a momentous 3-1 series lead when they face TNT anew on Sunday.