Tony Bishop’s big move validates continued stay with Ginebra

Tony Bishop Jr. quashed whatever doubts fans have over his role on Sunday night after coming through for Barangay Ginebra and bailing the Gin Kings out against a dangerous NorthPort side that was as eager to firm up its twice-to-beat chances in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

The Panamanian import, who came in as a stand-in for the indefatigable Justin Brownlee, scattered 26 points in the 103-93 victory to keep the defending champions neck-and-neck with the Batang Pier in the first half, and eventually out of harm’s way in the final frame.

“Just being patient—in understanding the offense more and more, and understanding what coach Tim [Cone] wants me to do while getting the chemistry down with the players and not forcing anything,” Bishop said when asked about his gallant effort that helped Ginebra to a 7-3 win-loss record and a share of the No. 4 spot with San Miguel.

“He’s worked really, really hard from day one to integrate himself into what we do, and as you can see he’s getting better and better at it,” Cone said of his import following the triumph at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“We can see he’s getting better and better at it and that’s the whole point—him to be better at it and be where he wants to be come playoff time,” he added.

Bum knee

Bishop Jr. shot 55 percent from the field that night and added 16 rebounds, five steals and a pair of blocks to his name despite missing two practices due to a bum knee that he continued to deal with that night.

Ginebra’s fans have been wary of Bishop as he has been averaging only 23 points—a far cry from his numbers when he was serving the Meralco franchise. The Gin Kings’ reinforcement ranks only sixth among his active counterparts in scoring. But Ginebra has opted to stick with him—and for a good reason.

“That’s been a hallmark of our teams. We have a complicated system and you need to grow within the system. You have to have time to grow with the system. We don’t expect guys to come right away and pick it up,” Cone explained.

“If we have a guy late in the conference come in it’s gonna be very much of a disruption, because we’re gonna be back to ground zero. It’s not only offensively; we’re pretty complex defensively, too. There’s a lot of demands we put on our players, too, defensively,” he added.

“We’re one game away from the playoffs and [Tony has] worked really, really hard to get to this point and I think that’s a huge advantage over other teams because we do have that continuity and that belief in what we do. So yeah, it’s a real advantage for us to keep that continuity with Tony in the lineup all the way through.”