PBA: Ginebra Game 1 win fueled by abysmal loss to Meralco in elims

Ginebra coach Tim Cone and assistant Richard Del Rosario during a PBA Philippine Cup semifinals game against Meralco Bolts. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIREr.net

MANILA, Philippines—Ginebra coach Tim Cone isn’t one to forget easily.

After winning Game 1 over Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, Cone revealed that one of the driving factors for the Gin Kings’ win over the Bolts was their last encounter.

In the elimination round two months ago, Ginebra found itself losing big at the hands of Meralco, 91-73.

Since then, Cone and the Gin Kings have been licking their chops for another chance to bounce back from that abysmal defeat.

READ: PBA: Tim Cone irked over Ginebra’s ’embarrassing’ loss to Meralco

“I think it motivated us to know that we had to play at a certain level,” said Cone after their 92-88 win at Mall of Asia Arena on Friday.

“We didn’t play at a high level for that game. A lot of that was because of them but a lot of it was, we felt, because of ourselves. We weren’t prepared to play that game.”

It felt like Meralco played two different squads in two separate months.

Back in March, the Bolts held the Gin Kings squad to a lowly 33 percent field goal shooting clip.

Friday was much, much different, though.

READ: PBA: Stanley Pringle delivers with his bread and butter for Ginebra

In their semifinals showdown, Ginebra found its groove with an efficient 49 percent clip which cost Meralco.

“It showed in the statistics that they dominated us everywhere. We knew we needed to play at a higher level if we want to be successful against this team. I think that’s what motivated us the most,” bared Cone.

Ginebra was also  more locked in on defense, registering six team steals and nine team blocks to halt the Bolts’ offense.

Their well-orchestrated defense was lauded by Cone and said it was the squad’s epitome of “coming together” to triumph over the Bolts, something they couldn’t do a few months back.

“Lately, guys lock in when things start getting tough. They lock in and come together. I thought they did that in the third quarter. They came together really well.”