PBA: Fatigued Ginebra digs deep to take pivotal semis lead

Ginebra coach Tim Cone during a PBA Philippine Cup semifinals game against Meralco Bolts. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—Ginebra’s pivotal  Game 5 victory in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals against Meralco was not, by all means, pretty.

But with the way Gin  Kings labored to move just one win away from reaching the PBA Finals, Tim Cone couldn’t help but still praise his guys.

“It wasn’t pretty. It was really, really hard out there,” said Cone after their 89-84 win over Meralco that put them at a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“I thought Japeth (Aguilar) was going to faint, he was so exhausted. We even did back-to-back timeouts just so guys could rest. That’s how tiring that game was. Hats off to our guys, they really reached deep for this one.”

READ: PBA: Ginebra comes back to beat Meralco and take 3-2 semis lead

Ginebra had to grind out the victory from a gritty Meralco squad, recovering from a 15-point hole before going on a comeback rally in the payoff period.

“It took us a while to really get into battle mode. We weren’t really reaching deep and playing a real battle game until all a sudden it all just started to click in,” Cone said,

It was Meralco’s electrifying start that caught the Gin Kings off guard.

READ: PBA: Ginebra has no time to celebrate ‘pogi points’ after big win

So come Game 6, Cone wants to see his squad enter the game with guns blazing if they want to close out the series and march to the PBA Finals where San Miguel waits.

“I just think readiness to start a basketball game will be key. I think getting off on the right foot with this team has really been a challenge for us,” Cone said.

“We’re just trying to grind wins out. That’s what we’re trying to do in the win.”

The Gin Kings have a solid shot at shutting the door on the Bolts on Wednesday at Araneta Coliseum at 7:30 pm for a promising prime time affair.