Eastern Sunday for Gin Kings, who hope to rise vs familiar guests

Justin Brownlee (with ball) didn’t have to overextend himself in Ginebra’s win over Phoenix. —PBA IMAGES

Barangay Ginebra shoots for a third straight win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday and lying in wait is an enemy that coach Tim Cone feels is a lot like his squad.

“We’re kind of like them in some ways, from the outside looking in, so I think it’s going to be a really, really interesting battle,” he said of Hong Kong Eastern, whom they battle at 7:30 p.m. at Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The Gin Kings stake their pristine record against the visitors, who have built a 4-1 win-loss record in the midseason conference by playing top-notch defense.

“They do really good things—the things you need to be doing to become a winning basketball team. They move the ball well, and they move each other really well,” Cone said. “They’re an excellent defensive team that focuses on that side of the ball.”

The champion coach, who steered the franchise to a Commissioner’s Cup at the expense of a guest club two years ago, feels that the Gin Kings will have some sort of a handicap going into the duel at the hilltop arena.

Return of Dragons

“Our thing is we’re [playing] our third game in five days, so that’s gonna give them a bit of an edge. They’ve had a little bit of rest. Although they’ve played more games than we’ve had. So we’ll see how we’ll go,” he added.

Familiarity is going to be a factor as well, as Cone and his charges will be playing against Glen Yang, Hayden Blankley, and Kobey Lam, who played for the Bay Area Dragons that tested the Gin Kings in the runup to the title during the 2022 edition of the tournament.

But the winningest PBA coach seems to have primed his side for that, having been careful over Justin Brownlee and Japeth Aguilar’s minutes during the 94-72 rout of Phoenix last Friday night.

“You’re not gonna catch them by surprise because they are really solid fundamentally,” Cone said. “[But] I’ve been giving Justin extra rest tonight, I’ve not been overextending Japeth, who I felt, by the way, played an excellent defensive game.”

San Miguel Beer is hoping its corporate sibling would indeed soften Hong Kong right before they play Eastern on Dec. 22. But before that, the Beermen must take care of business by getting a streak going in the curtain-raiser against Blackwater.

Tipoff is at 5 p.m. with the traditional powerhouse looking to build on a pride-restoring win at the expense of Terrafirma. INQ