Cone believes his Kings have what it takes to unseat Beermen
Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson (right) and June Mar Fajardo will be principal figures in their latest playoff duel. —PBA IMAGES
Coach Tim Cone believes Barangay Ginebra has all the momentum it needs going into another semifinal duel with powerhouse sister team San Miguel Beer.
The Gin Kings will be coming off a dramatic quarterfinal series encounter with Converge, where they beat the higher-seeded FiberXers two straight times in games where they overhauled deficits late in regulation and in overtime of the decider.
“We’re ecstatic about the fact that we came from (being) dead to (making) the semifinals,” Cone said after Stephen Holt drained a buzzer-beating triple for a 99-98 win over Converge in their decider last Sunday.
The Gin Kings will face the Beermen in a rematch of their semifinal series of the same conference last season. That face-off ended with the crowd favorites losing in a do-or-die Game 7, with San Miguel going on to beat TNT for the crown.
Both teams have met in the semis in four of the previous six conferences, with the count even at 2-2.
Like Ginebra, San Miguel is in its best form at the right time, bouncing back from a 0-2 start to win the next nine games of the eliminations before taking down NLEx in the quarters.
Lost the first time
Among its victims was Ginebra, which came last Oct. 26 in Dubai with an 83-81 decision as June Mar Fajardo delivered usual numbers, while reserve guard Kris Rosales came up with big plays.
“We know them, they know us. And we took them to seven games last time,” said Cone. “We’ll see if we can flip the script, but we know they’re tough.”
Ginebra is also on a streak with seven consecutive victories following a 2-4 record midway into the campaign.
The start of the playoffs not only saw Holt’s heroics, but also the timely offensive burst of PBA Press Corps Player of the Week RJ Abarrientos.
Abarrientos got the nod after averaging 27.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2 steals during the quarters.
“I reminded myself that I have to contribute for my team because we can’t rely on anyone other than ourselves,” said Abarrientos.
Abarrientos fired 35 points on Christmas Day when Ginebra beat Converge, 105-85, to extend the series before adding 20 during the knockout meeting. INQ
