Justin Brownlee lauds TNT defense in Ginebra Game 2 loss

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Barangay Ginebra slid to a dangerous 0-2 hole in its best-of-five semifinals series against TNT in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after losing Game 2, 88-71, Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Another slip up and the Gin Kings will be eliminated from title contention, but forward Justin Brownlee said the team just has to regain its identity to get back into the series.

“To be honest, we got to have that never-say-die attitude,” said Brownlee. “I know coach [Tim Cone] will definitely go make some adjustments so we just got to come in tomorrow and see what he got to say.”

“We got to approach the next game with a never-say-die type attitude.”

Ginebra, however, doesn’t just have to rely on that mantra.

The Gin Kings had their lowest scoring output of the conference and although their 42.5 percent conversion from the field, 31-of-73, is respectable enough, they missed 18 of their 23 attempts from beyond the arc.

Ginebra’s shooting problems, however, doesn’t necessarily fall on the team itself since it was also TNT’s stifling defense that discombobulated the Gin Kings’ offensive rhythm.

“Just their whole defense has been really good,” said Brownlee. “It’s not just an individual, they play really good defense as a team and these past two games they’ve proven that.”

“We missed some shots today but their defense has been very tough. They’ve been shooting the ball pretty well and they’ve hit some big shots down the stretch.”