Ginebra Loses Anew as Aces Pound on Slaughter’s Absence

(Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Alaska Uses a Big Third Quarter to Get Third Straight Win

Sometimes, having a bully on your team helps a lot especially when you’re up against the elite teams in the PBA such as the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. The bully on your team will do the dirty works against the opponents’ best player from mind tricks to small antics that will take the focus out of that specific and even, absorb some elbows along the way. Usually, the bully on your team is your team’s main muscle man. Fortunately for the Alaska Aces, they do have their own muscle man and that man is none other than Vic Manuel.

Greg Slaughter is nowhere on the court but on the bench. Joe Devance isn’t playing just yet. Both men were forced to watch as their team got dominated for the second time around, this time by the surging Alaska Aces, 97-83. The Aces of Alex Compton hiked their win number to 3 after starting the season with two consecutive losses. On the other hand, Ginebra has dropped its second straight game exactly 9 days after their stunning loss at the hands of the Blackwater Elites.

What happened in the game? Below are the numbers:

The absence of Gregzilla balanced things out

Greg Slaughter has played a vital role in Ginebra’s Governors’ Cup championship which earned him the Best Player of the Conference award. So it’s no surprise that Ginebra missed him during last night’s encounter against the Aces as Alaska took advantage of the situation. Offensively, the Aces shot 44% from the field which also includes a 43% shooting from the 2-point area. This is precisely because Slaughter wasn’t around to challenge the Aces’ slashers. It also enabled the biggies of Alaska to do their works as Sonny Thoss had 17 points, complimenting the efforts of Vic Manuel who led the Aces with 18 points. The Aces also won the rebounding battle, 45-43.

Vic Manuel’s Efforts

Over the last few years, Vic Manuel has established a reputation as a bruiser, someone you wouldn’t enjoy playing against because of the mere fact that he will find ways to knock the ball out of your hands or worse, to frustrate you and eventually, take away your focus in the game. And we all saw Vic Manuel’s efforts to the fullest last night as he led the Aces with his18 points- 14 of those points came in the 2nd half when the Aces ran havoc against the puzzled Gin Kings. He shot 6 for 15 from the field and made 6 of his 8 attempts from the free throw line. Manuel also added  6 rebounds while playing for 23 minutes.

Conclusion

The good news for the Gin Kings though, they have until Friday to prepare for their game against the Phoenix Fuel Masters. It should give them enough time to ponder on their mistakes. It should give Tim Cone to plan the needed adjustments should Greg Slaughter miss that game, again because despite the Fuel Masters’ 2-2 record, Phoenix has vastly improved. Will Ginebra finally break their losing streak? They better. Why? The league-leading San Miguel Beermen are next after Friday. 

Can Blackwater Beat Streaking Gin Kings?

(Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Leo Isaac says the Elites are “STRONGLY MOTIVATED” to beat Ginebra

For any team to be able to beat a well-coached, a well-oiled team like the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, you will need more than just a talented team. You will need a disciplined team because you are talking about a Tim Cone-coached Ginebra squad that has won the last two of the Governors’ Cup championships so you’ll definitely need all the help you can get especially if you’re a mid-field team like the Blackwater Elites.

According to Head Coach Leo Isaac, the Elites are STRONGLY MOTIVATED to start 2018 by handling the Gin Kings their first win of the conference. Coming off a victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to end their 2017 campaign, the Elites are hoping to move to 2-1 record after tonight’s game although Blackwater knows for themselves that they are faced with a daunting task of defending the powerful Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar.

Question: Can the Elites actually beat the Gin Kings fair and square?

Realistically and statistically, the odds are against the Elites but if we are to look at the performance of their notable players against Rain or Shine, you will see that Blackwater MIGHT have a shot at taking down the Gin Kings. Why? Mac Belo played one of his best games since coming into the PBA after leading his team with 25 points which included 5 for 9 shooting from the three-point line. Mike Digregorio added 23 points while rookie Reymar Jose totaled 12 points. Allein Maliksi had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists although he went 3 for 12 from the field while coming off the bench. 

Key to victory for the Elites: Bench Production

While Blackwater has a continuously re-emerging Mac Belo plus a promising rookie in Reymar Jose, the Elites must work as a complete unit meaning the bench players must produce more than 17 points- the numbers they had against Rain or Shine. And they won despite 53 points from the bench of Rain or Shine. 

You can’t just rely on your starters to carry your team and save the day. Especially not against Ginebra. 

Prediction: Ginebra will win against Blackwater. 

Twin Towers’ Strength is Too Much for Romeo-Less Batang Pier

LA Tenorio had 17 points and 7 assists for Ginebra. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

GlobalPort Falters in the 4th Quarter

The Global Port Batang Pier dropped their first game of the season without their superstar, Terrence Romeo. And their agony looked to continue as the three-time scoring champion was still on street clothes during their first game for 2018.

Despite Sean Anthony’s 29 points and a double-double from Kelly Nabong, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings fought their way back late in the 4th quarter after falling behind by as much as 9 points to get their 2nd win of the Philippine Cup after beating the Batang Pier, 104-97.

And here’s how the Gin Kings did it:

Twin Towers Displayed Full Strength

If there’s one thing that makes Ginebra a dangerous team to play against at any given game, it’s the dominance of their Twin Towers of Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter. Against the Batang Pier who was helpless without Terrence Romeo, Aguilar led the way with his 21 points on top of 9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. GregZilla on the other hand, had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. With former versatile forward, Joe Devance now a free agent, it will be expected that Tim Cone will now rely more on his twin giants especially in games against the elite teams in the league.

Tinyente’s Brilliance

What would Ginebra do without LA Tenorio? They wouldn’t have won the Governors’ Cup for two consecutive seasons without him. And when the Batang Pier appeared for an upset victory, LA Tenorio nailed two three-pointers in the 4th quarter to ignite Ginebra’s comeback run. When the smoke cleared up, Ginebra’s Iron Man had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals for another all-around performance.

Fourth Quarter Composure

To begin with, Global Port actually led as high as 11 points in the early moments of the 4th quarter before Ginebra began turning things to their favor. LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar took turns in scoring big basket after big basket which put a smile on Tim Cone’s face. Due to their composure, the Gin Kings were able to score 36 points in the 4th quarter alone while limiting the Batang Pier to only 20 points.

Conclusion

Will Ginebra continue to dominate even against the likes of the San Miguel Beermen? Possibly as long as the Twin  Towers are healthy. On the other hand, people shouldn’t count Global Port out of the playoff picture just yet. They have yet to win a game this season but when Terrence Romeo gets back, things will get better for the Batang Pier, eventually. 

Greg Slaughter is the Only One who Can Stop the Kraken- Tim Cone

If there’s one Ginebra player who can match-up against Fajardo, it’s Greg Slaughter. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

June Mar Fajardo might be a 4-time MVP but GregZilla got the numbers in his favor.

During the course of the past 4 seasons, June Mar Fajardo has collected 4 MVP awards on top of 5 championships for the San Miguel Beermen which included the first two of the 42nd season. In fact, the Beermen had a chance to achieve a rare Grand Slam if not to the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings who denied the Beermen of that chance upon beating them convincingly during the quarterfinals of last season’s Governors’ Cup.

On the other hand, Fajardo’s fellow Cebuano and long-time rival, Greg Slaughter has recently recovered from the injury which made him miss a ton of the previous two seasons and played a vital role during Ginebra’s championship run in the Governors’ Cup which ended with Ginebra hoisting another Governors’ Cup trophy after a full 7-game slugfest against the Meralco Bolts. To cap his successful stint during the Governors’ Cup, he earned the Best Player of the Conference award, an award that was backed by great performance throughout the closing conference of the league’s 42nd season.

On Christmas Day, Greg Slaughter exploded for 24 points and 12 rebounds, leading Ginebra to a win over the fading Magnolia Hotshots. Fajardo, on the other hand, had 26 points and 9 rebounds on December 27 against the Bolts.

While many coaches think that Fajardo is a virtually unstoppable, playing like an import, one coach thinks otherwise. That coach is none other than Tim Cone who said that Greg Slaughter may be the only player who can match-up with his Cebuano rival due to his height plus his ability to engage in a one-on-one battle against SMB’s star center. And Tim Cone isn’t wrong either. Strength-wise and stat-wise, only Slaughter can match up the numbers that Fajardo is putting up nowadays.

Conclusion

While Fajardo and Slaughter have yet to face each other this season, we can expect that there’ll be a war come the game between the two giants. Who will come out victorious?

Prediction: Greg Slaughter. 

But of course, Fajardo belongs to the league’s best all-local starting line-up so that’s something that Tim Cone will have to work around with. 

Balls-Eye: Will June Mar Fajardo Bag his 5th Straight MVP Award this Season?

As the San Miguel Beermen looks to dominate this year’s Philippine Cup with their geared up twin towers, the Kraken June Mar Fajardo is also eyeing to reign as a 5-time MVP.

But would it still be possible?

Rumors say that Christian Standhardinger empowered the Beermen. But with him being Fajardo’s partner, would he hinder the Kraken’s MVP streak?

Another huge monster to test June Mar’s limits is of course the biggest man in the league Greg Slaughter. Ginebra is a team that can win championships and thus increasing Slaughter’s chance of bagging the MVP award this year.

More or less, the Most Valauable Player Award would be hooked by any of the four towering beasts of the Beer and Gin. It would be an ultimate test of strength, endurance, power and most importantly, consistency.

June Mar apparently is the toughest of the four. Greg has the size but is a bit lousy, Japeth has the boosted jumping power while Standhardinger’s cards remain concealed.

Fajardo already became MVP 4 times with Japeth and Greg’s presence. The only big question mark left unanswered is on his new teammate Standhardinger. Nevertheless, we should not neglect Japeth and Greg’s improvement.

Would the MVP showdown hinder SMB’s success?

Most probably not. Big guys do not tend to frequently work together. Most of the time plays start with the small guys and finishes with the big men. SMB may balance their inside scoring fairly with their two towers. Thus, both would have their own break to prove themselves. It may be a healthy competition as these two guys would go all out just not to waste every single opportunity at hand.

Historical MVP Award

If either June Mar or Christian bags the award, it would be historical no matter who stands out. June Mar would be the first to be crowned with 5 straight MVP’s. In fact he’s the first to have 4 straight. On the other hand, Standhardinger may be the 2nd to Benjie Paras if he would be the MVP and if SMB would be the champ or would gain dominance throughout the season.

The Phenom Bags First Player of the Week Award

(Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

His numbers speak for himself.

Kiefer Ravena’s greatness has been witnessed by everyone since he was playing for the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eaglets. Then he elevated into the collegiate ranks where he spread his wings furthermore. While playing under Norman Black for a team who was in a middle of a 5-peat run, the Phenom made sure that he left his marks as he won multiple awards including MVPs and Mythical Tem selections.

While his last two seasons with the Blue Eagles went nuts as the Eagles faltered in the Final 4, twice, Ravena managed to show that he’s more than ready to enter the PBA but chose to explore playing opportunities in the United States, even joining the tryouts in the NBA D-League. While nothing happened in that scenario, the Phenom returned home and answered the calls of our national team. Soon, he already has 4 SEA Games gold medals under his belt. Then, he entered the PBA Draft and landed under the guidance of one of the league’s fiercest coaches, Yeng Guiao.

Kiefer Ravena wasted no time in making the most of his time as he dished out his PBA assist just a few seconds right after tip-off against Kia Picanto. By the end of the game, the Phenom has totaled 18 points and 12 assists plus 7 rebounds while leading the NLEX Road Warriors to a 119-115 opening day victory. But that was only the beginning, folks.

On Christmas Day, he led NLEX anew to another victory as he scored 20 points and added 5 assists plus 4 steals in another all-around performance against the GlobalPort Batang Pier who had to play without their star, Terrence Romeo.

As a result of his phenomenal start to his career, Kiefer Ravena was hailed as the Player of the Week in the league’s first week. In his first two games, Ravena averaged 19 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds while beating big names for the award such as June Mar Fajardo, Greg Slaughter, JR Quinahan and others.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, Kiefer Ravena is just getting started and we shouldn’t be surprised either if he goes on winning more than just the Player of the Week award. After all, he’s the next-best rookie in his draft class with Christian Standhardinger still busy with his ABL stint. Who knows? Ravena might already be the front-runner for the Rookie of the Year award.  

Twin Tower Era: Who’s Magnolia Hotshots’ Trump Card?

Despite Magnolia’s loss on Christmas Classico, it turned out to be a healthy one. They seem to have drawn a trump card concealed inside their deep deck. A duo who could stop and counter the force of the threatening era of the twin towers of San Miguel and of course their recent opponent, Brgy Ginebra.

Facing the Brgy Ginebra squad is and will always be an ultimate test of character. Talking about Greg and Japeth combination, the shaded area seems to be preoccupied all the time due to this enormous beasts.

However, the Hotshots somehow kept up with the very dense Ginebra interior. The wall-like defense of the twin towers became the key for Hotshots to unlock their hidden weapon that could match the towers.

Smaller but still with power

Who can be able to stop the Pinoy Sakuragi Marc Pingris whenever he post-ups. He’s a great match against Japeth Aguilar despite the height disadvantage. Ping just outwits size with strength and agility. Another good thing about Pingris is that he could deliver one-handed floaters — a great way to shoot over huge players.

How about Gregzilla?

Slaughter might be the biggest player but still, he’s not the only big man existing in the league. Magnolia’s roster has a smaller but way faster and athletic player. Ian Sangalang hustled in their recent game both offensively and defensively.

What’s Sangalang’s advantage over Slaughter?

If Slaughter’s advantage were size, Sangalang’s got the speed. He could run in transition and finish fast breaks. In addition, fast breaks are twin towers’ weakness due to the high pace of the transition which they commonly could not keep up. Therefore, Sangalang can be considered the biggest man in terms of transition baskets.

Conclusion

You may never win in a head to head battle against players way bigger than you are but there is always some weak points that when taken advantage of, will be very effective and fatal. The key to outplaying the twin towers is through individual agility and team’s high offensive pace.

Recap: GregZilla Lifts Ginebra to a Christmas Day Win

LA Tenorio also contributed 15 points and 8 assists in the win.

Slaughter slaughters Magnolia with a huge double-double performance.

Heading into the season’s first conference after winning two consecutive Governors’ Cup titles, both against the Meralco Bolts, expectations have been sky-high for the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. With Greg Slaughter, fresh from winning the Best Player of the Conference award in the last conference, back in full health and playing like the monster he was advertised a few years ago, many pundits are starting to believe that the Gin Kings have been seasoned to challenge the supremacy of the San Miguel Beermen- at least in the Philippine Cup.

True enough, the Gin Kings started the new season the way their fans always wanted: a win on Christmas Day against the Magnolia Hotshots as the crowd darlings opened the season with an 89-78 victory over the Hotshots who were missing the services of many of their players due to injuries.

So what enabled the Gin Kings to win at the Philippine Arena? Below are the numbers:

GregZilla’s Dominance

We all know that when Greg Slaughter is healthy and playing the way he should be, it’s almost impossible for whoever who is guarding him to contain him and even Norman Black saw that, twice. Against the Hotshots, Slaughter scored 24 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. He went 10 for 14  in the field while making 4 of 5 from the free throw line. All that in 33 minutes of action. Efficient, isn’t it?

Shooting Well and Defending Well

If there are two things which enabled the Gin Kings to win two consecutive Governors’ Cup championships in two tries, it would be their ability to play well on both ends of the court. On Christmas Day, Ginebra shot 44% from the field while forcing Magnolia to only 46% field goal shooting. While both squads struggled from rainbow country, it was the shooting percentage from the 2-point area which enabled Ginebra to come out on top and hold onto the lead throughout the game.

Tenorio’s Brilliance

LA Tenorio, one of the smallest guys on the court, stood the tallest during Ginebra’s championship run in the last conference despite playing through pain. Against Mark Barroca and company, he contributed 15 points and 8 assists. While he struggled from the field with his 5 for 15 shooting including a 3 for 11 outing from the three-point line, he helped shut down Barroca who only managed 4 points while going 2 for 12 from the field. Tinyente added 5 steals and a blocked shot to his all-around performance. 

Conclusion

Are the Gin Kings talented enough to dethrone the league’s best all-local team? That remains to be seen. However, if you look at their game against Magnolia, it would seem that, it’s the case. Ginebra is definitely one of those teams that can seriously become a threat to the Beermen. They will only need one thing: consistency. 

PBA Governors: SMB, Ginebra and TNT are Teams to Beat in Philippine Cup

A Wheeler’s Opinion: SMB’s star power will dominate anew

(Photo by  the PBA Media Bureau)

If you watched the official launching event for the upcoming 43rd season of the PBA, you wouldn’t believe that the 12 PBA governors were once divided with regards to whether or not Chito Narvasa should stay on as PBA commissioner. For one event, the 12 teams are united behind the fact that the new season will open on December 17, 2017, when the defending Philippine Cup champions, the San Miguel Beermen open their title defense against the Phoenix Fuel Masters. 

There were no visible tension or any sort seen during the launching event and there were many questions that were thrown to the governors themselves. Among the questions that were asked was this:

Who among the 12 teams will be the team to beat in the season-opening Philippine Cup?

Three teams stood as the answers for the majority of the 12 teams:

1. San Miguel Beermen
2. Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings
3. Talk N Text KaTropa

For starters, picking the Beermen as one of the teams to beat this upcoming conference comes as no surprise because they are first and foremost, the defending champions. The Gin Kings will have Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar plus a continuously improving Scottie Thompson as they will enter the new season following a successful Governors’ Cup run which ended in a championship celebration. The KaTropa, despite being kicked out of the semifinals by Ginebra in the last conference, will again be bannered by Asia’s best point guard, Jayson Castro, and big man Troy Rosario. The three teams will be the teams to beat indeed. 

Question: who will win it all?

Answer: The Beermen.

Why?

Simply put it this way. Neither Ginebra nor TNT has someone to even match up against the 4-time MVP, June Mar Fajardo. Tim Cone can employ sending his Twin Towers to double team Fajardo but we all know that won’t work as SMB also has shooters. And, the best starting 5 is still intact, folks. No other team in the league has that powerful all-locals starting unit.

Conclusion

While SMB may be the among the favorites to win it all, anything is still possible. After all, who would have thought that the finals series between Ginebra and the Meralco Bolts would go to a Game 7? 

New Twin Towers in Town: Dominance of Standhardinger and Fajardo is Inevitable

And PBA fans should expect more from one of the league’s most hyped rookies

He has contributed to the success of our national team which won the gold medal in the SEA Games earlier this year. He joined the draft and was traded to the San Miguel Beermen even before the draft day itself. 

However, we all have to wait until Christian Standhardinger’s stint in the Asian Basketball League is over before we can see him play in the PBA. But the long wait will be worth it especially for the Beermen. Why? Standhardinger will get to team-up with the Kraken himself, the now 4-time MVP, June Mar Fajardo.

And if you look at how Standhardinger has been playing in the ABL as of late, particularly his last game against the Mono Vampire when he exploded for 40 points while grabbing 17 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists, then imagine what he can do once he starts playing alongside Fajardo as they are about form one of the league’s most formidable frontline duos that could challenge the dominance of Gnebra’s Twin Towers of Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter. 

Or, can they actually challenge Aguilar and Slaughter once the two teams face each other?

Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter may be taller than both Fajardo and Standhardinger but talent-wise, it’s a good battle. However, if we are to look back at the previous battles between the two teams,  Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar needed to double-team the Kraken just to limit his production which enabled the shooters of San Miguel to hit their outside shots. Now, put  Standhardinger into the mix and you now have two dominant big men.

One of the reasons why the Fajardo-Standhardinger duo will be a force to be reckoned is the fact that San Miguel already has the best starting unit in the league right now whether they have an import or not. In addition to this, the arrival of Standhardinger will also allow Leo Austria to have one of his starters come off the bench, possibly Arwind Santos because Standhardinger will likely to start at the power forward position unless, Austria will put Santos at the 3 spot.

Conclusion

The Fajardo-Standhardinger duo looks scary on paper but who knows, this is the duo that can perfectly match-up against the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. And who knows? Christian Standhardinger might give June Mar Fajardo a run for his money. But of course, we all have to wait until he makes his PBA debut. 

What to Expect: Manila Clasico Christmas Edition to be Played at the Philippine Arena

Big crowd expected on Christmas Day

(Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

The last time the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings played at the Philippine Arena, they ended the night as back-to-back Governors’ Cup champions. That game was attended by 54,086 PBA fans. And since it included the crowd darlings, the Gin Kings, a big percentage of the crowd was seen wearing red shirts. Red is the color of Christmas. Red is the color of Ginebra’s dark jersey. And, red is the color of love. Come Christmas Day, we can expect the Philippine Arena to be filled with red-shirted fans anew as the PBA announced that the Gin Kings and Magnolia, formerly the Purefood Star Hotshots, will face off for the Christmas Edition of the Manila Clasico.

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The announcement was made along with the partial release of the initial schedule of the PBA Philippine Cup which is originally set to open on December 17, 2017 which will feature the San Miguel Bermen opening their title defense against the Phoenix Fuel Masters right after the opening ceremony which will happen at the Big Dome.

The venues for the initially scheduled games will include the Big Dome, Cuneta Astrodome, San Juan Arena and of course, the Philippine Arena which will also be the venue for the first Christmas Day game which will feature the NLEX Road Warriors versus the GlobalPort Batang Pier right before Manila Clasico.

Speaking of the Manila Clasico, who will win on Christmas Day?

The Gin Kings are coming off a championship run so we can expect them to come out firing on all cylinders come to the Philippine Cup and against Magnolia, expect the Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar to dominate the battle as they have always been doing in the past. With a healthy GregZilla, nothing is impossible for the Gin Kings.

Conclusion

Assuming that the season will open on schedule, Manila Clasico on Christmas Day at the Philippine Arena will be a big boost not just for Ginebra but for the entire PBA community because it will allow the fans to have a PBA Christmas at the biggest dome in the world. Just imagine the happiness of the fans if Ginebra will win the game. Priceless!

Joe Devance Missing the Philippine Cup: How will it Affect Ginebra?

Joe Devance’s absence will be huge

Joe Devance has played a crucial role in Ginebra’s championship run during the Governors’ Cup. 

Make no mistake about it, folks. Joe Devance is one of Coach Tim Cone’s favorite players. Why?

Joe Devance has been one of the few PBA players who can effectively play any position and defend any position as well. That’s what makes JDV unique. But more than anything else, ever since Joe Devance came over to the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings and reunite with Tim Cone, good things have started to come Ginebra’s way.

Joe Devance has been a vital piece to Ginebra’s back-to-back Governors’ Cup championships- both against Allen Durham and the rest of the Meralco Bolts. In the 2017 edition of the Governors’ Cup Finals which went to a Game 7, JDV has produced notably good numbers and came to the Gin Kings’ rescue whenever they needed a basket or a defensive stop. His height and wingspan makes him a perfect complement to Ginebra’s Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. JDV has averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds during the closing conference of the 2016-2017 season.

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However, with the upcoming Philippine Cup starting on December 17, there’s one problem that may affect Ginebra’s chances this conference especially if they want to challenge the San Miguel Beermen. According to Coach Tim Cone, Joe Devance has recently gone under the knife to remove a bunion in his left foot which has been bothering him during the past conferences. This surgery will require JDV out of basketball-related actions for the next 3 months.

How will this affect Ginebra?

For starters, Ginebra will lose one of its power forwards who can shoot and score threes. Additionally, someone from the bench of Tim Cone will need to double his effort to at least, cover that 12 points per game that they will be losing. 

Fortunately, Ginebra will have Art Dela Cruz back as he has recovered from his injury. And, JDV’s absence will enable Tim Cone to field rookie Jett Manuel, Ginebra’s first-round pick in the PBA Draft.

Conclusion

One way or another, Ginebra will miss the services of Joe Devance once the season kicks off. But who knows? It might be a blessing in disguise. Who knows? JDV might come back as a better player eventually. For now, Ginebra will have to do with their current roster. 

Balls-Eye: Who’s your MVP this PBA Season?

JunMar Fajardo on a Press Conference after being awarded as the MVP

Every year, more and more players are added to the league, rookies are explosive and veterans’ improvement are seemingly infinite. With this ever widening pool of potential athletes in the Philippine Basketball Association, let us try to narrow down and predict the possible MVP Awardees so here we go.

Let us scratch out the current MVP JunMar Fajardo in the list because of course he is an automatic candidate for everyone watching the PBA but let us include his potential rivals under the rim. We have Gregzilla, Greg Slaughter.

1 – Greg Slaughter

Greg Slaughter is by far Fajardo’s biggest foe in the shaded area. Slaughter has the strength, skill and of course the size to go head-to-head against Fajardo and thus give him a hard time from scoring easy baskets underneath.

2 – Terrence Romeo

If the trade rumor is real, then Terrence Romeo will have the chance to be deployed with a stronger team that may get to the finals or even give him his 1st championship. Romeo always is an MVP material but it’s the Batang Pier’s lack of success that’s holding him back to reach this ever delighted achievement.

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3 – Scottie Thompson

A pointguard who shines with rebounds? It is kinda extraordinary. Scottie Thompson does not just get the arbitrarty rebounds but also significant offensive and defensive boards for his team and not just that, he can penetrate, shoot from the outside and dish out assists. Scottie is a full-package player.

4 – Paul Lee

Who does not know the Leethal Weapon? A crossover artist. The league only has a few numbers which can handle the ball well and perform ankle breaking crossovers. Such players are of course Paul Lee, Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle. With the possession of this considered to be extraordinary talent, Paul Lee is a very dangerous guard who can drive pass or drag you down with his killer crossovers for easy plays.

5 – Cliff Hodge

If there’s a hustle man for the Meralco Bolts, then it is nobody but Cliff Hodge. With extra efforts in rebounding, Hodge always provides the Bolts with an extra push towards victory.

These 5 exceptional athletes are all potential MVP’s but the possibilities aren’t limited to these guys. Who knows what awaits all of us this coming season? We are all here to watch whatever action they’ll give. It’s just great to watch every game while keeping an eye on some potentials and continuously evaluating their performance.

Balls-Eye: Did Barangay Ginebra Prove Themselves Already After Winning the Championship?

The champions will be the one who’ll stay alive in the bloody battlefield, but some extraordinary warriors survived.

It is Barangay Ginebra once again who remained standing after a very ferocious finals rematch against the Meralco Bolts squad, but did they manage to shut down everyone completely?

Despite winning two consecutive finals series against the hungry Allen Durham and the Meralco Bolts, why does it seem that Brgy Ginebra still is not the most immovable object in the league?

Those were lingering questions right after June Mar Fajardo bagged another MVP award. The Kraken’s just relentless and not leveled to any other player in the league as he managed to snatch the award out of reach of those guys who reached the finals.

So did Barangay Ginebra finally shut down the Kraken? Obviously, no.

They may have defeated the Beermen in the series but they failed to achieve absolute dominance in the league, because if they have overpowered everyone, then more or less one of the players in the team will bag the MVP award.

If there’ll be a guy who can equal the unimaginable firepower inside the gigantic body of Fajardo, well it would be another titanic athlete – Greg Slaughter. Gregzilla’s JuneMar’s biggest and closest matchup in the league – size, style of play and perhaps almost every aspect. Greg Slaughter’s comeback after recovery spelled the difference between their extraordinary to ultimate form. Another main gun that may completely cease the Kraken’s conquering quest is in the hands of Japeth Aguilar.

Why? He’s got the size and athleticism and of these three big men, he perhaps is the best shooter, which is his advantage. Not all guys that big be able to deliver from the perimeter.

Japeth may bring June Mar into a battlefield that’s very uncomfortable for the Kraken.

Ginebra won amazing championships. They already have proven themselves but we are all waiting for them to achieve complete dominance in the league and in this era.

The Kings has the trigger waiting to be clicked to unleash the beasts even more perilous than the Kraken we know.

By the Numbers: Three BIG Things that Made Ginebra Champions Anew

Just what went well for the Gin Kings in last night’s Game 7?

Tinyente bagged another Finals MVP award as he led Ginebra to another title. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

As the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup trophy was finally into the air inside the Philippine Arena, as the confetti rained down the court, as the crowd mobbed the winning team, Tim Cone and the rest of the back-to-back champions, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings finally released a sigh of relief. 

After all, they saw the Meralco Bolts cut down a double-digit lead to just 4 points with just under a minute to play in the 4th quarter. Fortunately, time was on the side of the Gin Kings as they held on to win Game 7 with a 101-96 decision in front of a mostly pro-Ginebra 54,000+ crowd that watched the rubber match. 

Now, let’s check out the numbers that enabled Ginebra to win it all, finally:

Tinyete’s 26 Points= Another Finals MVP Award

If there was one specific player who deserved all of the praises, it’s none other than one of the smallest guys from either team, Lewis Alfred Tenorio. His 26 points, built on 4 long range bombs, 4 assists and 2 steals in 41 minutes of action gained him another Finals MVP award to add to his already full resume. 

Mind you, folks, this guy was playing all conference long with an injured arm but decided to wait until the end of the season to undergo a needed surgery. 

Now that the season has ended with Ginebra being the champs, again, Tinyente’s sacrifices were all worth it. That, folks, is the living example of Ginebra’s NEVER SAY DIE attitude and whether you like him or not, Tenorio deserves a drop of your respect. 

50% Field Goal Shooting: The Less. The Better

Sometimes, you don’t need to shoot more to win a basketball game, especially in a championship game. The Meralco Bolts took 84 SHOTS in Game 7 and they only made 35 of them. In contrast, Ginebra only took 77 shots and yet they made 39 of them, a 50% field goal shooting. Efficient, isn’t it? They also better at the 2-point area (53%) and from long distance (43%). Now that’s how you win a championship. By hitting your target instead of missing them, horribly. 

55 Points for Ginebra’s Giants

As mentioned by this basketball pundit on wheels during the entire series, one of Ginebra’s main strength against the smaller Bolts is their height. And if you watched Game 7 last night, then you saw how the bigs of Ginebra continuously pounded on the inside while Justin Brownlee sniped from the outside.

The result: Brownlee, Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar and Joe Devance went on to combine for 55 points- 23 from Brownlee alone. 

That’s a big difference compared to the output of Meralco’s bigs who got 26 points from Allen Durham and only 7 from Reynel Hugnatan. Now that’s dominance.

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Conclusion

Meralco may have lost, again but that doesn’t make them any weaker. No. It’s just that they’ve lost to a better team, again. They’ve lost to a hungrier, bigger and more talented team in Ginebra. That’s the reason why the Gin Kings are kings again.

Back to Basics: 3 Things Ginebra Must Do Tonight to Win it All

Failure to do these things might force a Game 7. Might

With Sol Mercado out, the rest of the Ginebra guards must step up in Game 6. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

After a convincing outing from LA Tenorio who was held scoreless in Game 4, after Greg Slaughter started for the first time in the series and scored 17 points in their Game 5 victory at the Philippine Arena which was witnessed by more than 34,000 fans, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, the defending Governors’ Cup champions, can clinch the title with a win tonight in Game 6 at the Philippine Arena. 

The only question is: Can the Gin Kings pull it out and celebrate tonight? It’s up to the Gin Kings themselves. But one thing is certain: the Meralco Bolts will rely on Allen Durham anew to carry the majority of the Bolts’ scoring load come tonight’s Game 6.

Now, we all know that the Bolts can definitely force a Game 7 on Friday IF they can hit their target, especially from rainbow country. If you’re Ginebra, wouldn’t it better if you can celebrate tonight rather than go home and prepare yourselves for a slugfest on Friday? Should the Gin Kings do the things below, there won’t be a Game 7 to worry about:

Limit Allen Durham’s Output

Okay. This is easier said than done for any team who is playing against the Meralco Bolts. Keep in mind, folks, Allen Durham is a two-time Best Import awardee and his numbers don’t lie either. In their Game 5 defeat, Durham scored 27 points, leading all scorers from both teams, on 52% field goal shooting. He also had 19 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks If anything, the Gin Kings should be wary of Durham’s capability to unleash a scoring onslaught especially now that the Bolts’ season is on the line. 

What to do? 

Tim Cone should put his best defenders on Allen Durham. Throw in double teams whenever Durham is in the post. Frustrate him and you take away Meralco’s power source. Whoever Tim Cone will be sending in to guard Durham will have his hands full. Now, who among the giants of Ginebra can defend the smaller Durham? 

Answer: All of them. Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, Justin Brownlee and yes, even Joe Devance can make life miserable for Allen Dirham especially on the offensive end primarily because of the formers’ height advantage.

The Guards Must Step Up

With Sol Mercado out indefinitely due to the injury that he sustained back in the closing seconds of Game 4 which was won by the Bolts, the play setting duty falls to the hands of Tineyte, LA Tenorio who played for 40 minutes in Game 5 and scored 17 points. Earlier this week, Tenorio indicated that he doesn’t mind playing for 48 MINUTES if the need arises but, he doesn’t have to do that, right? 

What to do?

Scottie Thompson MUST step out of his shooting slump and take parts of the defensive pressure away from Tenorio because in case you’ve forgotten, Tenorio is already playing with a problematic arm so the last thing you will need is Tenorio aggravating that arm injury due to the fact hat the rest of the Ginebra guards are struggling to pick up the pace. 

Tim Cone may even opt to allow Jay Jay Helterbrand play for longer minutes because whether we like it or not, Helterbrand can still contribute as we saw in last year’s Game 6 of the Governors’ Cup Finals. 

And, what a better way to clinch a title than with Helterbrand teaming up with old pal, Mark Caguioa, on the floor, for one final time, for possibly their final championship run, together? Fans will definitely go nuts if the old Fast and the Furious duo takes the court for one final ride.

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Shut Down Meralco Early On

Let’s make this simple, folks. Bury the Bolts during the early goings of the game and don’t allow Durham and company to turn the tide in their favor. In Game 1, Ginebra finished the first quarter with an 11-point lead and then outscored Meralco, 25-16 in the fourth quarter which enabled the Gin Kings to win the game. If Ginebra can do that again tonight, then the party starts right after the final buzzer.

Conclusion

Ginebra has been in the same situation last year when they were one-win away from the title. If they do the things above, they won’t be needing a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Justin Brownlee to take it all. 

By the Numbers: Greg Slaughter Showed BPC Performance in Game 5!

Greg Slaughter Monster Performance proved that he’s worthy of the BPC award

This giant from Cebu is the primary reason why Ginebra is one win away from the title. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Sure, Justin Brownlee had another all-around performance with 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals plus a block. 

Sure, Lewis Alfred Tenorio came alive after being held scoreless in Game 4 and scored 17 points in Game 5. 

But if there’s one specific player in Tim Cone’s rotation who stood up the tallest, both literally and figuratively, it’s their 7 footer center, Greg Slaughter. 

As mentioned by this basketball pundit on wheels during the first few games of this exciting best-of-7 Finals rematch, the success of the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings will depend on how Greg Slaughter plays. Why? He wasn’t around when both the Gin Kings and the Meralco Bolts met each other in last year’s PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, a series which was won by Ginebra in 6 games, on Brownlee’s heart slashing three-pointer at the buzzer.

Just a few hours after receiving his Best Player of the Conference award right before tip-off of Game 4, Greg Slaughter for 19 minutes, scored 6 points, missed 3 of his 5 shot attempts, only grabbed 5 rebounds and failed to block even a single shot. That’s not how one supposed to play after being named as the Best Player of the Conference. Absolutely unacceptable especially after Ginebra dropped a close 85-83 defeat at the hands of the Bolts.

Game 5 at the Philippine Arena came along last night. And came with it was Greg Slaughter’s dominant self. How dominant was Gregzilla last night? Below are his numbers:

17 Points: A Proof of Offensive Strength

In the first 4 games of the series, Greg Slaughter was only averaging 8 points per games with 14 points in the series opener being his highest point production. Then came along Game 5. Slaughter played for 33 minutes and just literally slaughtered the smaller Bolts with his 17 points even though he only made 5 of his 19 attempts. He made that up by making 7 of his 9 attempts from the free throw line. If Greg Slaughter is scoring this high again come Game 6 on Wednesday, it should be more than enough to help the defending champions to clinch their second consecutive Governors’ Cup title.

16 Rebounds: A Show of Height Advantage

One of the many advantages Ginebra is holding against the Bolts is their sheer height advantage and Greg Slaughter made sure that Meralco wished they had taller guys. In last night’s victory, the gentle giant from Cebu grabbed 16 rebounds, 5 of them came from the offensive end. Those 5  offensive boards, part of the 19 offensive rebounds that Ginebra had in the entire game, played a crucial role as the Gin Kings were able to score 23 points from those offensive rebounds. See? Height is might indeed especially if you know how to utilize that advantage.

6 Blocks: A Clear Sign of Defensive Might

In case you’ve still been wondering why Meralco opted to shoot from outside despite the fact that their shooters weren’t hitting the target during the entire series, it goes back to their height disadvantage as every time Allen Durham and company were trying to attack the paint, the giants of Ginebra were there to challenge and block the former’s way to the basket. As a result of that, the Gin Kings had 9 blocks at the end of Game 5, 6 of those came from Greg Slaughter. 

Now how do you avoid being blocked by Greg Slaughter? The painful answer to that is, you don’t. You just work around it unless you can create unblockable shots like you’re Kobe Bryant or Allen Iverson. If Meralco wants to score, they should shoot as if they are Ray Allen, Stephen Curry or even Klay Thompson who can shoot and make threes even in their sleep. They can always try to attack but we all know that hasn’t worked for them, right? Not if the gentle giant, Gregzilla is standing right in the middle, waiting for you to take your next move.

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Conclusion

Le’s this simple, folks. Should Greg Slaughter dominate again in Game 6, then the championship is for Ginebra all to take come Wednesday. Why? Simple: The Bolts have no one tall enough to challenge Slaughter and prevent him from slaughtering them anew. The least Norman Black’s boys can do is to put him in difficult situations. Do that and we might have a Game 7, at the Philippine Arena. Might.

Ginebra Blows an 18-Point Lead, Still Wins to Move One Win Away from Title

Greg Slaughter proved why he is the Best Player of the Conference

Greg Slaughter silenced his critics with his huge double-double performance. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

There are two reasons why this best-of-7 series needed a Game 5 at the Philippine Arena. One: Ginebra won first two games. Second: they lost the next two against the smaller Bolts.

Historically speaking, whoever wins Game 5 when the series is tied at 2-2 will go on to win the championship. After Game 5, one team will go home needing to only win the next game to finally win it all.

They established an 18-point lead in the second quarter. They allowed Meralco to come back and even momentarily take the lead in the third quarter. In the end, the defending champions, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings were able to regain control in the 4th quarter and consequently, regain the lead in the series as they won 85-74 over the Meralco Bolts, only needing one more win to clinch the championship.

Tinyente is Back!

The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings started Game 5 with a 6-0 run, 4 points from LA Tenorio who was held scoreless in Game 4.  The Meralco Bolts, like they were in the previous four games of the series, were struggling to put the ball into the basket for the first 4 minutes of the first quarter until Allen Durham made the Bolts’ first basket with a contested lay-up. The defending champs held a 6-point cushion during most of the opening quarter until Meralco started chipping away and cut down the deficit at 12-10 on Cliff Hodge’s lay-up with under 4 minutes to play, leading to a Ginebra timeout. Right after a Ginebra miss, Reynel Hugnatan drained an open three-pointer to give Meralco its first taste of the lead, something LA Tenorio did on the other end to make it 15-13 in the favor of the crowd darlings. Ginebra held onto the lead, at 21-15 to finish the first quarter. LA Tenorio exploded for 9 points after going 0 of 7 in the previous game.

Ginebra’s Second Quarter Rampage

Greg Slaughter and Mark Caguioa teamed up in the opening minutes of the second quarter to give Ginebra an 11-point lead as the Bolts settled for mostly outside shots which were missing the mark, terribly. A three-pointer from Joe Devance made it 29-15 which forced a timeout from Norman Black as his team was held scoreless for almost 3 minutes.Chris Newsome finally broke the Bolts’ silence with a long one from deep.

Meralco Charged Back

Meralco went on a scoring run which was highlighted by an Allen Durham Dunk to trim down the champs’ lead to 11, at 35-24. Then, Garvo Lanete drained a rare long one for Meralco to bring the Bolts with 7, at 36-29 with 2:11 on the clock. Jared Dillinger hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half to trim the deficit to 42-35 at the intermission

The Numbers at the Break

LA Tenorio and Greg Slaughter each had 9 points after the first two quarters for Ginebra who led despite only making 36% of their shot attempts and 20% of their shots from beyond the 3-point line was also the reason why their 18-point lead quickly evaporated.

As usual, it was Allen Durham yet again, shone the brightest for Meralco in the first with his 12 points as the Bolts only shot 31% from the field. Fortunately, it was their three-point shooting which brought them back in the game as Meralco dropped 5 long bombs of their 19 attempts.  

Meralco’s Electrifying Third Quarter

Meralco was able to sustain their shooting touch to open the second half with 7 points to come within 2, 44-42 during the first 3 minutes of the third quarter, a scoring run which was highlighted by another trey from the old man Reynel Hugnatan. LA Tenorio later put things back in control for the Gin Kings as he drained another jumper plus a driving lay-up to reestablish a 9-point lead. 

The Bolts then went on an 8-0 run to come within 1, at 56-55 with under 5 minutes to play in the third. After a Japeth Aguilar dunk, Garvo Lanete added another one from long distance to tie things up at 58 apiece and Allen Durham picked up his own miss and scored to make it 60-58, in favor of the Bolts as a visibly upset Tim Cone called a timeout.The  Gin Kings still held a 66-62 lead heading into the final quarter as Allen Durham scored 11 points in the entire third quarter.

Ginebra Regained Control. For Good

Ginebra went back to work as their defense shut down Meralco while building an 8-point advantage with under 9 minutes to play. But, Meralco quickly woke up from their nap as Allen Durham and company came within 74-70 on Chris Newsome’s basket.

However, a 3-point play from Justin Brownlee and a pair of charities from Greg Slaughter put the Gin Kings up, 79-70 as Norman Black was already complaining about the calls from the officials. A Greg Slaughter basket gave a double-digit lead for the Gin  Kings as Meralco was beginning to go back to their bad habit of fading away late in the game. LA Tenorio later scored on the inside to give Ginebra a 13-point advantage heading into the final 2 minutes of the game. 

The Numbers

Justin Brownlee led the way for the Gin Kings with his 20 points and 12 rebounds but it was Greg Slaughter’s 17 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks that made the difference for the Gin Kings. LA Tenorio also scored 17 as Ginebra won despite only making 3 of their 22 attempts from rainbow country. 

Allen Durham had 27 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Bolts as Garvo Lanete played his best game in the series, so far, to score 11 points off the bench but nobody else scored significantly for Meralco which was one of the primary reasons why they one loss away from another disappointing Final defeat. 

Scores:

Ginebra

Brownlee 20, Slaughter 17, Tenorio 17, Devance 12, J. Aguilar 8, Thompson 5, Caguioa 4, Ferrer 2.

Meralco

Durham 27, Lanete 11, Hugnatan 8, Caram 7, Hodge 6, Dillinger 6, Newsome 5, Amer 4, Tolomia 0, Faundo 0.

Quarter scoring:

21-15, 42-35, 66-62, 85-74

Back to Basics: 3 Things Ginebra MUST Do in Game 4

To avoid complications. That is.

.

Defending Allen Durham is a priority for the Gin Kings.

Like it or not, the Meralco Bolts didn’t look like the team that the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings defeated in the first two games. 

In fact, if you managed to see last night’s Game 3 which the Bolts won, of course, the Bolts weren’t clanking most of their shots especially from outside. The Bolts weren’t bullied by the giants of Ginebra. 

And most importantly, Allen Durham, the reigning and now, two-time Best Import awardee, wasn’t bothered by Justin Brownlee or any of the Ginebra big men for that matter. For one game, the Bolts were making their shots and the Gin Kings faltered in the second half.

Fortunately for Ginebra, their Game 3 loss to Meralco only did one thing: extend the best-of-7 series to a Game 5 to say the least, and if they win tomorrow’s Game 4, a win in Sunday’s Game 5 will allow fans at the Philippine Arena to celebrate Ginebra’s 2nd consecutive Governors’ Cup championship. 

That, if they win tomorrow and, on Sunday. 

Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and simply focus on what the Gin Kings need to do come tomorrow’s Game 4 to avoid extension of this series:

Defense on Durham

In the first three games of the series, Allen Durham showed us why he is indeed, this year’s Best Import of the Governors’ Cup. Through 3 games, he normed 30 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. In a victorious Game 3, Durham exploded for 38 points while making half of his shot attempts. If anything, it was Durham’s marvelous performance last night proved that the defense of Ginebra on him wasn’t clicking unlike in the series opener when he scored 27 points but missed 12 shots. 

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What should Ginebra do?

Simple. Make life miserable for Durham. The Gin Kings must use their tremendous height advantage to frustrate the smaller Durham and the rest of the Meralco big men. Do that and the Bolts might just opt to shoot AND miss threes. Again. You shut down Durham and you disrupt Meralco’s offense. 

Clamp Down on Shooters

You want to know why Meralco won last night? Three-pointers. After making 13 combined threes in the first two games, Meralco dropped 11 long-distance bombs in Game 3 alone. 11 out 31 attempts, folks. 

And mind you, folks, Ranidel De Ocampo only played for 4 minutes before being taken out of the game due to an injury. It was the 7 three-point shots by the old man, Reynel Hugnatan, that proved to be the difference as Hugnatan provided the reinforcements for Durham with his 22 points off the bench, making him and Durham as the only Meralco players who scored in double figures.

What should Ginebra do?

Contest every Meralco basket regardless if it’s a two-point basket or a long one from outside. You leave one guy open. You’re gonna pay the price. You leave a shooter unguarded. He’ll find his rhythm eventually and it happened in Game 3. We all witnessed Reynel Hugnatan drain those threes as if he borrowed Jimmy Alapag’s shooting touch.

The Bench Must Produce. More.

Sure, Greg Slaughter had 12 points while making 50% of his shots in Game 3. Sure, Mark Caguioa scored 8 points on an efficient 3 of 4 field goal shooting. But the rest of the guys from Tim Cone’s bench? ZERO. Sol Mercado played for 12 minutes and Ginebra got nothing but 2 turnovers. The masked man, Kevin Ferrer also played for 12 minutes but only grabbed 5 rebounds and 2 assists. 

What should Ginebra do?

Simple. The bench players of the Gin Kings should score more and it is imperative that they do especially in situations when the Bolts are on the run and Ginebra’s starters are either resting or struggling to get anything going on the offensive end. If Tim Cone can get his bench players going, then Ginebra will become much harder to deal with. 

Conclusion

While everyone is expecting the Bolts to keep on fighting for their lives in this series, we all witnessed what happened to the opponent who handed a defeat to the Gin Kings in their previous meeting. What happened? That team lost two straight games which ended their season. 

By the Numbers: 3 Electrifying Reasons Why Sweep is No More for Ginebra

And they can only blame themselves for it

LA Tenorio had 5 of Ginebra’s 19 turnovers in Game 3. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau) 

After winning the first two games of the best-of-7 finals series, a sweep was inevitable for the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. In fact, even after the defending champions dominated the series opener, there were already predictions being made by fans that the Gin Kings would sweep the series and take their second successive Governors’ Cup championship in a snap. Nope. No sweep. No celebration for the Gin Kings just yet as the Meralco Bolts found their shooting touch in time for Game 3 and beat the champs, 94-81 to extend this series to a Game 5, to say the least.

There were many things that went terribly wrong for Ginebra but let us focus on the three main reasons that doomed them in Game 3 and their chances for a sweep:

41 Heavy Minutes for Justin Brownlee

Time and again, Game 3 saw the Gin Kings tendency to rely on their import, Justin Brownlee who had to play for 41 minutes last night. 

That- despite the fact that Brownlee wasn’t shooting efficiently the entire game as he only made 7 of 20 field goals en route to finishing 15 points, his lowest in the series, so far. He also missed 3 of his 4 attempts from deep and also turned the ball over, 3 times.  

This failed Ginebra in many ways primarily because it took away the height advantage that the Gin Kings hold against the Bolts as the Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar played for 29 and 28 minutes respectively Although both giants combined for 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, they could have produced more had Tim Cone employed to give them more minutes. But that was Tim Cone’s call to make. 

19 Turnovers

In any game of basketball at any given league, you turn the ball over, you lose an opportunity to score and you give your opponents that opportunity to score at the other end. That was what exactly happened last night. 

The Bolts forced Ginebra to uncharacteristically commit 19 turnovers which the former converted into 14 points. LA Tenorio had 5 of those miscues. Those 19 turnovers can be looked at two different ways: either Meralco was defending well or, the Gin Kings were occasionally careless every time they had the possession of the orange. Either way, turnovers hurt them in Game 3 and will hurt them tomorrow if they control their turnover number.

10 Offensive Rebounds

One evidence that the Gin Kings failed to take advantage of their height advantage in Game 3: they weren’t aggressive in getting those offensive rebounds as they only managed to grab 10 rebounds on the offensive end. The Bolts, smaller team, grabbed 17 offensive boards. The only plus point in this was that Ginebra was the more aggressive team in terms of scoring more on those second chances as evident by their 13-7 advantage in second-chance points. 

Conclusion

Make no mistake, folks. The Gin Kings are expected to go all-out come tomorrow’s Game 4 and when that happens, the Bolts can only pray that their threes will hit their target because if not, then the balloon and the confetti will fall upon the fans come Game 5 at the Philippine Arena- assuming that Ginebra goes on to win Game 5, too. 

By the Numbers: 3 Flaws Ginebra Can’t Show in Game 3

Because they were lucky that Meralco was shooting bricks in Game 2

Greg Slaughter’s limited production is one of the reasons why Ginebra didn’t dominate Game 2. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Whether Ginebra fans around the world will admit it or not, the defending champions’ Game 2 86-76 victory over the Meralco Bolts which gave them a 2-0 series lead, showed some flaws which could hurt Ginebra’s chances of winning back-to-back titles if they continue to play the same way come Game 3 on Wednesday. 

Given the mere fact that Ginebra’sa biggest lead was at 10 points, many were saying, including this basketball pundit on wheels that the Gin Kings have either gone softer in Gane 2 or, the Bolts were simply defending better than they did in Game 1. Regardless of which was what, the Gin Kings can’t afford to show the same flaws in Game 3 and beyond because yes, a 2-0 lead means they are halfway done but it can be erased in a snap.

What are those flaws that this basketball pundit is saying? Let’s run the numbers then:

1 Assist for LA Tenorio

Okay. Let’s begin this one by saying that it was actually the late-game heroics of Lewis Alfred Tenorio lifted the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in last night’s win particularly in the dying minutes of the 4th quarter when the crowd darlings were holding a slim margin. It was Tinyente’s three-pointer which gave Ginebra, a 6-point cushion approaching the final minute of the contest. That bomb proved to be the game-winner as Meralco faltered the rest of the way, fading away exactly like they did in the opener.

In the end, Tenorio had 14 points while 3 of his 9 attempts from deep. That was relatively a good shooting percentage especially if you got the big W. The flaw: Tenorio only had 1 ASSIST in almost 35 minutes of action. In Game 1, Tenorio had fewer points but got 5 assists. This basketball pundit isn’t saying that Tenorio shouldn’t shoot the ball because Tenorio is first and foremost, a good shooter to begin with. But Ginebra also needs his playmaking abilities which made him one of the best floor generals in the first play.

Now that 1 assist that Tenorio had last night can be looked at two scenarios: Either he wasn’t passing enough or, he was passing but his teammates weren’t taking advantage of those passes. Either way, the Gin Kings will need more from Tinyente if they want to finish this series and celebrate, as soon as Friday.

3 Points for Greg Slaughter

As this basketball pundit on wheels has been mentioning in most of his articles, Greg Slaughter’s performance will play an important role in this championship run. He may have won the Best Player of the Conference award before tip-off, beating fellow Cebuano, June Mar Fajardo, but if anything, his 3 points and the Best Player of the Conference award didn’t add up. Gregzilla only made 1 of his 6 field goals, went 1 of 3 from the free throw line and, turned the ball over 4 times in 33 minutes of play. Now you tell this basketball pundit, is this how you perform after winning the Best Player of the Conference award? 

Fortunately for the Gin Kings, Japeth Aguilar was playing more efficiently than the other half of Ginebra’s Twin Towers. In just 28 minutes of action, Aguilar accumulated 16 points to go along with 8 rebounds, a steal and a block. However, if you want to win a championship against a smaller Meralco team, one thing you can do is to take advantage of your height, right? In Game 2, the Gregzilla wasn’t dominating in any other way which explains why Ginebra wasn’t able to dominate in the entire game. 

10 Missed Free Throws for Ginebra

Let’s remember the one fact that Nash Racela hates the most: Ginebra is good at drawing fouls. Now, if you can consistently draw fouls from defenders, free throws will be awarded to you especially if the other team has already reached the limit for the number of fouls in a quarter. 

Last night’s Game 2 saw the Gin Kings attempt 21 charities. The flaw was: the Gin Kings missed 10 of those freebies. While that stat won’t matter to fans as long as their team gets the big W, it will matter to Tim Cone. 

It will also matter to Norman Black because he can employ a “Hack-a-Scottie” strategy because Scottie Thompson shot 2 of 9 from the line last night- making the 2 charities in the closing minutes to widen the cushion of the Gin Kings. Despite the win, there’s no way you can miss 7 straight free throws and make 2 at the endgame because given how close the final score was, Ginebra was already lucky that Meralco was clanking all night long from the three-point line. 

If Ginebra is good at drawing multiple fouls from multiple defenders, then they should be able to make more free throws, right?

Conclusion:

If Ginebra wants to celebrate by Friday night, a good outing in Game 3 is a must. Fortunately, they have the winningest coach in the history of the PBA in Tim Cone at the helm. 

One way or another, he will find ways to make Ginebra get back its dominating ways come Wednesday and when that happens, the Meralco Bolts will be in a terrible situation and mind you, folks, not everyone can win a championship by erasing a 0-3 series deficit. 

Check out last game highlights: Meralco vs. Ginebra | PBA Governor’s Cup 2017 

(video courtesy of YouTube/Sports5)

By the Numbers: Rebounds, Defense and Slaughter Fuel Ginebra to Game 1 Win

Justin Brownlee may have scored 32 but the Gin Kings were more than just about Brownlee

Defense was one of the reasons why the Gin Kings took Game 1. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Just when everyone, especially the fans of the Meralco Bolts, thought that having a longer preparation time heading into Game 1 was an advantage for Norman Black and his boys, everyone was dead wrong. 

After Japeth Aguilar dunked the ball for Ginebra’s second basket of the game, it was already a breakaway for the Gin Kings as they led the rest of the way, with a lead which was trimmed down to 3 once during the dying seconds of the 3rd quarter but that was the closest Meralco came within as they faltered in the 4th and fell behind by as much as 21. Result: a 102-87 victory over the defending champions over the league-leading Bolts to open the best-of-7 championship series of the PBA Governors’ Cup.

While many had already expected this kind of attitude from Ginebra considering how their series against Talk N Text ended, many were shocked and even disappointed with the Bolts’ play all throughout last night and even this basketball pundit was shocked by the fact that Meralco attempted 34 long distance bombs with only 8 hitting the target. That was one ugly shooting night for Meralco but let’s not focus on the mistakes of the Bolts. 

Below are the things that Ginebra did right which propelled them to win Game 1 in Lucena:

59 Rebounds for Ginebra

One of the major categories which were dominated by the Gin Kings last night was the battle for the rebounds. As the final buzzer sounded in Lucena, Ginebra walked away with a 59-40 rebounding advantage. 21 of those 59 rebounds were on the offensive end which also enabled the Gin Kings to score 16 second-chance points. Justin Brownlee for one had 19 rebounds as part of his dominant performance. 

39% Field Goal Shooting for Meralco

If anything, it was Ginebra’s defense that proved to be the difference in last night’s victory. Why? They forced the Bolts to shoot poorly anywhere on the court whether it was a 2-point basket or one from long distance. Meralco couldn’t keep anything going even after coming within single digit heading into the final quarter. 

The Result: Ginebra’s great D limited Meralco to 39% field goal shooting and that includes a forgettable 8 out of 34 3-point shooting. Jared Dillinger was 2 out of 9 from beyond the arc while Ranidel De Ocampo failed to convert any of his 4 attempts from the same area. Even Allen Durham was clanking all night from deep, missing all of his 5 attempts from rainbow country. Meralco’s struggles on the offensive end were also the reason why Ginebra was able to grab 59 rebounds in the first place. 

14 Points for GregZilla

Although he shot 5 out of 13 in the field, we cannot simply deny the fact that Greg Slaughter’s 14 points to lead the bench players of Time Cone were essential to Ginebra’s victory. 

Why? 

Height is might, remember? And Slaughter took advantage of his advantage over every big man that Norman Black threw against him. Result: GregZilla grabbed 8 rebounds to go along with his 14 points and even blocked 2 Meralco baskets in 21 minutes of action. That is what we call efficiency, folks.

Conclusion:

Both teams will have a day to prepare for Game 2 which is scheduled to take place tomorrow. If Meralco wants to get back at Ginebra, and have a chance to dethrone the champs, shooting better is a must and so is winning Game 2. 

For Ginebra, they already drew the first blood in the series. Keep doing the right things and the back-to-back championships will be theirs to take. 

Justin Brownlee had Another All-Around Performance to Lead the Gin Kings to Game 1 Win

Ginebra Pounds on Rested Bolts to Take Game 1

Justin Brownlee outplayed Allen Durham right from the first quarter (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

After sitting out last year’s encounter, Jared Dillinger finally got his wish: a rematch between the defending champions, Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings against the reloaded Meralco Bolts for the Governors’ Cup championship. 

While both squads are claiming that this will be a different series compared to last year’s series which was won by the Gin Kings in Game 6 after Justin Brownlee’s buzzer-beating trey, some things will remain the same. For starters, we can expect Allen Durham to go out there with the same level of intensity which carried the Bolts to their first ever Finals appearance last year. 

On the other side, both teams have received upgrades over the course of the last 12 months. For Ginebra, Greg laughter is back and playing again with the Gin Kings while the Bolts got Ranidel De Ocampo whom they got from a trade with the Talk N Text KaTropa. So yes, this is going to be a different series all throughout.

Here we go, folks. Game 1. Gin Kings. Bolts. Race to 4 Wins for the Championship.

Coming off their heated series against the TNT KaTropa, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings took off early in the first quarter and they held a double-digit that they never squandered as they took Game 1 of the best-of-7 championship series after defeating the Meralco Bolts, 102-87

After Baser Amer drained the first two points of the Bolts, Japeth Aguilar rose up for an electrifying dunk to start things out in Game 1. 

Both teams were able to score easily during the early minutes of the opening quarter as Chris Newsome came out running on the break and scored on a dunk to make 11-10, in favor of the Bolts. However, both squads were clanking most of their attempts from outside as they combined for 2 of 7 3-point field goal shooting during the first 7 minutes of the game. 

Despite their respective struggles from the three-point line, both the Bolts and the Gin Kings were able to make most of their baskets as Ginebra slowly began to run away as Justin Brownlee scored on a dunk plus a foul and made the ensuing free throw to give the crowd darlings a 9-point lead as Greg Slaughter finished the first quarter with another inside shot to make it 28-18 after the first 12 minutes of play. Ginebra shot 61% in the field as compared to Meralco who only made 32% of their shot attempts in the first quarter.

By the time the second quarter came along, Ginebra continued their scoring blast as the lead ballooned to 17, at 40-23 with under 9 minutes to play in the first half, prompting a much-needed timeout from Norman Black. Meralco made a run to cut the deficit down to 12 but the masked man, Kevin Ferrer drained a three-point to put the lead back to 15, at 45-30 approaching the 6:00 mark of the 2nd quarter. Meralco failed to get any sort of momentum during the rest of the quarter as the deficit never went beyond 12 points as Ginebra led by 14, at 49-35 at the half. 

Justin Brownlee, who had 46 points in Ginebra’s win against Talk N Text, had 13 points and 11 boards to lead the Gin Kings in the first half while Japeth Aguilar had 9 markers. Ginebra made the most of their opportunities as they made 46% of their field goal attempts in the first including 33% from beyond the arc. Turnovers remained a problem for the Gin Kings as they had 9 turnovers in the first 2 quarters of Game 1 as compared to the Bolts who only turned the ball over, 7 times.

Allen Durham was the lone bright light for Meralco as he led the Bolts with 10 points in the first half. Nobody followed Durham’s lead as Chris Newsome only had 6 points on 3 of 9 shooting while Jared Dillinger had to settle with a 1 of 6 shooting from the 3-point line. As a team, Meralco only made 2 out of their 17 attempts from outside and that was one of the reasons why the Bolts were never in the game, at least in the first half. 

Whatever Norman Black yelled about during the break, it certainly hit the Bolts as they scored the first 4 points of the 2nd half to come within 10 points, 49-39 which forced Tim Cone to call an early timeout with barely a minute in the 3rd quarter. Capitalizing on Meralco’s struggles plus turnovers, LA Tenorio scored on 2 consecutive lay-ups to put Ginebra up, at 61-45 which led to another timeout from Norman Black. 

Slowly but surely Meralco was able to chip away from the deficit as Cliff Hodge scored on an inside basket to bring down the deficit to single digit, at 65-57 with under 4 minutes to play in the 3rd. Then, Allen Durham finished an alley-oop play from a Mike Tolomia lob to bring his team within 6. Mike Tolomia scored on a 4-point play in the dying seconds of the 3rd but Greg Slaughter slammed it home to give Ginebra, a 77-71 lead entering the 4th quarter. 

Sol Mercado drained one from outside to score Ginebra’s first three points of the 4th period to put the lead back to double digits. As for the Bolts, they started to miss their shots and they began making mistakes which allowed Ginebra to run away and take a 13-point lead heading into a Meralco timeout with 8:09 left on the clock. Kevin Ferrer was later left wide open in the three-point line, made the shot, gave the Gin Kings a 91-75 advantage and forced, yet again, another Meralco timeout. Justin Brownlee later made another trey for Ginebra to give his team, a 21-point lead as the defending champions were never threatened the rest of the way.

Justin Brownlee scored 32 points, had 19 rebounds and 6 assists. Ginebra’s Twin Towers of Japeth Aguilar and Greg showed that height is might indeed as they scored 15 and 14 respectively. The Gin Kings were shooting better in the field, making 47% of their 87 attempts. They also had a 19-8 edge in fastbreak points and a 16-8 advantage in second-chance points.

Meanwhile, Allen Durham, the reigning Best Import, had 27 points and 14 boards to lead the Bolts who faded away in the 4th quarter coming back alive in the closing minutes of the 3rd frame. Baser Amer added 14 while newcomer Mike Tolomia added 10 off the bench. One of the reasons why Meralco fell behind early on and even faltered after coming back into the game was their three-point shooting. 

Jared Dillinger only made one of his 9 attempts from long distance. Ranidel De Ocampo was even worst, missing ALL of his 4 attempts from deep. As a result, the Bolts only made 23% of their shot attempts from long distance, a far cry to Ginebra’s 38% 3-point shooting.

Related: Tim Cone vs Norman Black 

Scores:

Ginebra – 102

Brownlee 32, J. Aguilar 15, Slaughter 14, Ferrer 11, Tenorio 10, Devance 9, Mercado 7, Thompson 2, Caguioa 2, Helterbrand 0, Jamito 0, Cruz 0, Mariano 0, R. Aguilar 0, Taha 0

Meralco – 87

Durham 27, Amer 14, Tolomia 10, Hodge 8, De Ocampo 8, Newsome 6, Dillinger 6, Lanete 6, Hugnatan 2, Atkins 0, Yeo 0, Sedurifa 0, Caram 0, Faundo 0

Quarter Scoring:

29-18, 49-35, 77-71, 102-87

A Wheeler’s Opinion: Greg Slaughter is Key to Ginebra’s Success

The Gentle Giant is VITAL to Tim Cone’s Gameplan against Meralco

Whether on offense or defense, Greg Slaughter is important for the Gin Kings. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

For Greg Slaughter, missing majority of the 2015-2016 PBA season due to the fact that he was advised by his doctors to undergo a surgery to deal with the ankle problem that was hampering his performance, was a wasted opportunity for the big man. Mind you, folks, that was the season when “Gregzilla” was averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists- all career-high averages for the top pick in the 2013 PBA Draft. 

Not only that, he was on course to challenge fellow Cebuano giant, the Kraken, June Mar Fajardo for the MVP award. Had the Gin Kings made the Final 4 of the Commissioner’s Cup that same season, Slaughter would have won the Best Player of the Conference because he topped statistical race for that conference. He wasn’t even in uniform when Ginebra broke an 8-year dry spell after winning the Governors’ Cup championship last year. 

Greg Slaughter returned to action this season and was a vital piece especially in Ginebra’s run back to the Finals of this season’s Governors where they will be playing against the very same team that they beat last year, the league-leading Meralco Bolts. 

An interesting thing about this Finals match-up: this is a championship series which will be pitting Slaughter against his former coach in Ateneo, Norman Black whom he played for to win 2 UAAP championships which were included in Black’s 5-championship run with the Blue Eagles. So, this will mean that a healthy AND playing Greg Slaughter in a Ginebra jersey will mean another gigantic headache for Norman Black and the rest of the Bolts because even though they beat Ginebra back in the elimination round, this is the Finals, folks. 

And yes, this basketball pundit firmly believes that Greg Slaughter’s performance in the upcoming Finals series which will start on Friday, whether or not, the Gin Kings will win win back-to-back Governors’ Cup championships.

Why?

Okay. Let’s run some numbers. During the playoffs of this year’s Governors’ Cup, the gentle giant from Cebu has averaged 15 points in those 5 games which included a 21-point outing in Game 4 to eliminate an all-Filipino Talk N Text KaTropa team and book their return trip to the Finals. That, folks, was something that Slaughter did while coming off the bench. 

That says something about a former top pick in the Draft who doesn’t mind coming off the bench because first and foremost, Ginebra’s frontcourt is already full with Joe Devance and Japeth Aguilar starting in both forward spots. This is one luxury that Coach Tim Cone enjoys because whenever either or both Aguilar and Devance were struggling offensively- which was the case back in Game 4 against TNT, Slaughter came out firing and led the bench of Ginebra as he made 7 of his 8 shot attempts and 7 of 9 from the free throw line. All of that in under 30 minutes of action. 

That’s how efficient Slaughter and offensive efficiency will be one of the major keys for Ginebra come the Finals.

Another part of Greg Slaughter’s game that will be crucial to their match-up against the Bolts is his passing game. Yep. Greg Slaughter can pass the ball especially if the opposing team decides to throw in two defenders to guard the giant. And that is something Norman Black is very much familiar with because he saw to it that Slaughter learned to pass the ball during their years together in Ateneo. Meralco may send a double team on multiple occasions to try to stop Gregzilla from turning the shaded area into a slaughterhouse but if you’re Norman Black, you’d be smart enough to send in your best one-on-one defender on the court every time Slaughter is playing. 

Conclusion:

Ginebra will need Gregory William Slaughter for his consistency and his efficiency on both ends of the court because let’s face it, folks, Ginebra was able to win last year’s Governors’ Cup championship without the services of their giant center. Just imagine a Ginebra team, playing against the Meralco Bolts in the Finals of this season’s Governors’ Cup- with Greg Slaughter playing like the giant he is meant to be. Dominant and yet, efficient. 

Must watch Greg “Zilla” Slaughter Highlights:

By the Numbers: Ginebra’s Big Numbers from Last Night’s Game 46, 25, 21

Ginebra needed big numbers from 3 players to eliminate an import-less TNT team

Coach Tim Cone knows one thing: Ginebra will need more of those numbers come the Finals. (Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

Every basketball fan knew that from the moment Glen Rice Jr. got himself ejected after pushing down Ginebra rookie, Kevin Ferrer and even almost hit the latter with the ball, it would have a rippling effect on the flow of the ballgame. 

For the fans of the defending champions, an ejected TNT import meant that their team could easily score and take the life out of Nash Racela and the rest of the KaTropa. 

Instead, Talk N Text was able to hold onto the lead despite the departure of their import and even built an 18-point lead only to have Ginebra erase it completely as the Gin Kings completely outplayed Jayson Castro and company in the second half which ended with a 115-105 Ginebra win over the fading TNT KaTropa that cemented a Finals rematch between the Gin Kings and the Meralco Bolts.

So, how did the Gin Kings fight they way back to finally eliminate a Talk N Text that was playing an all-Filipino crew? Answer: they needed  big numbers from these players to accomplish that feat:

Justin Brownlee- 46 Points

Okay. Let’s begin with the most obvious one. The ejection of Glen Rice Jr. benefited one specific Ginebra player the most: Justin Brownlee. 

Also read: Comeback is REAL: Brownlee Score 46 Points to Lead Gin Kings

By the end of  Game 4, Brownlee compiled 46 points, his new career’s best, on 15 of 23 field goal shooting which included 4 makes from the 3-point line. In fact, his 11-0 personal run in the 3rd quarter alone enabled Ginebra to get back into the game. But Brownlee was more than just scoring in last night’s victory. Aside from his 46 points, the Ginebra import also grabbed 10 boards and 5 assists while blocking 2 TNT shots in an all-around performance. 

LA Tenorio- 25 Points

While his backcourt partner, Scottie Thompson was held scoreless, LA Tenorio stepped like the “Tinyente” we all know used to know and love in the past, and scored 25 big points, many of those points came in during the pivotal second half run of Ginebra which enabled Ginebra to charge back from an 18-point hole. Tenorio’s 25 points were highlighted by 6 long-range bombs. 

In addition to this, “Tinyente” also had 7 assists, proving that he is still among the elite floor generals we have in the league right now. Although he turned the ball over on 6 occasions, that doesn’t change the fact that Tenorio was one of the reasons why Ginebra is back in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals for the second straight year, giving them a shot at winning back-to-back Governors’ Cup championships. 

Greg Slaughter- 21 Points

With fellow frontline players, Joe Devance and Japeth Aguilar struggling to get anything going on offense, Greg Slaughter, the gentle giant off the bench, made 7 of his 8 shot attempts, on his way to finish the game with 21 points to lead the bench players of both squads. Like Brownlee, Slaughter’s 87% field goal shooting can be associated with the absence of Glen Rice Jr. and the subsequently fading away of the defense of Talk N Text, especially in the second half. Slaughter also had an efficient shooting night at the free throw line, making 7 of 9 charities. He also added 9 rebounds and blocked 2 shots in a remarkable defensive effort for the big man from Cebu. 

The trio of Brownlee, Tenorio and Slaughter combined for 92 of Ginebra’s 115 points. While it’s an impressive outing for the three of them, the rest of the Gin Kings need to improve especially with the Finals about to open on Friday. If they will continue to rely on three players to do all the dirty works in the floor against a vastly-improved Meralco team, Ginebra fans are in for a long Finals series. 

But knowing Tim Cone, he will find ways to have his team ready despite a shorter preparation period because whether you’re a Ginebra fan or not, Tim Cone is one of the reasons why Ginebra was able to win their first championships in 8 years and he will be one of the main reasons why Ginebra is back in the Finals again, facing the same team they’ve beaten last year.