WHILE they practically had their way in Game One of their best-of-five Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup semifinal series, the defending champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings are not inclined to get ahead of themselves and think they have it in the bag, knowing fully that in the TNT KaTropa they have opponents capable of turning things around if one let their guards down.
Set to reengage for Game Two today at the Batangas City Coliseum, the Kings are out to build on their dominant 121-94 win over the KaTropa in the series opener on Monday. But they are mindful that they will have it tougher this time around as TNT is only expected to come back more prepared and determined.
“Game Two is going to be pretty exciting and tight. That usually follows after games like this,” said Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone after their Game One victory.
“We’re happy we played like this and beat them the way we did. On the other hand, we just feel bad with giving them a whole bunch of motivation going to Game Two. There’s always a positive and negative to blowouts in a series,” he added.
In Game One, the Kings turned what was a competitive contest early on into a blowout that had them clicking both on offense and defense, rendering them just too hot to handle for the KaTropa.
After tying the game at 19-all late in the first period, TNT saw the defending champions pull away the rest of the way, even staring at a 34-point deficit at one point in the payoff quarter.
The KaTropa tried hard to rally back but the Kings were just unrelenting in their attack, even when it was their auxiliaries that were already playing on the court.
Import Justin Brownlee, who did not play in the fourth period, led Barangay Ginebra with 21 points on top of eight rebounds and five assists.
Joe Devance, named player of the game after, had 19 points while Greg Slaughter finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Mark Caguioa had 13 points with LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Jervy Cruz each having 10.
TNT, meanwhile, was led by Glen Rice, Jr. with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Jayson Castro had 16 points and seven assists while Roger Pogoy had 12 markers.
“We are just happy to get the win. We had good offense and good defense and that did it for us,” said Mr. Devance.
“I know though that they will make the adjustments in the next game and we just have to play our game and give our best,” he added.
Barangay Ginebra is looking to make it to its third finals appearance in four conferences while TNT is eyeing to return to the Big Dance for a second straight time. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
