Ginebra, Mahindra square off

Barangay Ginebra and Mahindra set their feet on the floor both with a great sense of urgency in their face-off Friday night in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

They’re likely to fight with great resolve as they would be out of the picture if the quarterfinals would be held now.

The Gin Kings try to cling on with the pack while Floodbuster hope to get into the competition as they square off at 7 p.m.

Both are off to a start that they didn’t desire. Ginebra is at 1-2 while Mahindra has been the worst team thus far at 0-4.

For Ginebra, the good news is that one win will get the team at joint sixth with Alaska Milk, Meralco, Star and either TNT KaTropa or Phoenix.

Mahindra will have to start winning now or the team will get itself in a deep hole.

“Right now, it’s really about taking the positive note of energy and attitude and embracing that. Everybody’s got to embrace it. It can’t just be those last group of guys. It’s got to be from our vets and
it’s got to be contagious,” said Mahindra coach Chris Gavina.

“If they bring that level of effort, I think we can still salvage a pretty decent conference,” he added.

They’ve got some hope and inspiration on their fighting losing stand versus San Miguel Beer, 91-94. Before that, the Floodbuster suffered routs opposite GlobalPort, Phoenix Petroleum and Rain or Shine.

“Everybody’s just got to buckle down and really check our expectation level and just take away the positives on a game-to-game basis,” said Gavina.

Ginebra, meanwhile, dropped games against TNT KaTropa and GlobalPort and won once over Rain or Shine.

The Kings fought back from an 18-point deficit but ran out of energy and failed to contain Terrence Romeo in an 84-91 setback to the Batang Pier.

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