NOT GINEBRA’S TIME YET
At some point, San Mig Super Coffee coach Tim Cone expects the current Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to be there atop the league’s totem pole.
Not yet now.
“It’s still our time,” said Cone with a good smile after his Coffee Mixers hurdled the Kings, 102-90, in their keenly awaited match that drew a crowd of over 17,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
Marqus Blakely came through with 34 points and 17 rebounds, and stood in the middle of their full-court pressure defense that keyed their breakaway in the end.
The Mixers rattled the Kings with the press and subsequently pulled off the win that carried them to the top halfway through their campaign in the PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup eliminations.
San Mig Coffee seized the lead with a 4-1 win-loss card and relegated Ginebra down to joint second with Air21 and Talk n Text at 3-1.
The Kings didn’t see what’s coming after fighting the Mixers toe-to-toe in the first 40 minutes of the game.
Ginebra was still in the lead at 79-78 before San Mig Coffee applied the press and came through with a 16-0 roll to pull away at 94-79.
The Kings failed to make a basket for four minutes, running into a maze of errors that spelled their doom.
“They’re the dominant team through the first three quarters and we’re just trying to hang on. In the fourth quarter, we put some pressure and we got some free throws that set our defense. It kind a let the dogs out,” said Cone.
“We made a big deal (out of this game). But for us, it’s just trying to get to first place and trying to be amongst the leaders,” Cone also said. “Obviously, Ginebra is an up and coming team. We hope they stay as up and coming. Let them get to the top next conference.”
Cone believed though that his former assistant Jeff Cariaso and the Gin Kings would learn a lot in this game.
“They have to respond to adversity. This is a good start to see what teams are going to do against you, and learn from it,” said Cone. “This will be a lesson for them. When this happens again, they’ll grow and get better. That’s where we’ve been through.”
San Mig Coffee forced Ginebra to commit 20 errors and the Mixers beat the Kings, 19-7, on turnover points.
On top of his double-double numbers, Blakely accounted for six of their 12 steals.
PJ Simon and Mark Barroca contributed 19 and 11 points, respectively. (SB)
The scores:
SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 102 – Blakely 34, Simon 19, Barroca 11, Maliksi 9, Devance 8, Pingris 8, Yap 8, Sangalang 4, Reavis 1, Mallari 0.
GINEBRA 90 – Mason 18, Caguioa 18, Aguilar 12, Slaughter 11, Tenorio 11, Ellis 6, Helterbrand 5, Monfort 5, Reyes 2, Mamaril 2, Baracael 0, Ababou 0.
Quarterscores: 26-25, 47-50, 70-70, 102-90
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
