BOCAUE, Bulacan – Not doing well in the preseason, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel did what it had to do came the season proper.
The Kings, back from a long break after failing to make it past the quarterfinals of the last Governors’ Cup, whipped the Talk n Text Tropang Texters, 101-81, on opening day of PBA Season 40 before a record crowd of 52,612 at the Philippine Arena here.
“I don’t want to say we underperformed. But by the record, it was really bad,” said Ginebra coach Jeff Cariaso of their 1-7 win-loss record in preseason matches.
“But it wasn’t about the record in the preseason. You just have to work hard and try to improve everyday. I think the guys understand what it takes to improve,” Cariaso also said.
The Kings seized control towards the end of the third quarter and pressed their bid in the final canto to win in a lopsided manner.
By all intents and purposes, it was all over with the Kings ahead by 12, 88-76, with a little over a minute left to play. But Ginebra didn’t let up until it’s really over.
“We know that quotient is a big factor in the conference,” said Cariaso on their big win.
Japeth Aguilar marked his comeback from Gilas Pilipinas with a double-double game with 18 points and the same number of rebounds while LA Tenorio came through with his own solid all-around numbers of 10 assists, seven rebounds, four points and three steals.
Mac Baracael, Greg Slaughter, Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand also put in double-digit outputs for the Kings who are raring to improve from their third-place finish in this tournament last season.
Talk n Text just couldn’t keep up while playing minus Jimmy Alapag and Ranidel de Ocampo.
In their place came in Kevin Alas and Matt Ganuelas who had decent pro debuts.
Alas hit 10 points while Ganuelas delivered nine markers and five rebounds.
Behind the combination of Ryan Reyes, Jason Castro, Rob Reyes, Danny Seigle and Ganuelas, the Texters set the pace in the first 13 minutes of the contest.
But they didn’t have enough weapons and power to last the battle. (SB)
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