PINGRIS RETURNS FOR MIXERS VS. ENERGY
HAVING a prized player back can cause some problems, as coach Tim Cone himself admits.
That explains why Cone can’t help but stress enough to his San Mig Coffee the importance of continuing to be on their toes despite the return of Marc Pingris Saturday against Barako Bull in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Pingris has served out his two-game suspension for his principal involvement in the brawl against GlobalPort two Wednesdays ago and Cone fears some over-confidence may set in for his team that managed to win games without him.
“Ping’s back and the guys will probably get some kind of a real comfort level. ‘Yehey, we’re complete!’ The problem is, once you do that, you set yourself up for a fall,” offered Cone.
That simply would not do for a Mixers crew aiming to complete its tournament comeback, rack up a fourth straight win and claim a top four slot and its accompanying twice-to-beat advantage in the ensuing quarterfinals.
“The key now is, we can’t let down,” stressed Cone. “We’ve got to keep this mini-run going. We’re glad to be where we are after our 0-2 start. But we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Pingris, who missed the Mixers’ first two games to rest following his Gilas Pilipinas stint, is raring to make up for lost time.
“He’s chomping at the bit in practice, I can tell,” related Cone.
But there’s still the lingering thought that aside from the San Mig enemy from within, Barako should prove to be a very tough opponent.
Energy active consultant Rajko Toroman is among those appreciating San Mig’s rise. But he emphasized they too have a job to do, which is to foil San Mig and claim a top four slot themselves.
“San Mig is playing good, Pingris will play. They won (their) last three games,” related the Serbian. “We had some problems with small injuries, but we will try to win. The winner has a a big chance to be in (the) top four.”
The Energy are coming off a 93-120 drubbing from the hands of Rain or Shine, cutting short their own run at three games after suffering the season-ending tourney’s worst defeat.
Rebounding in a big way from that lopsided loss should make Barako a more formidable foe, according to Cone.
“They’ve been playing good basketball before and they are certainly capable of doing so again, especially after such a defeat,” said Cone.
Their respective imports should help their bid.
Marqus Blakely is coming off a 22-point, 28-rebound performance in the 95-82 win over Alaska also last Tuesday, jacking his conference averages to 27.0 points and 17.6 rebounds per game and making up for the lack of Pingris’ 12.7 points and 9.3 boards per game.
Mike Singletary, on the other hand, has consistently shone for Barako with averages of 35.1 points and 14.1 rebounds, including 31 and 13 against Rain or Shine. (NC)
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