Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone hailed the resolve of his team in defying the odds to reach the finals of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
The Gin Kings went from finishing sixth at the end of the eliminations to claiming their third finals appearance in four conferences after completing a 3-1 series win over the NLEX Road Warriors in the semifinals.
Ginebra also made it back to the PBA’s biggest stage after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup under a bubble setup in Pampanga.
“We didn’t play the last bubble very well and we are all disappointed in that,” Cone said after Ginebra’s 112-93 win Wednesday, March 30 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“But we really came back strong so hat’s off to the guys,” he added.
Getting to the championship series had a smooth start with three straight wins anchored by resident import Justin Brownlee, before a Christmas Day defeat at the hands of rival Magnolia Pambansang Manok began a series of detours for Ginebra.
Three more losses against powerhouse squads Meralco, TNT and San Miguel Beer to begin the resumption of the season-ending conference added to Ginebra’s woes, a stretch of setbacks Cone felt was torture.
“It was like a murderer’s row and we didn’t perform well,” said Cone.
But Cone said the turnaround that began with Ginebra winning three of the last four in the elims followed by beating TNT twice in the quarters and its semis mastery of NLEX had a lot to do with the players deciding to focus on what they can control.
“We were really down and questioning ourselves, but I think the leadership took over,” he said. “LA (Tenorio), Joe (Devance) and a bunch of guys got together and decided to put it away and move forward. And here we are in the finals.
“We never thought about back then during that four-game losing streak that we would be in the finals. So yes, we are very proud of what the guys did. They had many reasons to quit at certain points of the conference, to get discouraged, but they kept battling all the way.”
The timely success also came despite losing speedy guard Stanley Pringle to a knee injury and Japeth Aguilar being out of the last three games of the semis after hurting his calf in Game 1.
But a number of players stepped up, namely aging veterans Jeff Chan and Joe Devance and John Pinto, who had a slow start after joining Ginebra as an unrestricted free agent before peaking at the right time.
Import Justin Brownlee’s usual form in pressure situations, Scottie Thompson’s all-around play netted him some double-double or triple-double outputs while Christian Standhardinger began to fulfill the role Cone had envisioned when he was acquired from NorthPort last year.
“We could have use (the injuries of Pringle and Aguilar) as an excuse and they didn’t. Next man up,” the Ginebra mentor said.
Now in the finals, Ginebra would like to continue its top form as it aims for a fourth Governors’ Cup title in five editions and five under Cone against either Magnolia or Meralco.