Ball now on Kings' court as TNT, Ginebra dispute PBA Finals lead
Published Apr 14, 2023 02:48 am
The burden of adjustments is now on the court of Barangay Ginebra with head coach Tim Cone tasked to figure out what struck his team in the Game 2 loss and make the necessary moves ahead of Game 3 of their best-of-seven Finals against TNT on Friday, April 14.
*Justin Brownlee should be eager to bounce back after a dismal Game 2. (PBA Images)*
Tip-off of what is anticipated to be another dogfight is at 5:45 p.m. with the Tropang Giga looking to make it back-to-back victories and claim the series lead following a confidence-boosting 95-82 win over the Kings to tie the series, 1-1. Cone, however, wants none of that as he wants the Kings to quickly put the loss behind and come out with more fire in Game 3. “We got to play a little more disciplined and come out with a little bit more fire than we did today. We’re certainly disappointed, no doubt about it (but) it's a series and it's not one game,” stressed Cone. “So whether you lose by one point, you lose by 15 points, you lose by 30 points, it's all just losing. So we'll just move on to the next one at this point,” he added. Ginebra may need to lick the wounds quickly though, especially with how it was beaten black and blue from all fronts. TNT, after struggling to connect from distance, exploded for 15 triples, including the timely hits from RR Pogoy and Mikey Williams during that pivotal fourth quarter assault of the Tropang Giga. The biggest question that needed an immediate answer for the Kings is the activity of Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who proved to be the backbone of TNT’s fight in Game 2. Apart from scoring and setting up his shooters, Hollis-Jefferson did an impeccable job on Justin Brownlee who was limited to just 12 points on a 3-of-16 shooting from the field and fired blanks from the three-point territory. “We’ll try to look at the video and try what we can do to get Justin open and we’ll go from there,” said Cone. For TNT’s part, the Tropa wants to stick with what worked for them in Game 2 especially with players like Pogoy, Glen Khobuntin and Calvin Oftana providing solid contributions to make up for their thin frontline with the absence of Justin Chua and the erratic plays of Poy Erram. “Everybody played their role. Everybody did an excellent job. Everybody played a significant role in today’s win so it’s not only about Roger getting hot or me playing defense. It’s a collective effort from the coach and players,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
*Justin Brownlee should be eager to bounce back after a dismal Game 2. (PBA Images)*
Tip-off of what is anticipated to be another dogfight is at 5:45 p.m. with the Tropang Giga looking to make it back-to-back victories and claim the series lead following a confidence-boosting 95-82 win over the Kings to tie the series, 1-1. Cone, however, wants none of that as he wants the Kings to quickly put the loss behind and come out with more fire in Game 3. “We got to play a little more disciplined and come out with a little bit more fire than we did today. We’re certainly disappointed, no doubt about it (but) it's a series and it's not one game,” stressed Cone. “So whether you lose by one point, you lose by 15 points, you lose by 30 points, it's all just losing. So we'll just move on to the next one at this point,” he added. Ginebra may need to lick the wounds quickly though, especially with how it was beaten black and blue from all fronts. TNT, after struggling to connect from distance, exploded for 15 triples, including the timely hits from RR Pogoy and Mikey Williams during that pivotal fourth quarter assault of the Tropang Giga. The biggest question that needed an immediate answer for the Kings is the activity of Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who proved to be the backbone of TNT’s fight in Game 2. Apart from scoring and setting up his shooters, Hollis-Jefferson did an impeccable job on Justin Brownlee who was limited to just 12 points on a 3-of-16 shooting from the field and fired blanks from the three-point territory. “We’ll try to look at the video and try what we can do to get Justin open and we’ll go from there,” said Cone. For TNT’s part, the Tropa wants to stick with what worked for them in Game 2 especially with players like Pogoy, Glen Khobuntin and Calvin Oftana providing solid contributions to make up for their thin frontline with the absence of Justin Chua and the erratic plays of Poy Erram. “Everybody played their role. Everybody did an excellent job. Everybody played a significant role in today’s win so it’s not only about Roger getting hot or me playing defense. It’s a collective effort from the coach and players,” said Hollis-Jefferson.