Stanley Pringle repays Cone's faith with vintage performance
Published Apr 15, 2023 05:01 am
Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone admitted he took the gamble in starting Stanley Pringle for the first time in the conference but the veteran guard made sure to repay the trust with a vintage performance.
Pringle was on his old, deadly form, putting up 21 points on a perfect shooting night of 7-of-7 clip from the field including a 6-of-6 from the deep and a 2-of-2 from the free-throw line to lead Barangay Ginebra to a 117-103 Game 3 win in the finals series of the PBA Governors Cup. “I felt really good. I’m on this great team. All my teammates are great players. Whenever I get a chance to come out and get some shots, it’s not always like that,” said Pringle. “When I do, it means a lot. They’ve been supporting me the whole time I’ve been injured. Whatever I can do to help them, I’m going to try and do it,” added the two-time Mythical team member, who was reduced to a supporting role for Ginebra since recovering from a knee injury. Cone said it was actually a desperation of sorts for Ginebra to start Pringle, more so give him extended minutes on the floor, as he is still finding his way back to top form. Pringle, though, showed unwavering resolve and powered through with his best performance since his return. “It was about 30 times in the game where I said to myself, 'Do I need to take Stanley out?' because he's still battling and he comes off the bench for a purpose. Not because we have a better player than him that starts but so we can keep his minutes shortened,” Cone said. “We kind of got desperate and started him and he responded incredibly well. We've got to get him back into rehab and get him ready for Sunday,” he added. For Pringle’s part, he just tried to do his job after the rare start and help in any way he can for the Kings. And that was exactly the reason why he came out strong in the first half, scoring 17 of his total in the first two quarters. “Coach wanted me to go out and probably be aggressive that’s why he started me. I was just locked in and thinking about spacing the floor and being ready to hit that open shot. In Game 2, we shot pretty poorly. I was just focused on hitting the shot. And the shots fell,” said Pringle. Even TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa felt that Cone’s brilliant decision of putting Pringle in the starting lineup was the crucial point of the game. “Credit to Tim for putting Pringle in the starting lineup, got him going early and he never let up. He didn't miss the whole game. So that was key,” said Lastimosa, who expects Ginebra to stick with Pringle in the crucial Game 4 on Sunday, April 16.
*Stanley Pringle put up a perfect night to lead Ginebra to a historic shooting display in Game 3 (PBA Images)
*Pringle was on his old, deadly form, putting up 21 points on a perfect shooting night of 7-of-7 clip from the field including a 6-of-6 from the deep and a 2-of-2 from the free-throw line to lead Barangay Ginebra to a 117-103 Game 3 win in the finals series of the PBA Governors Cup. “I felt really good. I’m on this great team. All my teammates are great players. Whenever I get a chance to come out and get some shots, it’s not always like that,” said Pringle. “When I do, it means a lot. They’ve been supporting me the whole time I’ve been injured. Whatever I can do to help them, I’m going to try and do it,” added the two-time Mythical team member, who was reduced to a supporting role for Ginebra since recovering from a knee injury. Cone said it was actually a desperation of sorts for Ginebra to start Pringle, more so give him extended minutes on the floor, as he is still finding his way back to top form. Pringle, though, showed unwavering resolve and powered through with his best performance since his return. “It was about 30 times in the game where I said to myself, 'Do I need to take Stanley out?' because he's still battling and he comes off the bench for a purpose. Not because we have a better player than him that starts but so we can keep his minutes shortened,” Cone said. “We kind of got desperate and started him and he responded incredibly well. We've got to get him back into rehab and get him ready for Sunday,” he added. For Pringle’s part, he just tried to do his job after the rare start and help in any way he can for the Kings. And that was exactly the reason why he came out strong in the first half, scoring 17 of his total in the first two quarters. “Coach wanted me to go out and probably be aggressive that’s why he started me. I was just locked in and thinking about spacing the floor and being ready to hit that open shot. In Game 2, we shot pretty poorly. I was just focused on hitting the shot. And the shots fell,” said Pringle. Even TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa felt that Cone’s brilliant decision of putting Pringle in the starting lineup was the crucial point of the game. “Credit to Tim for putting Pringle in the starting lineup, got him going early and he never let up. He didn't miss the whole game. So that was key,” said Lastimosa, who expects Ginebra to stick with Pringle in the crucial Game 4 on Sunday, April 16.