ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Ginebra, TNT begin title showdown

Ginebra, TNT begin title showdown

Published Apr 9, 2023 02:04 am
The wait is over and the stage is set as two proud teams figure in a dream Finals duel. Barangay Ginebra and TNT begin their highly anticipated title showdown in what is expected to be a thrilling Easter Sunday treat in Game 1 of the best-of-seven championship series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on April 9. Coming off a week-long break that had the fans drooling and raring to see the epic collision, the Kings and the Tropang Giga take the center stage in the match set at 6 p.m. Although the defending champions of the season-ending conference, the Kings were quick to play down their favorites tag, knowing full well that they are up against a dangerous and formidable foe especially with former NBA player Rondae Hollis-Jefferson spearheading the Tropang Giga. “It’s not really gonna change our approach whether we are the favorites or the underdogs. We just know, we watched TNT. We watched the videos. We studied them. We know how good they are,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone. “They are a great shooting team they get to the paint, and they got an import that’s been in the NBA for a years – not just in NBA but was a top player in the NBA and so they going to be formidable,” he added as he and the rest of his coaching staff device a plan to put the clamps on the TNT import who has been on a tear ever since he joined TNT. Cone, though, will be leaning on his old reliables led by his resident import Justin Brownlee who is gunning for a record seventh title as an import, along with guys like reigning MVP Scottie Thompson and Best Player of the Conference frontrunner Christian Standhardinger. Also expected to give ample contributions to the Kings’ title-retention bid are their athletic wings in Jeremiah Gray and Jamie Malonzo. Aside from reclaiming the Governors’ Cup crown, Ginebra is also motivated to win it all for its ailing leader and captain LA Tenorio who has been in the middle of his own battle against the Big C. With all that motivation, TNT knew that it would be a daunting task of taking down Ginebra as head coach Jojo Lastimosa hopes his wards are already prepared and up for the challenge. “That’s gonna be hard to overcome, because they have a lot of purposes for them to win this season. One for L.A [Tenorio], and of course, just winning the championship, defending their championship,” said Lastimosa who likewise will be banking on his explosive three-headed backcourt of Mikey Williams, RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro along with guys like JP Erram and Calvin Oftana. “I just want to say that we need to play so much better than we played in the semifinals for us to overcome that. So, that’s one hurdle that we need to think about and I’m just hoping we’re up to the challenge,” added the player-turned-coach who once upon a time was also winning games with Cone way back their Alaska days.

Related Tags

TNT Tropang Giga Justin Brownlee PBA Finals Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.