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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Time to channel 'NSD' spirit as Ginebra eyes equalizer

Time to channel 'NSD' spirit as Ginebra eyes equalizer

Published Nov 2, 2024 07:08 am

At A Glance

  • Grinding out a crucial 85-73 win in Game 3 to finally get on the board, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone hopes his team has enough gas left for the crucial contest that tips off at 7:35 p.m. with the awarding of the Best Player of the Conference and Best Import serving as a fitting appetizer.

If there's an opportunity for Ginebra to live up to its "Never-Say-Die" mantra, now is the perfect time – down one game in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals against a formidable team like TNT.

PBA Images11 (75).jpg
 Scottie Thompson and the rest of the Kings are hoping to find extra energy from their legs to finally tie the best-of-seven series against the Tropang Giga in Game 4 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 3.

Grinding out a crucial 85-73 win in Game 3 to finally get on the board, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone hopes his team has enough gas left for the crucial contest that tips off at 7:35 p.m. with the awarding of the Best Player of the Conference and Best Import serving as a fitting appetizer.

“This won't mean much for us if we don't get the one on Sunday and obviously we had to expend a lot of energy to win this one tonight and hopefully we can find a way to get that energy on Sunday,” said Cone whose charges needed a backbreaking 16-3 finishing kick to escape TNT.

The cause of concern, however, is the fitness of Kings main guns who played extra minutes in Game 3. Brownlee looked a little winded late in Game 3 while Japeth Aguilar was subbed out in the final frame due to cramps.

And that’s where Scottie Thompson believes that Ginebra needs its NSD mentality more than ever.

“Finals na eh kailangan to grind it out every game siyempre down kami 0-2 we have to win. Yun lang (nasa isip) namin. I think this is the perfect time to show the NSD spirit sana makabalik kami sa series,” he added.

The series is looking like a battle of endurance so far especially with TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson playing every single minute of the series. Even so, he has been effective at anchoring the offense for the Tropang Giga while putting a body and limit Justin Brownlee on the offensive end.

“Justin is struggling offensively but he's not quitting defensively. I think if you're gonna have Rondae guarding you for 35 minutes of the game, you're gonna struggle. He is, and always has been, an elite defender in the NBA,” Cone said of Hollis-Jeffferson’s defense on Brownlee.

Cone, though, was all praises still on his resident import as he is mustering every strength that he has to still be an impact, more importantly on the defensive end – evident in his two crucial blocks on Calvin Oftana and Glenn Khobuntin and a swipe on Hollis-Jefferson to keep TNT at bay during that crucial fourth quarter run.

“He's helping us block shots, he's helping us on our defensive rotation and he is picking up Rondae at certain times of the game and those are as valuable as him hitting the three and four point shots,” he added.

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