Cone sees explosive reprisal from Beermen
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel aims to sustain its aggression against defending champion San Miguel Beer in Game 2 of the best-of-seven finals of Season 43 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at 6:30 p.m. tonight, at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings are coming off a 127-99 rout of the Beermen in the series opener.
Grand slam coach Tim Cone is expecting a huge fightback from the champion team.
“They are the veteran team and have been into this war so many times. And most about playoffs is about resilience and how you comeback. We knew the resilience of this team, so we are expecting a real forceful game in Game 2 and that’s for sure,” said Cone, who is aiming for his 21st PBA title.
Justin Brownlee of Ginebra and Renaldo Balkman (32) of San Miguel Beer battle for the loose ball in Game 1 of the best-of-seven finals of Season 43 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at the Araneta Coliseum. PBA MEDIA BUREAU PHOTO
Cone is happy for their impressive Game 1 win but cautions his wards that it’s still a long way to go.
“All we did basically was stirred up the beehive and they are going to comeback and sting us big time in Game 2. We aren’t that good and certainly they aren’t that bad, so we’ll see what happens in Game 2. They could just easily turn around and do exactly the same game to us in Game 2 and that’s exactly what we’re going to prepare for.”
Justin Brownlee notched his third career best 42 points last game supported by Joe Devance (20 points), Greg Slaughter (11), Mark Caguioa (11) and Solomon Mercado (10).
“Definitely, it’s a different game than this game. We know they don’t want to go down 0-2 like anybody else, so we expect them to be more physical and play defense. I like to give credit to coach Tim Cone’s offense and try to stay aggressive,” said Brownlee, who led the Gin Kings to two Governors’ Cup crowns
San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria, meanwhile, admonished his wards for their lethargy.
“We have to adjust on our defense. We allowed them to issue 37 assists, so that was a very evident sign that we did not play good defensively. We didn’t perform the way we wanted because everybody was complacent even in practice. I hope this could serve as a wake up call,” said Austria.
Import Renaldo Balkman finished with an impressive 27 points and 13 rebounds while Christian Standhardinger had 26 points in Game 1.
“We have to work harder and we have to adjust. We need to exert more effort,” concluded Austria.
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