Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone believes that his team still has more than enough talent to perform in the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs despite the manpower woes they’ve been dealing with for practically the whole season.
The Gin Kings on Sunday night beat Rain or Shine to reach the quarterfinals, truly a sigh of relief for a crew whose title retention bid appeared dreary when it lost four straight as it badly missed the presence of Stanley Pringle and others.
Yes, the harrowing losing skid that took place after starting the season-ending conference with three consecutive victories.
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“This team is capable. We have the talent,” said the 23-time champion mentor moments after the 104-93 win at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Injuries have mainly been the Barangay’s problem since the Philippine Cup, and it somehow worsened this conference when Pringle was ruled out for the rest of the season after going through surgery to repair a meniscus.
The one-time BPC added to the club’s long injury list, which, presently, also has Aljon Mariano and veterans Jared Dillinger and Mark Caguioa.
But then again, Cone has the full belief in his team’s capability amidst this adversity. And the win over the also-ran Elasto Painters should be an indication.
Usual suspects Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson came through once again, but Ginebra received an unlikely spark from Jeff Chan.
Averaging just 2.1 points prior, the 39-year-old produced 15 points that saw him swish four three-pointers, two of which he made during their fourth-quarter pull away after staring at a six-point deficit with 7:52 left.
Then, of course, there was also Christian Standhardinger, who delivered 20 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.
The 2019 Governors’ Cup BPC has actually been one of his team’s consistent providers lately. He had norms of 18.7 markers and 6,5 boards in their last four games of the elimination round, where they went 3-1.
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“Even though we’re missing Stanley and Jared, and nobody really talks about how much we miss Aljon, still we have plenty of talent left to do what we need to do in the playoffs,” said Cone.
“We really have no excuse. We need to go out and perform in playoff time.”
Cone is aware that the Gin Kings are in a tough predicament come the quarters, since they will have to beat a team twice in order to keep their defense of the throne alive. But he believes in the cliche that nothing’s impossible.
“It’s gonna be tougher because our road is harder. We’re gonna have to beat somebody twice, but it’s not an impossible battle. It’s a tough battle, a hard one, but it’s not an impossible one,” said Cone.
“We don’t know who we’re going to play, obviously. We just have to put blinders on, not worry about the name on the jersey, just know there’s a team out there and we got to go out and beat them.”
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