Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s road to defending their throne as kings of the Commissioner’s Cup has gotten off to a good start as the crowd darlings assured themselves of a spot in the quarterfinals.
They managed to do so on Sunday night as they blasted the Magnolia Hotshots in another chapter of their Manila Clasico rivalry, 102-81, which gave them their sixth win in 10 outings this conference.
However, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone doesn’t want to be satisfied even if they are sure of going into the next round.
“You’re still doing something; you’re still trying to find your way into the biggest seed you can get. You certainly don’t want to drop to seven and eight, which is still a possibility for us,” he said.
“We’re under quotient problems with teams like Phoenix and Blackwater, so we better make sure we get tied with the right guys. Rain or Shine has plus-thirty quotient against us.
“So we have Columbian on Sunday, and I think if we can get that one, then we can move up,” Cone added.
The best that the Barangay could end up is at the third spot, given that they win versus Columbian Dyip to improve to 7-4 and current third-placers Blackwater Elite fall to Alaska Aces and go 6-5.
Should that happen, the Gin Kings will be figuring in a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals with the sixth-seeded team — the sixth spot is currently held by Phoenix Pulse and Rain or Shine.
But the standings from the third to the eighth place might only be determined until the end of the eliminations. And that’s where the problem lies now for Cone and the crowd favorites.
Should they ascend into the third spot and a scramble below them happens, there’s this huge possibility that Ginebra could face San Miguel Beermen, whom they dethroned last year.
Cone doesn’t want that to happen.
“We hope we avoid San Miguel coming into the playoffs. We respect all the teams but obviously, we really don’t want to play San Miguel in a quarterfinal match,” bared the Grand Slam coach.
The Beermen — whom the Barangay have beaten 110-107 this conference — are currently struggling with a 3-5 card. But Cone warned that slow starts don’t matter to teams like SMB.
He’s been there before. Cone remembered last season’s edition of the Commissioner’s Cup, where they started at 1-5 but managed to sweep all their games to the crown.
“The cream always rises to the top; I always say that. I spent a whole career getting off to slow starts. Even [in] the last year of this conference, we were 1-5, and we finished at sixth seed. I think we made a run, got to the sixth seed and we won a championship,” the decorated Cone recalled.
“So teams like San Miguel, they don’t worry about getting off to slow starts. They know they’re gonna come out, they’re gonna pick it up, they’re gonna get there,” the decorated mentor added.
“It doesn’t really matter what seed they’re getting into because they’re good enough to beat anybody under any circumstances. That’s what we always tell players, don’t buy in to slow starts,” he opined.
“Cream will rise to the top.”
