Imposing their size has been the MO of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel this conference. And the Gin Kings did not bother changing in Game One of their best-of-five semifinals series against the TNT Katropa.
“You know, we just gotta use our advantages and make them play our game rather than us play their game,” said Greg Slaughter after Ginebra’s 121-94 win to take a 1-0 advantage.
Last September 23, Ginebra tried to play TNT’s uptempo style of play, resulting in a disastrous 92-121 rout that gave TNT a twice-to-beat incentive. This time, the Barangay made sure to slow down the pace with their halfcourt sets.
With the defense limiting TNT to just 10 fastbreak points compared to the 19 in their elimination round meeting, the 7-foot Slaughter took care of the offense, tallying 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four blocks in just 21 minutes of action. Moreover, the majority of his points came from the foul stripe, as he attempted 12 free throws to frustrate his defenders Kelly Williams and Mo Tautuaa.
And the four-year pro is not surprised that TNT import Glen Rice, Jr. hadn’t been manning him, saying that the former NBA player is a natural guard.
“No, I’m not surprised,” answered the 29-year-old when asked about it.
“He’s a guard, their import’s a guard, he plays guard, he’s comfortable guarding guards, I don’t think he’s comfortable guarding bigs at all.
“I know that leaves a lot of pressure on Kelly and Mo, and that’s kind of our attack point, to use our size against them,” he pointed out.
With Game Two tipping off in less than 48 hours, Slaughter and the Barangay are planning to continue doing what they do — which is to slow things down and impose their size.
“TNT is a fast team, and our analytics guy, he told us that they’re operating at a pace faster than NBA teams,” Slaughter shared.
“So being a big team, we gotta try to impose our tempo.”
