The dreaded Barangay Ginebra San Miguel have become even scarier heading into the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals, which begin this week.
The reigning, two-time conference champions will start their title defense with momentum on their side following a dominant 112-93 victory over rivals TNT KaTropa on Sunday night at a Barangay-filled SMART Araneta Coliseum.
But it’s not just the fact that they won that serves as a chilling message to the teams standing in their way.
Aside from Justin Brownlee racking up a triple-double, Greg Slaughter was a force on the inside, going 6-of-8 en route to 25 points alongside four rebounds and three assists, in his best game since coming back from an ankle injury last week.
So for the 7-foot slotman, this performance is a huge help for him heading into the quarters.
“Yeah, you know, it’s only my second game back, but we kinda hit that ground running ‘coz the playoffs [are] gonna start on Tuesday already, so we got a quick turnaround. I got a little extra running there and gotta play again Tuesday.
“It’s just good that I can be aggressive inside, draw a lot of fouls. You know, it’s a really physical game. It was nice to have that game to prepare for the playoffs, it kinda takes another level on the physicality,” said Slaughter.
The Gin Kings will be battling the eighth-seeded NLEX Road Warriors this Tuesday. Though they have a win-once incentive, Slaughter is aware that it won’t be a walk in the park, knowing how coach Yeng Guiao prepares his wards.
“It’s gonna be tough. You got coach Yeng, they got some big bigs there led by Asi [Taulava] and they are a dangerous team. So, quick turnaround also it’s something that we can’t take lightly,” the reigning Best Player of the Conference said.
“We gotta play better than our game today.”
