ANTIPOLO — Amidst all the jeers from the Ginebra faithful inside the Ynares Center here, Hayden Blankley coolly sank both of his free throws with 3.9 seconds left to play enabling Hong Kong Eastern to pull off the narrow win.
That scene alone perfectly encapsulated how experienced the Australian winger has been in going up against one of the PBA’s most popular ball clubs, whose fans could fill up any venue it plays in – and go as loud as they can.
“That experience helped,” he offered after the 93-90 victory on Sunday, the guest team’s third straight and fifth overall in the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
Blankley was, of course, referring to that historic best-of-seven Finals series between his Bay Area and the Barangay back in the 2022-23 edition of the mid-season conference, which went the distance.
The Kings emerged victorious following a 114-99 masterclass in a Game 7 to remember, as witnessed by 54,589 fans at the Philippine Arena.
It sure left a bitter taste among the Dragons but experience is one great teacher as they say, and that indeed was the case not just for Blankley but for his other teammates who got the opportunity to play for Eastern – and in the PBA again.
Glen Yang and Kobey Lam, to this day, still remember how it felt taking part in a title series so memorable, especially for the young, wide-eyed versions of themselves back then competing against some of the PBA’s finest.
“You know, me, Hayden, Kobe, we look back fondly on that series,” Yang said.
“That’s a legendary series. And we never knew we’d come back.”
Fast forward to Sunday and that experience came in handy, as they were able to score some payback against an old tormentor.
“This was the game that was circled the most on our calendars, for sure,” shared Yang. “A lot of the guys haven’t played in a game like this. We tried not to build it up too much but we told them, ‘Hey, it’s gonna be different today’.”
Blankley himself finished with a team-high 25 points as he came through with crucial buckets down the stretch to keep Ginebra at bay.
Yang, on the other hand, supplied 11 points and five assists in another solid job quarterbacking the offense, while Lam chipped in eight markers.
But it wasn’t just those performances that helped HK get past the tired Kings. It all began during their preparation leading up to the meeting.
(C) PBA Images
“Glen, Kobey, and I are very experienced against a lot of those guys and against the same system,” said Blankley.“Through our practices last week or after the Blackwater game, we tried to help, like, add to what Coach’s plans were.”
“And, sort of give out little tips on personnel like the individual players and what we could do within the system,” added the 6-foot-6 shooter.
That explains the composure they showed as a whole in the entire night, just as Blankley himself exemplified during crunch time.
“Also the mental toughness, I guess, ’cause we’ve battled with them before for seven games, in front of this crowd before,” he said.
“So for me, I think that I was able to help block out the crowd and the noise, because I’ve done it in a whole playoff series two years ago.”
Yang himself has grown fond – and perhaps confident – of playing against Ginebra that he actually wishes to meet them later in the conference.
“To be back here, playing against Ginebra, it’s like a dream come true again. We love playing against them. Respect to them,” he said.
“But hopefully we can see them again, maybe in the playoffs or something, run it back for Round Two,” he added, smiling.
“Revenge, you know.”
