After fending off a late rally from the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters on Sunday, Barangay Ginebra have finished their 2015-16 PBA Philippine Cup elimination round campaign with a 7-4 record, the best winning percentage since the 2013-14 Philippine Cup.
The last time Ginebra held a record above .500 at the end of the elimination round was during the 2014-15 Philippine Cup.
With Tim Cone taking over head coaching duties and the team having come together, Ginebra have shown promise and progress. And the team hopes to do more than just that.
“We are in the right direction but we haven’t accomplished anything yet. So far, we are where we want to be but the playoffs is a different thing altogether,” said 15 year veteran guard Jayjay Helterbrand.
“We have to maintain our focus and discipline for the upcoming games.”
Ginebra will play again on Christmas Day, holding a twice-to-beat quarter-finals edge against number nine seed Star Hotshots, their historic rivals in the league.
Helterbrand fancies the team’s chances, but he knows Ginebra will still have to learn to raise their level of play.
“We have a good chance. We have good momentum heading towards the playoffs and I think we are starting to gel,” the 2008-09 PBA season MVP said.
“We have a lot to learn. But as long as we keep paying attention on practice and keep improving, we will be okay. We have enough ammo to do some damage.”
Helterbrand also added the team wants to make sure they don’t get ahead of themselves and just focus on the game at hand. He shared that defense is the main concern of Ginebra going into the playoffs.
“Our main focus is we have a lot of guys who can score but if we can’t get stops, it can be hard for us to win. Our main focus is to limit the other team and try to contain their best player,” he shared.
“We are not looking forward (long term). We know each team in the league has improved. He tells us any team can beat us but we can beat any team.”
