The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel have thrived on their exquisite ball movement since the early goings of the 2017 Governor’s Cup, averaging 26.5 assists in the 11 games of the elimination round.
But come Game Two, Ginebra broke away from what had brought them to the dance, going one-on-one when faced with a deficit against the TNT Katropa.
Not hiding his feelings, Justin Brownlee was disappointed when he and the Gin Kings only managed to dish out 20 dimes in their Game Two semis loss to Jayson Castro and the Katropa, 103-96, Wednesday night in Batangas.
“I think that’s a conference-low for us,” rued the 32-year-old American of their output — which was a dime higher than their conference-low of 19 back in September 23, also against TNT — after their loss at the Batangas City Coliseum.
“We definitely need to move the ball better. They did a good job; they were pressuring on the passing lanes.”
Aside from the limited feeds, the Gin Kings’ assist-turnover ratio also suffered, as they committed 19 errors. Furthermore, the Barangay were contained to 46 percent shooting — far from the 54 percent they shot in Game One.
With that, Brownlee tipped his hat to the Katropa, whom he lauded for being the more aggressive side.
“They just came out aggressive. They just came out like they needed to win,” said Brownlee, who is averaging 23.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the series. “They were just really focused, and whatever their gameplan was, they executed it very well.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Talk ‘N Text.”
With the best-of-five series now becoming a virtual best-of-three, Ginebra have seen how lethal the Texters can be, and they cannot afford to play the same way in Game Three come Friday, or their title defense might turn into shambles.
Brownlee vows that a different Barangay will come out the next game.
“Game Three is going to be different,” said the Georgia-native.
“We’re definitely going to be ready.”
