It was tough for Barangay Ginebra to lose by 34 in their 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal opener versus NorthPort last Saturday, since it happened on coach Tim Cone’s 62nd birthday.
LA Tenorio, though, said that the Gin Kings’ gift to the multi-decorated mentor would be slightly delayed.
Come Game Two Monday night, they were finally able to hand Cone the present they’ve been raring to give him.
It came via an impressive 113-88 victory, which tied the best-of-five series at one game apiece.
“Better late than never,” said center Greg Slaughter.
“It just has to be a belated birthday gift.”
The 7-foot slotman was a major factor in Ginebra leveling the series. He produced 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field on top of nine rebounds, a steal, and a block.
This, after finishing with just four points in the 10 minutes and 14 seconds he played back in Game One.
Despite his impressive performance, the six-year pro out of Ateneo tipped his hat to his fellow Gin Kings such as LA Tenorio, Scottie Thompson, and Aljon Mariano for making the game much easier for him.
“I think it was an all-around game for us. I think everyone played really well all around,” he said.
“LA really set the tempo for us. Scottie gave us so many hustle points. Aljon really did a good job guarding their import today. I think it just made my job easy scoring the ball next to the hoop.”
For Slaughter, that 34-point loss served as a good wake-up call for them, and that showed on Monday night.
“I think getting blown out of that first game served as a good wakeup call for us,” said the Cebuano cager.
“Coach Tim was really able to make some adjustments.”
