Ginebra head coach Tim Cone rued that his wards ‘panicked’ in the endgame as the Gin Kings absorbed a stinging defeat in the hands of Meralco in Game Three of the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, Sunday night.
“We panicked down the stretch and we didn’t, obviously, hit shots,” he offered moments after the 83-74 loss at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Gin Kings were still in it in the final frame but lost steam, which saw them score just a grand total of three minutes in the game’s final seven minutes.
Their foes, on the other hand, pounded on that dry spell, with the troika of Tony Bishop, Chris Newsome, and Allein Maliksi coming through to take the Bolts home — and, more importantly, bring them the 2-1 series lead.
“We were going for hero ball shots and not trying to get good shots,” lamented Cone.
“We got a little bit selfish. We weren’t moving the ball.”
The league’s only 23-time champion mentor, though, admitted that his team played with tired legs, the reason why they failed to close it out.
That fatigue, he added, came from Game Two just a couple of nights ago, where they had to fend off a fiery Meralco rally from 20 down.
“I think most of all, we just had tired legs. We were really tired mentally,” said Cone, whose charges blew a 13-point first half lead.
“We took a lot to win Game Two, we just didn’t have enough to go down the stretch in Game Three. And I was worried about that from the beginning of the game,” the 64-year-old bench tactician furthered.
That weariness led to Ginebra’s lowest output in a long while, or since it was eliminated by TNT 84-71 in the 2021 Philippine Cup quarterfinals last September 29 in Bacolor, per league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
Their 74 points, furthermore, are the lowest output in the PBA Finals by any team since TNT beat Magnolia by way of an 88-70 decision in Game One of the Philippine Cup Finals last October 20.
Cone was visibly disappointed as he made his way out of the venue. But he now has two days to assess matters heading into Game Four on Wednesday.
Cone was visibly disappointed as he made his way out of the venue. But he now has two days to assess matters heading into Game Four on Wednesday.
“We got a couple of days now. We’ll see how it works.”
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