Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

Basketball

Tim Cone looks to fix Ginebra defense heading into Game Three


LUCENA, QUEZON — Barangay Ginebra San Miguel was a “very poor defensive team” in Game Two of the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.

That’s the assessment offered by coach Tim Cone as the Gin Kings suffered a close 102-104 loss to Meralco Friday, enabling the Bolts to tie the best-of-seven series to one game apiece.

“We’re just a very poor defensive team tonight, and… I don’t know. They were able to do exactly what they wanted,” said the decorated coach moments after the game at Quezon Convention Center here.

Their poor defensive performance also allowed Meralco to drill a PBA Finals franchise-record 16 three-pointers.

Four of those came from Nard Pinto — who came in for Baser Amer after the latter got two fouls four minutes into the match — in the first alone to help Meralco end the period with a 36-21 lead.

A triple from Amer then gave the Bolts their biggest lead of the game at 19, 61-42, with 33.5 ticks left in the second stanza.

“They shot the ball really well tonight, and Norman Black talked about that. They got their shots in. But our defense allowed a lot of open shots,” said Cone as Meralco shot 45.9-percent.

Despite that, the Barangay managed to come back from the huge deficit. It ran a box-and-one, allowing the crowd darlings to tie the game at 70 with 2:31 remaining in the third canto.

That scheme may have shown promise, but the 61-year-old Cone said that Ginebra can’t rely on it all series long.

“We had to use a gimmick defense to do it and that’s not going to do it for the whole series. We got to get better defensively,” he said.

“We got a lot to go back to in the drawing board.”

#ReadMore  NU returns to winning ways after dominating Adamson
Written By

Oftentimes on the sidelines. Forever a student of the game. Morayta-bred.


You May Also Like

Basketball

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone left the SMART Araneta Coliseum utterly disappointed — and puzzled — after losing to Meralco on Friday night. It...

Basketball

Meralco turned what was thought to be a dogfight to a lopsided mauling as it whipped Ginebra, 91-73, to arrest its two-game slide in...

News

Choco Mucho head coach and long-time Ginebra fan Dante Alinsunurin cherished the opportunity to meet Justin Brownlee moments after his team’s straight-set win over...

Basketball

Japeth Aguilar has taken a significant step in preparing for life after basketball. On Sunday night, the 37-year-old Ginebra big man launched his newest...

Basketball

Justin Brownlee has officially confirmed his next destination. According to the resident Ginebra import, he will suit up for a team in the Indonesian...

Basketball

Ralph Cu has had a memorable year so far. To kick off the year, Tim Cone, his head coach in Ginebra, made him part...

Basketball

Jamie Malonzo’s redemption tour continued on Sunday. Malonzo once again led Ginebra San Miguel, leading their 102-92 rout of Phoenix to remain unblemished in...

Basketball

All seemed fine for Scottie Thompson during the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers. In the two games played, the do-it-all...

Advertisement