Rarely does it happen that Ginebra felt like it was the visiting side in Game Two of its PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals clash versus Bay Area, Wednesday night.
Well, at least for head coach Tim Cone, who offered such a take as he lamented how his Kings could not get things in their favor and eventually bowed by way of a 99-82 result, foiling their bid of leading the best-of-seven affair 2-0.
The 65-year-old wasn’t happy in particular with the calls, believing that counterpart Brian Goorjian’s sentiments regarding the officiating in Game One last Christmas basically influenced how the whistles were blown this time.
“I thought their coach, Coach Brian, did a great job selling to the press and selling to you guys and everybody else about the calls from the last game,” he told reporters moments after the match at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Did a great job of selling it. And we knew we weren’t gonna get any calls tonight — it was like we were the visiting team tonight,” he furthered.
It could be remembered that Goorjian voiced his opinion on the apparent double standards on defense in Game One three nights ago.
Though he thought that the three fouls called against Zhu Songwei in that match were good calls, what the veteran mentor couldn’t fathom was how that same defense against Andrew Nicholson wasn’t called by the referees.
Game One was truly a struggle for both cagers but that changed on Wednesday night. After a conference-low 27, Nicholson dropped 30 points and 15 rebounds, while Zhu tallied 25 points, five rebounds, and six assists.
It was a much better showing for the Dragons all in all and Cone gave credit to the guest team, admitting that his team was not able to brace enough for the adjustments their opponents did especially on defense.
Unlike in the series opener where they shot 50-percent from the field, Ginebra made just 33 of the 86 shots it took in the defeat.
Furthermore, only Justin Brownlee and Jamie Malonzo scored in double figures with 32 and 10 points, respectively, a far cry from the four last Sunday.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of focus from the start, I felt. They got everything they wanted tonight and we can’t get anything that we wanted to do.
“They made the proper adjustments tonight. They really disrupted our offense and we couldn’t get to our spots,” said Cone.
“Did a good job on Justin making him a volume shooter. And they were getting to the rim this time. Last time, they didn’t get to the rim.”
If anything, the loss, according to Cone, should serve as a wake-up call to the rest of Ginebra that they could not take a foe as good as Bay Area lightly.
“One thing we learned tonight, I think that we just started to feel like, we just show up and win, and we can’t do that against this team. This team is way, way, way too good, and too big. They’re too athletic, and they’re too well-coached.”
Indeed, it’s a lesson the Kings will carry heading into Game Three on January 4 as the series goes back to the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“It’s a lot to look at. Good news is, we got time. We got time to get [to] turn around and refocus and get ready for the next game,” Cone said.
—
The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
