Two nights ago, after the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel had absorbed their third straight loss against the Phoenix Fuel Masters, head coach Tim Cone did not hold back and openly admitted that he has yet to see his guys step up, as they are currently depleted.
“We haven’t played well, we haven’t responded well to being undermanned,” the champion coach rued on Friday.
“The rest of the bench, we’re grasping at straws and see who steps up and plays well but we’re not finding any straws.”
Their dilemma has already brought stress for Cone and his deputies. Fortunately for them, as they faced defending three-time champs San Miguel Beermen on Sunday night, it seemed like the Gin Kings have finally responded.
And of all the people, it was seldom-used Raymond Aguilar, who stepped up to the plate strikingly.
The six-foot-five big man, who was fielded as a starter, scored 16 points on a commendable 7-of-14 shooting from the floor with two rebounds, clearly providing the spark for the Gin Kings’ 100-96 come-from-behind win.
And nobody from the Barangay could be prouder than Cone himself.
“Can’t talk enough about Raymond Aguilar, the other Aguilar, for once. He was just phenomenal,” said Cone. “And then he hit big shots, he made big plays on his own. It was amazing, he played out of his mind tonight.
“I can’t thank him enough at this point, because we really needed a big game from somebody.”
But for Aguilar, his outing was all a result of the Gin Kings’ collective effort and, of course, a sprinkle of luck.
“Total team effort lang talaga,” said the former NU Bulldog. “[And] natapat lang. I mean, sabi niya kumpiyansa lang.
“Binigyan niya ko ng mga konting plays para sa’kin so suwerte na pumasok naman.”
Aguilar wasn’t aware that he was just a field goal away from another career-high in points. But that doesn’t matter to him anymore, as he is just thankful that Ginebra have finally ended their funk in the 2017-18 Philippine Cup.
“Kailangan talaga namin ‘tong panalo na ‘to para ‘di kami bumaba sa standings. Yun,” shared the 33-year-old veteran cager.
“Buti yung effort namin, yung defense, tsaka pumapasok yung tira namin, so swerte.”
