Tony Bishop remains defiant even as Ginebra fell into a precarious situation following its Game 2 loss in the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
The veteran import still likes the Barangay’s chances despite falling to a 0-2 hole in the race-to-3 affair after absorbing a 106-96 defeat to San Miguel on Friday.
“Until it’s over with. Until the fat lady sings, like we say,” he said moments after emerging from the team’s dugout at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“We’re going to keep going hard. They’re up two. We have to win the next game, and take it one game at a time,” Bishop continued.
Similar to the series opener, Ginebra had stretches where it enjoyed the upper hand. It led by as much as five, 65-60, during the third quarter.
But the Beermen couldn’t be denied, quickly erasing the gap as they went on to finish the chapter with 33 points to take a 76-74 lead entering the fourth.
The Kings would play catch-up ball since. They did keep it close but their rivals’ depth proved to be too much once more, with Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez, and Bennie Boatwright keeping them at bay in the closing minutes.
June Mar Fajardo himself settled the final count in the dying seconds to seal the deal and bring his SMB to a win away from the Last Dance.
Bishop could only concede how deep and talented their foes are.
“They have everything. They have shooters outside, they got big presence inside.
“They got June Mar. They got guys who can give you 20 any given night, three or four threes in a row every night,” said the 34-year-old.
But if ever there’s one thing that keeps Bishop optimistic about their survival chances, it’s the fact that they haven’t lost in the series by a big margin.
“We’re there every game. We’re not getting blown out,” offered the Panamanian winger, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds.
“We’re right there,” Bishop added. “It is just a couple of mistakes that we got to tweak, we got to fix, so we can win the next game.”
