Stanley Pringle plays down his stellar outing Friday night, saying that Ginebra is a deep team with all-around players who could deliver any given night.
Stanley Pringle did not make a big deal of his stellar performance in Ginebra’s 92-88 win over Meralco in their PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup semifinals opener on Friday, May 17.
Pringle turned in a season-best 22 points, including the floater with 40.5 ticks left to play that doused the Bolts’ late surge and allowed the Gin Kings to gain the head start in their race-to-four showdown.
The former Best Player of the Conference said that him churning out a virtuoso display was not because he was an extraordinary player – he was simply on a loaded team where anybody could produce the numbers on any given night.
“We’re a deep team. There are going to be nights where I can come in and be aggressive and score; there are going to be nights where somebody else is going to be able to do it,” the 37-year-old guard said after the match at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“That’s what makes us dangerous. We’re an all-around team. You've got to pick your poison with us,” added Pringle.
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And while the "dangerous" Ginebra took Game One, it is still a long road ahead, according to coach Tim Cone.
“The bottomline is, it’s a Game One. It’s a long series. There’s a lot of games ahead of us,” Cone said.
“It’s just nice to get the first one out of the way as it always is in a series; you want to get that one. You put the other team on a reactive basis.”
History appears on the Gin Kings' side, though.
Out of 135 teams who took the opener of a best-of-seven series, 92 or 68 percent of them went on to win it.
Ginebra, in the eighth installment of its playoff rivalry with Meralco, also has a superior track record with its archenemy in that stage, lording over the Bolts six times, four epic championship battles included.
Stanley Pringle reacts during Ginebra's Game 1 semifinal match with Meralco | Photo (c) PBA
But while Meralco may have been a familiar foe, Cone said it is still a different team with consultant Nenad Vucinic giving a helping hand to chief tactician Luigi Trillo.
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“This is a familiar team. But they have a different system with coach Nenad. Their system is a lot different. We struggle with it at times," said Cone.
Cone is hopeful that the Gin Kings will figure things out as they aim to improve as the series progress.
“It gets a lot of movement. Their guards are quick to the rim, so we had a hard time defending in stretches. Hopefully, we can get better and better as the series goes along,” said Cone.