Ginebra picked the wrong day to put up its worst game yet in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup playoffs.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone kept it simple when he faced reporters in a brief interview in the aftermath of a 104-88 loss to TNT in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals opener on Sunday, October 27.
Cone said the Gin Kings simply were not locked in for Game 1 that drew a record 11,021 crowd at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“We just played badly. It was a bad game; they embarrassed us. Game 1 of the series, they were more locked in than we were. We just weren’t locked in as much as we like to be,” said Cone.
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TNT set the tone early, going on a 22-8 run to start the game.
While the Gin Kings tried as hard as they could to prop up their sagging fortunes, the Tropang Giga had every riposte for their repeated rallies.
Ginebra picked the wrong time to play its worst game yet from the three-point line, shooting a woeful 2-for-21 from that range.
“They took a lot of wanted to do away from us. we shot the ball poorly. We’re 2 for 21 from the three-point line,” Cone said.
“It’s just one of those games you hate to happen happen. In a first game of a championship series.”
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But Ginebra has no other recourse but to move on from this and shift its focus on Game 2 on Wednesday, October 27.
Cone is hopeful the Gin Kings will figure things out soon to even up the best-of-seven series.
“But we have to turn around and move on and see what we can do to change our fortunes in Game 2,” he said.