February 25, 2017

Cone wants Ginebra to focus on game 2

Barangay Ginebra dropped the first game of the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals to San Miguel, 109-82. The loss was humiliating for Ginebra since the game seemed to be decided as early as the first quarter when they trailed by as much as 15 points.

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone takes the blame for bringing in his troops unprepared.

“We were horrible. All throughout the game – from start to finish. We weren’t ready and that is on me. I should have the guys ready but they are not ready,” said Cone.

Even if Ginebra just came off from a gruelling seven-game series against the Star Hotshots, Cone points out that fatigue shouldn’t be an excuse for giving the game away to the Beermen.

“It shouldn’t be an excuse on what happened out there. We didn’t have anything tonight.”

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“No. Zero. Absolutely none,” said Cone when he was asked if he saw anything positive in their loss.

“The only positive is that it is over with and we can focus on Game 2 – honestly,” Cone quickly added.

But game 2 comes at a price as the team will only have a day's rest, including a four-hour drive to Lucena City for Sunday's 6:30pm finals battle at the Quezon Convention Center.

Until then, Cone wants his team to forget game 1, move forward and most of all channel their never-say-die spirit and recall how they win games.

“It is over with and we will move on. We are not going to allow this game to define us. We have to move forward in the series.”

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Story by: Ernest Hernandez
Photo by: Peter Baltazar