Tim Cone aims to keep his Ginebra Gin Kings in the thick of battle for a PBA Finals seat when they collide with the San Miguel Beermen in Game 6.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone did not look as disappointed as he usually was after every tough loss when he faced reporters Friday night, July 4.
Cone failed to steer his troops past San Miguel, 92-103, in Game 4 of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinals, but he saw the silver lining, believing they had the chance to turn the game around.
“Sayang. I thought we had a chance to win tonight,” the multi-titled mentor Cone said.
“I thought it was going to go down the wire, and I thought we'd have a chance to win.”
Ginebra and San Miguel figured in a tight contest in the second half, with the Gin Kings closing in at 88-90 on a Maverick Ahanmisi layup with under four minutes to go in the match.
But the crowd darlings' untimely errors down the stretch — add to that Japeth Aguilar's being in foul trouble — spelled their doom.
“[We] made a couple of, two or three, probably three or four even, crucial errors at the wrong time that let them (Beermen) stretch that out down the stretch. Wasted a tough, good performance by us,” Cone said, who actually came out with guns blazing and built an early 14-point edge, 29 - 15.
Coach Tim Cone reacts during Ginebra's Game 5 battle with San Miguel. | Photo (c) RM Chua/One Sports
Aguilar, cautious about being a little too aggressive on defense so as not to incur his sixth and final foul, had a tougher time defending eight-time Most Valuable Player Fajardo.
Fajardo finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
“That (Aguilar’s five fouls) really hurt us in trying to defend June Mar. We gambled and kept him out there, and he stayed away from the sixth foul,” Cone said.
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While he’s not entirely displeased with his squad's performance, Cone still rued another bad shooting night for them.
Ginebra shot only 30 of their 81 attempts from the field for 37 percent in Game 5, then nailed just seven of their 24 three-point attempts.
This is something the Gin Kings need to address as they risk being eliminated by San Miguel.
“Still haven't had a good shooting night this whole series. We have not shot the ball well. And hoping that's going to come around at some point. Maybe on Sunday, we'll see,” said Cone, whose team will aim to stay alive and draw level against San Miguel in Game 6 Sunday, July 6.
“But the old cliche, 'It takes four to win, doesn't take three.' It's not a five-game series; it's a seven-game series. We'll regroup and see if we can come up with a big performance on Sunday.”
San Miguel and Ginebra kick off hostilities at 5:00 p.m. followed by the 7:30 duel between Rain or Shine and TNT.
The Tropang 5G leads their side of the semifinals at 3-2.