Coach Tim Cone was right, after all.
After the convincing win over Bay Area in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone pointed out they were fortunate Hayden Blankley missed the shots he usually makes.
On Wednesday, the Gin Kings were not that fortunate.
That’s because Blankley finally found his groove, exploding for 17 points to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 5 blocks — a far cry from his 4-point output in Game 1 that saw him go 0-of-9 from beyond the arc.
In the same interview, Cone said had he made 30 percent of his 9 attempts from the three-point area in the opener, it would have been a different ball game.
Incidentally, Blankley had 3 (27% of 9) in Game 2. Zhu Songwei, Kobey Lam, and Andrew Nicholson also had 3 each from that range.
Indeed, it was a different ball game this time.
The Dragons were pretty much in control the entire time, foiling every Ginebra attempt at a comeback on the way to the 99-82 win. The series is tied at 1 game apiece.
During the press conference, Zhu said it all started from defense.
“Everything just started from that defensive end. As a player I wanna make sure I play good defense. Everything will just go from the defensive end,” Zhu said.
Like the Australian cager, Zhu hardly made an impact in Game 1 after being hobbled by early foul trouble. But on Wednesday he got things going and ended up with 25 big points on top of 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal.
According to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon, Ginebra’s 82-point output was the lowest in a game in the PBA Finals since its 83-74 loss to Meralco in Game 3 of the Governors’ Cup Finals last season.
As the bigger Bay Area side finally figured out how to play physically without fouling much, it’s now Ginebra’s turn to make some adjustments.