Games today:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. — TNT vs NorthPort
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs San Miguel
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone is confident that they are ready to take on the challenge of blemishing defending champion San Miguel Beer’s flawless slate in their Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup faceoff on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Taking down erstwhile undefeated Magnolia last Sunday lifted the morale of Ginebra after suffering humiliation at the hands of Meralco before the All-Star and Lenten break.
“It’s huge. I think our confidence took a little bit of a hit when we played Meralco. We needed something to get us back going forward,” Cone said following their 87-77 victory over the Hotshots on Easter Sunday.
“That’s gonna give us a lift more than anything going into San Miguel game.”
With its confidence back, Cone expects Ginebra to go toe-to-toe with the Beermen in their 7:30 p.m. clash to get their second straight victory to hike their 3-1 win-loss record.
The Gin Kings are tied at third to fourth spot with NorthPort, which will face TNT Tropang Giga in the curtain-raiser at 4:30 p.m.
Despite the continued absence of Scottie Thompson due to back issues, Ginebra has been getting good numbers from its remaining guards, especially veteran Stanley Pringle, who has been delivering on offense for extended minutes, and Maverick Ahanmisi who is averaging 13.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
Japeth Aguilar, Jamie Malonzo and Christian Standhardinger are also contributing well to the Kings’ cause.
San Miguel Beer may be perfect after three outings, but Cone is unfazed.
“Right now, San Miguel is playing at a level that they don’t look like they’re beatable. But we’ll see what we can do,” he said.
“We expected to get better as the conference goes along but you’ll always battle for that top two so this is a big game in terms of that top two position. We know San Miguel’s gonna get one of those top two positions and Magnolia was probably gonna get the second so beating Magnolia was really important. It still gonna give us a shot at that top two.”
“I’m not gonna say nobody else can get there but those two guys seem like their favorites. We can get out, figure out a way to come up with a victory over San Miguel will be a big thing in terms of taking us to the top two.”
The Beermen, on the other hand, are enjoying a good run in their grand slam bid since claiming the Commissioner’s Cup crown two months ago.
San Miguel Beer crushed Phoenix, 116-102, last Sunday behind CJ Perez’s personal season-best 32 points.
The Commissioner’s Cup Finals Most Valuable Player has found his rhythm including a newfound weapon in his outside shooting following a 4-of-8 three-point clip against the Fuel Masters.
Perez’s resurgence along with the usual production of June Mar Fajardo, Jericho Cruz, Marcio Lassiter and Terrence Romeo make San Miguel Beer a tough nut to crack.
“We just had four days of preparation but coming on Friday’s game we will be ready against Ginebra,” Beermen coach Jorge Gallent said.
