Minsan na namang umiral ang 'never-say-die' spirit ng Barangay Ginebra nang talunin ang TNT, 115-95, kung saan nabalewala ang twice-to-beat advantage ng huli sa pagtatapos ng kanilang laban sa quarterfinal sa Smart-Araneta Coliseum sa Quezon City nitong Sabado ng gabi.
Ipinagmalaki ni Gin Kings coach Tim Cone na nagtagumpay ang koponan na makontrol ang kumakamadang si Mikey Williams ng TNT.
“I thought that was one of the big reason we were able to win Game One of this series.Because we had time. We had four days and we prepared really hard for those four days,” sabi ni Cone.
“We came up with a game plan for Mikey Williams and that was basically our game plan – try to find a way to slow down Mikey. But we had four days to hone that game plan. Not just figure it out but hone it.It’s one thing that you get one day of preparation. You figure out a game plan but you don’t have time to work it. Everybody knows exactly what they are doing, but when you have three or four days, you can really hone that game plan and make it really tight. That was our goal and gave us a chance to win that first game,” dagdag pa nito.
Labing-walong puntos lamang ang nagawa ni Williams dahil sa mala-dikyang pagbabantay sa kanya nina Scottie Thompson at Nards Pinto.
Pito lamang sa 19 na pinakawalang tres ang nagawa ni Williams na isa dahilan ng pagtamlay ng opensa ng koponan.
Matatandaang nagpalit ng import ang TNT matapos matalo sa Ginebra sa una nilang laban kahit tangan pa nito ang twice-to-beat advantage.
“We just tried to make it as difficult as we could. We tried to make him get to places that he doesn’t normally [go to]. We have a shot chart for him. We know where he likes to shoot. We tried not to get to those areas where he is most successful,” ayon kay Cone.
Kumana si Justine Brownlee ng29 puntos, 18 rebounds, at pitong assists habang si Thompson ay bumira rin ng17 puntos, 10 rebounds, at siyam na assists.
Nag-ambag naman ng 26 puntos si Japeth Aguilar habang si LA Tenorio ay nakaipon naman ng 22 puntos, kabilang ang apat na tres.