Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings proved to be a difficult team to zone.
This time, Stanley Pringle was not alone.
There were seven other players who joined him in providing the double-digit numbers needed by the Gin Kings to hurdle the NorthPort Batang Pier Wednesday evening.
Together, their efforts played a big role in the Gin Kings’ bid to ward off the Batang Pier at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena & Cultural Center.
“You know, Ginebra has a lot of weapons. In and out, you have Japeth and Scottie to do the inner works. AJ and Jap, LA and Stanley, and other guys who can shoot from the outside,” said Cone after the Gin Kings beat NorthPort, 112-100.
This allowed the Gin Kings to join the TNT Tropang Giga in the playoffs with a similar 6-2 win-loss record.
It was Ginebra’s first back-to-back win after their 87-81 beating of the Alaska Aces.
Pringle led the way with 17 points, and he got support from teammates Aljon Mariano, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Joe Devance, Scottie Thompson, Prince Caperal and Jeff Chan.
“You need contributions from everybody when you go against the zone,” said Cone.
With their zone defense working wonders the Batang Pier took a 10-point edge in the first quarter, 23-13, off Kevin Ferrer’s three consecutive triples.
In the second period, Ginebra rallied 33-32, and moved in front off Aljon Mariano’s layup in the last 7:39.
“And when they are doing that, one person can’t dominate, because you can’t isolate and go one-on-one in a zone,” Cone said.
In the fourth period, Ginebra went on to outscore their opponents, 18-10, for an 84-75 edge going into the fourth.
A showdown for the no. 1 seeding in the quarterfinals now looms when the Gin Kings meet Tropang Giga on Friday.
But Cone is not worried about this.
“We’re not really worried about top seed. We’re worried about the top four. That’s what we’re trying to do,” said Cone.
With explosive guard Stanley Pringle leading the way with his 17 points, eight different Gin Kings scored in double-figures, which Cone explained was the result of them taking advantage of NorthPort’s zone defense.
“Because they were playing zone most of the game, probably 75% of the game, then 25% man-to-man. Zone is all about ball movement and taking shots presented to you,” said Cone in the walk-off interview.
“I think everybody got involved because we were making multiple passes. After the first quarter, we started cutting through the zone and it opened up things for us.”