Being better on defense will allow the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings to win Game 6 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven title playoff series and claim the title in their showdown with the Bay Area Dragons today at the Arena Coliseum.
Coach Tim Cone firmly believes this, now that the Dragons have their backs against the wall and with the Gin Kings ahead in the series at 3-2.
Game time is set at 5:45 p.m., with Ginebra determined to end it and claim another Commissioner’s Cup crown.
“We realized that we have to come up with a better defensive presence,” said Cone after the Gin Kings took Game 5 with a 101-91 victory.
The Kings are keen on breaking a tie with Magnolia and Alaska by becoming the league’ second most winningest squad with a 15th crown.
In Game 5, Cone let Justine Brownlee take over defensively by making stops on Zhu Zhongwei and switches on Hayden Blankley, and doing help defenses.
But Game 6 will be a different scenario from the previous game, where the Dragons missed two key players—import Andrew Nicholson and top point guard Glen Yang, who both nursed ankle injuries.
To make up for Nicholson’s absence, the Dragons are bringing back Myles Powell, who has been out for Bay Area since late November following a foot injury.
The former NBA pro has averaged 37.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.
The Gin Kings will find out if they can bring in LA Tenorio, who sat out the last quarter in Game 5 due to a strained hamstring.
“I kept telling them, we’re certainly not gonna blow ’em out, we’re certain they have capabilities that they’re gonna go away in runs from us, but don’t look at the scoreboard and just keep playing until it’s finished,” said Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian, who is expected to make more adjustments in a bid to force another series deadlock. Peter Atencio
“Every time I come to the bench, I point out the clock’s our friend, it’s still ticking. Don’t worry about the score, don’t worry about the crowd, keep playing. And they get right ’til the end,” added Goorjian.