Gin Kings stay upbeat, eye to sweep remaining games

MANILA, Philippines – Even with a 3-4 card in the Philippine Cup, Barangay Ginebra remains optimistic on their chances in the conference.

LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson share the same sentiment despite falling short against the defending Philippine Cup champions San Miguel.

“May chance pa naman eh. Hawak pa rin namin yung baraha namin. If we play like that against other teams, I think malaki yung chance naming manalo,” the veteran Tenorio said.

“We tried to win this game para may momentum sa last four games but it didn’t have our way. Ganoon talaga,” Aguilar added.

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“Sabi nga ni Coach Tim, talagang 'di para sa amin. 'Yung game na ito, controlled namin kasi nga, low-scoring. Sabi niya sa amin na kung ganito lang lagi ang lalaruin namin, siguro darating din ang mga panalo,” the young Thompson chimed in.

The Gin Kings, who were minted the championship mantle in the previous conference, were supposed to be riding on a momentum. But that drive proved to be nonexistent in this conference as they have been struggling to stabilize their collection of wins in the Philippine Cup.

The trend for Ginebra in seven games in the season-opening conference had been a loss followed by a win. And maybe, as Thompson offered, the win will follow after the botched Sunday outing.

“Siguro ''yung medyo magulo sa team ngayon, 'yung role namin sa isa't isa. Siguro darating din na magiging okay lahat,” he said.

“Kailangan pa namin ng fluidity kasi minsan nawawala kami sa sistema namin,” Aguilar added.

Tenorio had a chance to send the game to overtime and perhaps join GlobalPort and TNT at 4-3, but he was no match against Beermen’s Arwind Santos in the final moments of the game. The diminutive guard fired a floater as the clock expired, only to be bothered by the outstretched arms of the 7-time All-Defensive Team member Santos.

“Lumaban naman kami, even though we’re struggling offensively, hindi kami sumuko. I think that’s the positive side. Yun nga lang, we have to make our shots. Ganun lang naman ang basketball: you have to make your shots para manalo,” the floor general said.

“Bottom line, we just have to make our shots and keep our defensive mindset going into the game. I think we’re going to be OK.”

Ginebra will still have four games where they have to never say die and keep their quarterfinals bid alive. They lock horns with Meralco in Iloilo this Saturday, followed by Blackwater, Phoenix, and NLEX.