Kings brace for dogfight vs Hotshots or Beermen

MANILA, Philippines — After taking the No. 4 seeding in the quarterfinals, defending champion Barangay Ginebra braces for a dogfight with a heavyweight rival early in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs with either San Miguel or Magnolia standing its way.

The Gin Kings finished with a fourth-best 7-4 card, which put them into a direct confrontation with the No. 5 in the rankings, which is being contested by the Beermen (5-5) and the Hotshots (5-5).

“Whatever happens, happens. We just have to take care (of our own business), wherever the chips fall, we deal with what we have in front of us,” said coach Tim Cone of the major roadblock that lies ahead.

“Sometimes it’s better to get the really good teams early and to get a chance, you get through them and move on. And they’re going to be thinking the same against us,” added the multi-titled mentor.

Ginebra’s Last-8 opponent will be determined tomorrow as the Beermen shoot for their sixth win against Meralco (3-7) while the Hotshots aim for the same against pacesetting TNT (9-1). 

In case both SMB and Magnolia prevail, the Hotshots will get the No. 5 ranking on account of tiebreak. The same goes if both lose with Magnolia earning the Ginebra lottery with the superior quotient in a tie with SMB and Rain or Shine. If one of them wins and the other loses, the winner will set up a quarters date with Ginebra while the loser slides down to either No. 6 (in the case of SMB) or No. 7 (in the case of Magnolia).

Ginebra import Justin Brownlee was somehow surprised with what’s next but said it’s gonna be a dogfight, either way.

“Either one, for sure? Oh wow, man. It’s not good news. Usually it’s a slightly lighter opponent but at this point, it doesn’t really matter who we play. 

It’s the playoffs; if we want to win, we just have to come out and perform at the top of our game, bring our A-plus each game. Whoever we play, we just have to come in and give it our all,” he said.

The Gin Kings have defeated both SMB and Magnolia in the elims but Brownlee insisted it’s back to square one now.

“Both teams are championship caliber, they have great experience and they have really good imports. Either team, we know we’re going to be a dogfight,” he said.