Late adjustment to changes caused Ginebra's slump, admits Cone

MANILA, Philippines — The Barangay Ginebra finally got back into the win column in the PBA Governor's Cup on Friday, with a 109-100 victory over the hapless Blackwater Bossing.

Prior to that, the Gin Kings were on a four-game losing streak dating back to Christmas — the franchise's longest slump under the tutelage of head coach Tim Cone.

After their victory over the Bossing, Cone revealed his assessment of what happened during that losing slump.

"We tried to make some changes during the break, we tried to do some new things and they didn't quite take hold," Cone said as he attempted to make tweaks to his system during the league's month long break due to a COVID-19 spike.

"And then we found out that we were playing Meralco, Talk 'n Text, and San Miguel the first week back and we thought we'd kinda grow into the new things that we were doing [but] the guys had a hard time figuriing out the concepts and it showed against those really good teams," he added.

Cone admitted that their opponents were able to take advantage of his wards still trying to get used to it.

But now as they returned to the win column and keep their title bid alive, Cone believes things are starting to look up for his team.

"We're still trying to learn it, we're still trying to grow with it and we finally took a step in the right direction," the tactician said.

"We gotta turn around and do it again on Sunday... We needed this one to stay in the fight. So now [that] we're staying in the fight, we're gonna keep on fighting," he added.

The Gin Kings are currently holding on for dear life at 8th in the standings — the last spot for a bid in the quarterfinals.

But Ginebra will need to improve their 4-4 slate if they want to avoid being at a disadvantage against a twice-to-beat opponent in the first round of the postseason.

The Gin Kings hope to fan their hopes of a good spot in the playoffs when they face the Terrafirma Dyip on Sunday, February 27.