BARANGAY Ginebra was a bit tight in its conference debut but good enough to pull through with a 109-100 win over NLEX Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Forty-eight hours after, the Gin Kings return to the NAS floor, hoping to build on their triumphant first outing and nail a follow-up versus a slumping Phoenix Super LPG side.
The Gin Kings banked on a big third-quarter salvo in repulsing the Road Warriors, and everyone was appreciative of the role new acquisition Troy Rosario played.
The consensus: Rosario's a good piece and a key addition completing a potent Ginebra crew once again.
"He gets everybody back to comfortable positions. Troy coming in and playing the 4 and 3 positions allows Justin (Brownlee) on the opposite side and takes off some of the load in rebounding," said coach Tim Cone.
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The Ginebra tactician also mentioned Stephen Holt getting back to the guard spots where he's more comfortable.
To mark his return to backcourt chores, Holt erupted for 26 points while also doing a good defensive job on Robert Bolick as the Kings snapped the Road Warriors' three-game run.
On Friday, Ginebra plays Phoenix at 7:30 p.m., looking for a second straight win against a side eyeing a first "W" in four starts.
"We knew we'd come out not as good as we wanna be," said Cone of their debut versus NLEX.
"But luckily we're good enough. We gotta be better, though," added Cone.
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Phoenix is at 0-3 but could've been at 1-2 or at 2-1 with the Fuel Masters barely beaten in the end in their last two games versus Meralco (111-109) and San Miguel Beer (107-104).
Donovan Smith and his teammates vow to continue working hard.(SB)
