BARANGAY Ginebra is in familiar territory with Meralco and knows exactly what to expect for the rest of their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals duel.
"It's gonna be tougher," was how assistant coach Richard del Rosario predicted the best-of-three series going, starting Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Ginebra pulled off a 100-92 win in the series opener last Wednesday to move within another victory of advancing to a seventh straight semifinal appearance.
Speaking for coach Tim Cone, who is suffering from a hoarse throat, Del Rosario said their sights remain trained on a long, tough series against a team they are meeting in the playoffs for the 10th time.
"We expect this series, especially against Meralco, to go three games. Iyun ang lagi naming expectation," said Del Rosario. "Of course, if we can win the next game then good."
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Still, to look forward to an early close-out could invite trouble, Del Rosario hastily added.
"They know what we're doing, they're familiar (with us)," Del Rosario explained. "And their import looks like he's already recovered from the back injury. (He) gave us a lot of problems and the (Bolts) guards got into the paint. So we still have a lot to work on, defensively."
Scottie Thompson, who played a major role in Ginebra's fifth straight win against Meralco, wholeheartedly agrees with De Rosario. "Lagi kami kaya nagkaka-amuyan na talaga, medyo alam na namin 'yung players' tendencies," he said.
"I think it's up na lang sa amin kung paano namin i-e- execute lahat ng gameplan kasi nandiyan na naman lahat, eh," added the 2021 season MVP. "So 'yun na lang ang key, kung paano e-execute hard, especially (against) sa defense ng Meralco na sobrang aggressive and physical."
Meralco did give Ginebra a tough time in Game 1 with Akil Mitchell, who sat out the Bolts' last two games in the eliminations to recover from a back injury, did give the Kings fits with 19 points on top of 14 rebounds and six assists to chiefly complement Chris Newsome's 20 points.
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With Jansen Rios, Chris Banchero and Bong Quinto chipping in, the Bolts battled back from an early 12-point deficit to make it a close contest and even led, 87-85, with just under eight minutes left in the game.
Then the Gin Kings displayed their patented grit by going on a 13-7 windup where Thompson, Justin Brownlee, RJ Abarrientos and Japeth Aguilar played crucial roles.
Reprising such acts would be extremely challenging, as Del Rosario himself pointed out. "Sinabi nga ni Scottie, they're a very physical team and they're disciplined also in their execution," he said.
" Nakita n'yo naman, very emotional game also from both teams. Lahat talaga gustong manalo." (NC)
