THE onus is on the NorthPort Batang Pier to prove they're worthy semifinalists, much more on being the playoffs top seeds.
Coach Tim Cone believes the Batang Pier are for real, and so the Kings are not to them lightly.
Sadly, the Batang Pier turned out as not up to the task, at least in the opener of their PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup best-of-seven semis waltz with the seasoned Gin Kings Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Was it something about the long break? Were they thrown out of sync by the lull? Rustiness from it?
Whatever, coach Bonnie Tan's troops fell in a 115-93 ambush by a supposedly tired, unprepared Ginebra side.
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Justin Brownlee and his teammates showed no traces of fatigue after a tough grind with Gilas Pilipinas, buckling down to work and helping the Kings take the headstart in the race-to-four dispute.
And again, the burden is on the Batang Pier to regroup and respond on their Game One blowout loss. Game Two is at 5 p.m. Friday over at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Was it a miscalculation on NorthPort's part that the Batang Pier seemed to be unsuspecting on what the Kings were capable of?
For Cone, a big part was the preparation done by his deputies left in Manila while he's serving duty with Gilas Pilipinas.
"I thought coach Olsen (Racela) and coach Kirk (Collier) did such a fantastic job with the guys over the last two weeks preparing them," said Cone, who arrived in Manila with the rest of Gilas on the eve of Game One.
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"They had a practice game against a Korean team so I felt like I walked into practice and like RJ (Abarrientos) and Stephen (Holt) and everybody were just really raring to go," Cone added.
The Gilas group did their job and Abarrientos, Holt and the rest of the Ginebra guys did their part as they dealt the Batang Pier severe beating, notwithstanding Kadeem Jack doing his usual thing, coming through with 33 points and 12 rebounds.
Well taken care of was Arvin Tolentino, the Best Player of the Conference top contender who's held to eight points on a horrendous 2-of-11 shooting clip.
Seeing the opening, the Kings pounced on it without letup, putting themselves in a position to go for a commanding 2-0 series lead Friday.
An explosive breakaway in the third even allowed the Ginebra core group an early breather, giving way to the Kings reserves to do the mop-up operation.
The early rest could be vital, keeping the Kings fresh to deliver another big job in Game Two. (SB)
