Finals Game 1 ngayon (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:00 p.m. — Ginebra vs. Meralco
May pagkakatulad ang Ginebra at Meralco, gayundin ang coaches na sina Tim Cone ng Gin Kings at Norman Black ng Bolts.
Kaya inaasahan ni Cone na ang PBA Governors Cup best-of-seven title showdown nila na sisiklab mamaya sa Smart Araneta Coliseum ay magkakatalo sa isang aspeto.
“Whichever team can make a defensive stop on the other team’s ball movement,” pakli ni Cone. “It’s because whenever we stop the ball from moving we struggle. But when we move the ball our chances of winning are greater.”
Nasa pre-finals press conference sina Cone at Black kahapon, kasama ang ilan nilang players.
Unang pagtatagpo ng dalawang team sa finals, pero ang magkatunggaling coach ay nakadalawa na at parehong nangibabaw si Cone.
Hindi pa binabalatan ni Black ang estratehiya: “We just hope for the best. We just want to win,” aniya.
“We started coaching at about the same time, which is in the mid-80s to late 80s,” paliwanag ni Cone, “with both of us idolizing Baby Dalupan. So our style is old school, which is to make some seven up to nine passes first before going for the basket, which is different from the style now of going for the basket on the first open chance you get.”
Kung may bentahe ang Kings, ito ang sixth man nilang crowd.
“We both have guys who play hard and play similarly, but we’ve got our so-called sixth man so we’ll see how it goes,” dagdag ni Cone.
Pero mabilis kumambiyo ang 18-time champion coach, kaya raw itong i-neutralize ng 11-time titlist counterpart.
“Coach Norman negates that. He’s too experienced and has coached against Ginebra so many times and he doesn’t lose his cool, he doesn’t lose his composure because of the Ginebra fans.”
Ang players, handa na rin sa sagupaan.
“Both teams are in the finals for a reason, and them beating the No. 1 seed (TNT) is no fluke. It’s gonna be an all-out war,” deklarasyon ni Sol Mercado ng Ginebra.
“You’ve got two teams which are among the best and as competitors you want to beat the best, so we’ll see,” buwelta ni Meralco import Allen Durham.