NEW AND IMPROVED

The never-say-die spirit of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel would still be at the forefront of the team’s campaign in the 49th Season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

But head coach Tim Cone will introduce a new era of the Gin Kings when the season-opening PBA Governors’ Cup gets off the ground on Sunday.

Infusing new blood and taking in top acquisitions from offseason trades that raised brows, Ginebra looks as formidable as ever with Cone considering his squad to be “more balanced” this time.

“I think you’re gonna see a little different Ginebra than what you used to over the last couple of years,” Cone said.

The Gin Kings are out to reclaim the import-laden conference crown they lost last year in a failed attempt for a three-peat against TNT in the finals decided in six games.

Ginebra is bringing in reliable resident import Justine Brownlee back but this time the naturalized Gilas Pilipinas player will have a younger and deeper squad to back him up.

Bigman Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle bid goodbye to the Gin Kings following a semifinal finish in the Philippine Cup and were shipped to Terrafirma in exchange for Isaac Go and presumptive Rookie of the Year winner Stephen Holt.

To compensate for the departure of Standhardinger, the Gin Kings also acquired Ben Adamos from NorthPort for Sidney Onwubere to help Go.

“They’re gonna be more of a role-playing type of player, type of guy. We’re gonna get them to play through their strengths. Obviously, they’re not gonna replace Christian but that’s not our plan for those two guys to replace Christian, it’s gonna be a team thing,” Cone said.

“There were times that we were over-reliant on Christian because he was so good. Now I think we’re looking at our team we got a little more balanced.”

Ginebra also drafted a couple of promising rookies in third overall pick RJ Abarrientos and 34th overall selection Paul Garcia.

The two made their presence felt during the Gin Kings’ 91-87 win over the New Taipei Kings in the Macao WUS International Basketball Club Challenge in Macao early this month.

‘There were times that we were over-reliant on Christian because he was so good. Now I think we’re looking at our team we got a little more balanced.’

“Without a doubt, RJ has been very impactful to our practices. He’s been very, very impactful,” Cone said of the third-generation Abarrientos to ply his wares in the league.

The guard is expected to lead Ginebra’s backcourt along with Holt as top court general Scottie Thompson remains doubtful while dealing with back issues.

“He’s gonna change our game a little bit. It should be exciting for the fans,” Cone added.

Garcia, on the other hand, according to the 25-time PBA champion mentor could be the latest Draft’s biggest steal.

“I want to compare him to PJ Simon because PJ had the same kind of story. Fifth round pick. Nobody knew him. He came from Cebu. Paul was cut from Ateneo last year so no one was really thinking much about him. PJ went on to have a Hall of Fame career. I’m not predicting that for Paul but just the fact that they are kind of an in-betweener between point guard and off-guard,” Cone said.

“I think in our system that combination could work for us. We expect him to be a solid part of the rotation,” he added.

Investing for the future, Ginebra also sent second round picks Didat Hanapi and Paolo Hernandez to Terrafirma for future second round selections while letting go of Dave Murrell after a forgettable one-conference stint as a supposed replacement for injured Jamie Malonzo.

While Malonzo recovers from a calf injury, the Gin Kings look forward to Aljon Mariano and Jeremiah Gray’s return to strengthen their wings.

However, Cone would like to consider his new-look team a work in progress.

“We have a lot of work to do. The work ethic has been great. Buying in has been really good. We’re just taking baby steps forward. We don’t want to take shortcuts to being great. We want to work our way up to it,” he said.

“There are no shortcuts to being great, we recognize that and we’re taking our time and making sure we’re following all the right steps. Getting to know our offense and getting to know our defense,” Cone added.

“Things are looking good and we’re in the right direction but we are nowhere near where we need to be yet. But that’s okay.”