Cone continues search for winning formula

Game today:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs TNT

Barangay Ginebra is out to bring the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup finals back to square one.

But Kings head coach Tim Cone knows it will take a lot of effort and adjustments to score a repeat over defending champion TNT in Game 4 to level the best-of-seven series today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Game time is set at 7:30 p.m. with Ginebra hoping to make it two in a row and spoil the Tropang Giga’s second attempt to move within a win of a repeat.

Ginebra broke a two-game slump with an 85-73 victory last Friday by giving TNT a dose of its own medicine, winning a defensive battle.

“They’re doing a hell of a job taking away a lot of stuff we like to do. Hopefully, we are doing the same to them or did the same to them today (Game 3),” Cone said.

Although the Kings still struggled with their outside shooting with only five three-pointers, they did improve from the field overall with 50 percent shooting compared to just 37.3 percent average in the first two games.

“We’re exploring different avenues to try to beat their defense but their defense is tough, it’s been tough all conference,” Cone said.

“We’re struggling offensively and we’re trying to find avenues of escape but we are not finding it yet.”

Ginebra slowed the game down and displayed better effort on transition defense. The Kings limited the Tropang Giga to 32.6 percent field goal shooting and their second lowest output in the conference.

One key adjustment Ginebra made was starting veteran guard LA Tenorio after seeing only two minutes in the series opener and sitting on the bench in Game 2. His presence and leadership kept the team together and had some key baskets that set the tone of the game.

Kings resident import Justin Brownlee made crucial stops down the stretch despite a quiet 18-point outing from sustained hounding by TNT’s stingy defense.

Ginebra may have built some momentum, but Cone is expecting a strong retaliation from TNT, which has bounced back mightily in each of its previous four losses.

“So, we’ll see what their counters are and we’ll continue to counter what they’re doing because we’re not satisfied with the way we’re playing offense, no doubt,” Cone said.

“But we still feel we can improve and that gives us hope in this series.”

Meanwhile, the league will name the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) and Best Import winners before tipoff.

Ten-time BPC awardee June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer leads the pack in the statistical race for the highest individual award.

San Miguel’s CJ Perez, Kings’ Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson and NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino are out to challenge the eight-time Most Valuable Player for the honor.