Cone: We looked tired

Barangay Ginebra is not yet ready to raise the white flag of surrender heading into Game 6 of their Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup best-of-seven finals series against TNT Tropang Giga on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Kings head coach Tim Cone admitted that they got outplayed, leading to a 72-99 loss to the Tropang Giga last Wednesday.

But the noted American coach stressed that it doesn’t mean that they are ready to throw in the white towel, saying that the setback only makes them hungrier, fiercer to extend the series into a deciding Game 7 on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

“They were ready, they were hungry, and we were a little satisfied after our two wins,” Cone said, raising the need to come out firing in the kill-or-be-killed Game 6.

“We looked overly tired tonight. Even though we had a two-day break, we looked overly tired. We weren’t moving well.”

“Now, our back is against the wall, and we must come out with a little desperation in Game 6.”

The Kings definitely want to bury the pain of losing in Game 5 after Justin Brownlee was held down to just eight points — his lowest since joining the PBA in 2016.

Brownlee was escorted out of the Big Dome after the game.

For Cone, also the tactician of Gilas Pilipinas, Brownlee’s numbers hardly bothered him.

“It’s just pogi points. Doesn’t really matter,” Cone said.

“I mean, it doesn’t matter what he does individually, it just matters that we lost by 30 points, actually it doesn’t even matter that we lost by 30 points. Bottom line is, we lost,” he said.

Scottie Thompson, who led the Kings with 13 points in Game 5, said they can’t feel sorry for themselves if they want to tie the series again one more time.

“Whatever the past is, especially the game tonight, we must put it away. We have to keep moving forward,” said Thompson, who joined LA Tenorio in carrying the scoring cudgels.

“Everybody in TNT did well against us. We just have to stay positive for the next game.”