Game today:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs TNT
It ain’t over until it’s over.
Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone has been in too many finals in his career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to assume that an opposing team will be down and out after getting pushed to the brink.
TNT will fight for survival like a cornered, wounded beast while the Kings try to put the finishing blows in Game 6 of the exciting Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals series today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The question of whether the series ends or gets extended will be answered after the smoke of the 7:30 p.m. encounter clears.
‘If you want to close this team out, it’s going to take an incredible amount of effort and focus.’
For the Kings, defense especially locking down on the Tropang Giga shooters is key to snapping a four-conference title drought.
Ginebra made some crucial stops down the stretch in a series-leading 73-66 Game 5 win last Sunday to inch closer to a 16th crown overall.
“We’re trying to stay home on their shooters,” Cone said of his wards’ effort to disrupt TNT’s lethal outside shooting which was rewarded by holding off their opponents to just 7-of-26 shooting from the three-point area.
“We have to stay disciplined (defensively),” he added.
In a championship series rematch that started back-and-forth, momentum has definitely shifted to the Kings’ side after winning back-to-back games for a 3-2 lead despite resident import Justin Brownlee playing through pain.
Brownlee sustained a dislocated right thumb in a loss in Game 3 but still came up big in the next two games averaging 20.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Denied of glory in the season-opening Governors’ Cup championship and in the same conference in the 2023 edition, the former three-time Best Import winner and the rest of Ginebra are raring to settle an unfinished business.
“We are definitely gonna come and try (to finish it) with all our might. You know, TNT is a great team, and they beat us two times in the finals, so we know it’s not gonna be easy,” Brownlee said.
“We’re just expecting it’s just going to be hard-fought last two games. Or one game — if we can close it out. It’s still a long way from being over for us,” he added.
“If you want to close this team out, it’s going to take an incredible amount of effort and focus.”
TNT, on the other hand, wants to write a different script and bring the series to one final chapter on Friday.
But it will take the Tropang Giga more than just extra effort to fight their way out of a dangerous hole.
TNT would have to find resolve to deal with unnecessary drama within the team.
Game 5 saw head coach Chot Reyes and temperamental big man Poy Erram in a heated exchange with the mentor giving his player a piece of his mind.
Despite internal issues, TNT especially reinforcement Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is determined to drag the title showdown to a do-or-die.
“We lose, it’s over. It’s all or nothing for us. And we got to take it to Game 7,” said Hollis-Jefferson, whose third Best Import award was spoiled by a tough loss in Game 4.
For the naturalized Jordanian, Game 6 will be the Tropang Giga’s rallying point.
“I see us fighting like hell, fighting to win, fighting to play an excellent game, fighting to give maximum effort all 48 minutes, whether we go up or not, and just staying locked in,” he said.
“(Coach) Chot (Reyes) said it to us — it’s about mental (toughness), like our mentality going into those crucial moments, turning (the ball) over, being wrong on a defensive play, allowing someone to jump up the screen,” he added.