Kings making one last push

Games today:

(Ynares Center-Antipolo)

5:15 p.m. — Phoenix vs Rain or Shine

7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs Blackwater

Barangay Ginebra’s chances of advancing to the quarterfinals now rest on one last push on the final playdate of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup group stage today at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.

The Kings face a hopeful Blackwater in the 7:30 p.m. showdown for the final bus ride to the playoffs in Group B.

Ginebra carries a 4-5 win-loss record in fourth spot but is within striking distance of Meralco (4-6) and the Bossing (3-6).

Pool leader Magnolia (7-3), Rain or Shine (5-4), and Phoenix (5-4) have already advanced to the crossover best-of-five quarters.

The Elasto Painters and Fuel Masters clash at 5:15 p.m. for the No. 2 seeding the next round.

But focus remains on the Ginebra-Blackwater battle.

The Kings actually have an inside track for the right to face Group A top seed NLEX in the quarters, needing only to replicate their 115-85 first-round win over the Bossing.

Even a loss, as long as it’s not by 24 points or more, will still propel Ginebra to the next stage.

The Kings are fresh off a 106-89 win over Phoenix last Sunday, which gave them a +30-point differential lead over Meralco (+7) and Blackwater (-37).

But Kings head coach Tim Cone doesn’t want to take any chances, especially with his recent history with quotient and point differentials.

“I don’t really want to talk about quotient because I’ve had some bad experiences with it,” Cone said.

Relying on quotient has been traumatic for Cone.

As head coach of the ill-fated Gilas Pilipinas squad in the failed gold medal defense at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games last month, the Nationals needed a win or not lose by 37 points or more to China to advance in the quarterfinals.

Gilas was booted out after a 44-point losing margin.

“When we played against Georgia in the Olympic qualifying tournament, we had a 20, 19-point advantage and by the end of the first quarter, we were down by 21 points. And then just recently in the Asian Games with China, we had a 37-point quotient and by halftime, we were down by 35. Luckily, we came back and almost beat Georgia, lost by a couple of points. But China, we didn’t get back to,” Cone recalled.

Having said that, the mentor didn’t need much reminding about the position they are in.

“We are very aware of the quotient, and hopefully, our guys won’t fool around and collapse, and we’ll play the game the way we’re supposed to,” he said.

Blackwater, however, has been on a skid, losing three straight matches, including a sorry 123-125 decision against Rain or Shine last Saturday.