Barangay Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee shot a jump jump during his game against NLEX in the PBA Governors Cup semifinals. PBA . IMAGES
After taking different paths to victory in game 1 of their respective PBA Managers’ Cup semi-final series on Wednesday, Barangay Ginebra’s Tim Cone and Magnolia’s Chito Victolero know how important it is. any.
History is now partly on their side — almost 67% in fact — even though they know there’s still a lot of work to be done.
Both talked about how important it is to win the opening match after the defending champions Gin Kings won convincingly 95-86 against NLEX and the highest-ranked Hotshots come from behind to clamp Meralco, 94-80.
“The first half was very interesting. We strengthened our defense and launched some shots. The boys played offensively nice. That’s what it takes to beat a Yeng Guiao team,” said Cone of NLEX, the team that stood shoulder to shoulder with Ginebra almost all night until the 6:50 mark of the successful frame when the Road Warriors offense. start to finish. outside.
“You will have to be able to finish the game. [They’re] will make you crush it, and we were able to do it today. We’ll see if we can do it again on Friday,” he added.
In the last 121 times a series has been played as the best match, 83 of the teams that won the 1st Half went on to win, although it is remarkable that only five The club did that in the last 10 matches. according to the director of statistics Fidel Mangonon III.
Magnolia didn’t really excel against Meralco here, even though they now have a 2-0 record against the Bolts. The Hotshots found themselves at an early 17-point hole, a virtual re-enactment of their slow start in came back to win 88-85 at the top of March in the knockout round, where they went up by 16 points or less.
‘Just proud’
“We had a very slow start. I’ve talked to my players that if we can’t match the intensity and aggression of [the Bolts], we will be hard to win. I’m just proud that they moved forward in the second quarter,” Victoero said. “Game 1 is very important, especially this is the best match.”
“I just hope that our better game moves on to the sequel [match,” he went on. “We’ll be needing more of that momentum going into Game 2.”
The second game of both series is on Friday, with the Kings taking the floor first against the Road Warriors at 3 p.m. also at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Both Cone and Victolero are bracing for fightbacks from the enemy, who are corporate siblings under the banner of a rival conglomerate.
“At 78-all, we stalled. We really don’t know how our offense dried up. From there on, everything was downhill,” said Guiao. “We played our initial quarters well. We just have to have our second group do a job in preserving or protecting our lead.”Interestingly, Norman Black’s thoughts seem to be cut from the same cloth. The Bolts coach underscored the need to be playing splendidly across all frames.
“If we’re up by 15, or 14, or 16, or 17, the game is only half over. We have to do a better job in the second half,” he said. “Even if you have a lead, doesn’t mean that the other [team] there is no possibility of return”.
The Battle of Magnolia-Meralco takes place at 6pm
“I hope the law of averages is in our favor in the second game, then maybe we can stay in the game to the end,” Guiao said. “That’s the most important thing for us – to have a chance to win in the end.”
Black said: “They won a game, so what we have to do now is regroup and come back in game 2 and try to get ahead.
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