Ginebra wary of Rain or Shine

Ginebra wary of Rain or Shine
BY NOLI CORTEZ

GINEBRA capped its most recent winning streak with a big win over Talk N Text last Sunday but the team’s chemistry continued to rankle at coach Siot Tanquingcen going into the quarterfinals against a resurgent Rain or Shine squad.

"How we’re gelling as a team, chemistry, iyun ang mas concern ko... how we’re playing together as a unit," Tanquingcen stressed after the Kings posted a 96-82 win over the Tropang Texters in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Before a crowd of over 11,600 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Ginebra fashioned its fifth straight victory to formally close out the eliminations with a 9-5 and finish fourth.

By dealing the Texters their fourth loss in 14 games, the Kings also gave sister team B-Meg the top seeding in the quarterfinals that start tomorrow. B-Meg and TNT actually finished with identical 10-4 records but the former clinched top honors with a superior quotient.

With Rain or Shine topping Alaska Aces 91-85 earlier in the day, the Elasto Painters, the Kings and the Petron Blaze Boosters wound up tied at 9-5.

Petron emerged the playoffs’ third seed, Ginebra fourth, and Rain or Shine fifth after the application of the quotient tiebreak system. B-Meg and TNT enjoy twice-to-beat advantage in their respective quarterfinals battles with Powerade and Barako Bull.

Petron and Ginebra, meanwhile, tangle with Meralco and Rain or Shine, respectively, in separate best-of-three showdowns.

That is one duel Tanquingcen is looking forward to with some anxiety, although his current lineup is vastly improved from the one that absorbed a one-point loss to the E-Painters in the season-opener.

"It’s going to be tough," said Tanquingcen. "Rain or Shine is a pretty good team, so we’ve got to be ready for them.

"For a few years now they’ve been building up. Now they have the tools, they’re a strong team and I can’t say offhand kung sino ang lamang, ang dehado. For a few years now they’ve been an up-and-coming team. Now they’re already there."

Rain or Shine assistant coach Carlos Garcia, who subbed for head strategist Yeng Guiao in the Alaska game, said they like the match-up against Ginebra better than one against Petron.

"Both our team and Ginebra have good guards and are strong in the wings. Also they don’t have big men who are not really dominant, except Eric Menk," stated Garcia. "Petron would have been tougher. They’re coming off a championship. They have a high morale."

"Opinyon niya iyun," countered Tanquingcen. "But for us, we just want to come in, play hard and kung sino matapat, we’ll prepare our best to see how we could match up against them."

His team’s continued improvement is the primary thing clogging Tanquingcen’s mind right now. "We’re somehow playing better. We’re moving the ball as a unit and hopefully we can continue doing that.

"Titingnan natin if we could compete (against Rain or Shine). But we’re confident with what we’re doing right now. We’ve just got to keep on doing what we’re doing best."

Playing as a cohesive squad is what Ginebra did against TNT, enabling the Kings to break out of the tight game and into the runaway win.

Mark Caguioa finished with 18 points and Mike Cortez 17 as they joined hands with Willy Wilson, JC Intal and Rico Villanueva in a furious assault that enabled the Kings to pull away from a 67-69 deficit and into a 90-77 spread entering the game’s last three minutes.

The five scored all but two of Ginebra’s 32 fourth quarter points and accounted for all 11 assists and held TNT to just 17 points on 6-for-25 field shooting in the same period in an amazing show of teammanship that had their fans cheering no end.

The Texters can take comfort in the fact Ryan Reyes, Ranidel de Ocampo and Jared Dillinger have sufficiently recovered from their respective injuries enough to suit up in their next game.

Source: Malaya