Coaches Leo Austria and Tim Cone were one in saying the Game One win by San Miguel Beer was just one game in a best-of-seven series.
And whether it’s by 40 points or by one, it’s one “W.”
Both sides are just focused on reconsolidating forces going to Game Two of their PBA Philippine Cup titular showdown at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City Sunday.
Titleholder San Miguel Beer turned to a huge mismatch what was expected to be a dogfight of a series opener, playing splendidly all throughout in spilling Barangay Ginebra, 109-82, in Game One Friday at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.
The Beermen, fired-up by a bid to win the perpetual Emilio “Jun” Bernardino Trophy, burst out of the opening block in both halves and dominated through 48 minutes, hardly allowing the Kings to get into the game.
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But Austria insisted it’s no big deal, saying the war has just started. "This is just the first game. Knowing coach Tim Cone, nasa second game plan na siya e. Game Two, they will come back strong,” said Austria.
"Pinahinga na nila yung starters nila because alam nilang swerte kami," the SMB coach added. "We know coach Tim is a great coach. He knows what to do in this situation."
The Kings are really looking forward to getting even in Game Two.
“(Game One) was a difficult loss to handle, but if anything our guys have proven is that they are resilient and tough-minded. We’ll bounce back,” said Cone.
“It was a real clunker. Certainly it was embarrassing and frustrating and thankfully it was Game One and not Game Seven. Our guys have to understand that we have to be at the very top of our game to have a chance to beat SMB, and needless to say, we were far, far from it,” Cone also said.
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“But, as in life, it’s not how hard you get knocked down, it’s how you get back on your feet that counts,” Cone added.
The Ginebra coach was disappointed but not disheartened by their Game One blowout loss.
“We know who we are. We know how well we can play. We had our off night. They were good and we’re very, very bad. But we’ll not allow (Game One) to define us,” said Cone.
The Kings can look back at their conquest of the Beermen in their Governors Cup best-of-five semis series last year.
After losing Game Four by 29 points, Kings bounced back with a 25-point blowout win two nights later to claim the series.
The Kings have fought tough adversities in this tourney alone, needing to overcome the Alaska Milk Aces’ twice-to-beat advantage in their quarters matchup then fighting back from 0-2 and 2-3 deficits in their Final Four face-off with the Star Hotshots.
