July 29, 2017

Brownlee faces Holloway in exciting Ginebra-GlobalPort tiff

Barangay Ginebra has dropped its first game in its PBA Governors Cup title defense but coach Tim Cone remains hopeful they will find their way to contend for the crown in the season-ending tourney.

The Kings play their second game versus the GlobalPort Batang Pier at 6:45 p.m. Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Needless to say our first game didn’t go the way we hoped, but we know we have lot of good basketball ahead of us,” said Cone on the eve of their match with the Batang Pier.

“We’re adjusting some things here and there as we go and still trying to find our way. But we know we’ll get there, we know we’ll be a force before this conference is over. We just have to trust the process,” Cone added.

Curiously, the Kings dropped Greg Slaughter’s comeback game, going down to a 78-93 loss to the Meralco Bolts in an early rematch of the 2016 Governors Cup title protagonists.

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In his first game in 10 months after his recovery from an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery, Slaughter collected 14 points, 14 boards, three blocks and one assist in 30 minutes.

Coming out flat was Justin Brownlee who made only 13 markers on 5-of-15 clip.
On Sunday, the Kings face the Batang Pier in a rematch of their Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals tiff.

Ginebra beat GlobalPort, 96-85, in their last meeting to actually complete of a two-game sweep in their Commissioner’s Cup face-offs (elims and quarters).

But the Batang Pier exude confidence of redemption with Murphy Holloway whom coach Franz Pumaren considers a perfect fit for his team.

“We've found a perfect fit for us – an inside presence that will command a double,” said Pumaren. “He gives us the inside presence, the rebounding. He’s fleet-footed, he’s agile as he’s a former football player playing a year in the NFL.”
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Pumaren is confident Holloway will get a lot better as the tourney wears on.

With not much practice with GlobalPort, Holloway piled up 29 points and 26 rebounds to help the Batang Pier to a 100-91 win over the Phoenix Fuel Masters on Wednesday.