Barangay Ginebra reigned as the elims king in an import-flavored tourney for the first time in 20 years and claimed the pole position in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoff round that fires-off Monday.
The Gin Kings got past the Mahindra Floodbuster, 94-80, at the close of the one-round-robin elims Friday night and bumped off the Star Hotshots and the San Miguel Beermen on top by virtue of a superior quotient.
It’s the first time Ginebra emerged on top in the elims of an import-laden confab since the 1997 Commissioner’s Cup with import Chris King.
As the playoff top seed, the Kings enjoy a crucial twice-to-beat advantage as they take on the last seed in the quarterfinals.
It’s Ginebra versus either GlobalPort or Alaska Milk.
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“It’s good to be the top seed but there’s the high expectation you have to deal with. There’s still a tough team out there that we have to beat in the quarters,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“If it’s Alaska, it’s our third straight quarters and they’re a dangerous team. If they get going, they’re very, very good. Another team is GlobalPort with its great tandem of Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo,” Cone added.
The other quarter pairings have been sealed. Second seed San Miguel faces No. 7 Phoenix Petroleum, third ranked Star slugs it out with Rain or Shine while No. 4 TNT KaTropa tangles with No. 5 Meralco.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao took time from his busy schedule and showed up on the Mahindra bench to spur the Floodbuster.
Mahindra did put the toughest stand it could, but there’s no stopping Ginebra from rolling to a fourth straight win for a solid 9-2 closing card in the elims.
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The Kings kept their perfect slate in a personal duel with the Floodbuster and foiled Mahindra’s bid at making it a four-way tie at seventh to 10th with Phoenix, GlobalPort and Alaska Milk.
Justin Brownlee came through with a double-double game with 22 points and 10 rebounds, with Japeth Aguilar and Mark Caguioa adding 14 and 13, respectively.
Keith Wright had his own double-double game with 21 markers and 22 boards in their farewell game in the tourney.
“We didn’t play that well. We have to give them credit they defended well, keeping us from getting a good flow consistently,” said Cone.
“Even as we went up by 16, we didn’t play at a high level. But the bottom line was that we got the win and secured the No. 1 seed,” he added.
