AT FIRST glance, Ginebra seems to have had it relatively easy in a 121-94 victory against TNT last Monday at the start of their PBA Governors Cup semi-final series.
Kings coach Tim Cone knows fashioning another lopsided victory should be extremely hard, especially against a KaTropa squad which should be more energized and focused in Game Two of the best-of-five series that goes to the Batangas City Coliseum Wednesday.
"Game Two is gonna be pretty exciting and really tight. That's what usually follows," said Cone following the opener played out at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
"In one way we're happy we played like this and beat them the way we did," added Cone. "On the other hand, we just feel so bad giving them a whole bunch of motivation going to Game Two. There's always a positive and a negative to blowouts in a series."
TNT coach Nash Racela admitted Ginebra played a better game in the opener. "We were outplayed, we were outcoached, we were outhustled," he said, before issuing a stern reminder to his charges.
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"If we're not better come Wednesday, we'll lose two straight," stated Racela.
Cone said fatigue may have been a factor since TNT was playing its third game in a week and was coming off a tough two-game series with Rain or Shine while his team had four days' rest.
"Remember, they had to play two games coming to this game and we only had to play one. Those are really tiring," Cone pointed out.
"I wouldn't say we expected them to be this way, but I guess maybe we hoped they will be a little tired because of that tough Rain or Shine series."
"No, I don't know," Racela initially replied when asked if he felt his team was tired. "It could be. We shouldn't be entertaining those thoughts at this point. That's how I always felt about the fatigue factor."
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He later admitted the Kings' fresher legs indeed played a big part as his team lost grip of the game as early as late in the opening quarter and trailed by as many as 34 points.
"The difference is their last game was on Wednesday, our last game was Friday. So it was really hard to prepare for this game," said Racela. "We had little window to rest and I think we had two practices before the game. I think that was crucial."
Cone added things should be drastically different in Game Two. "They'll get their legs and they'll come back and it should be quite a game on Wednesday," he said.
"I think the fans are going to have a real treat in the second game because I know they (KaTropa) will come out strong and they're gonna have extra energy and focus coming into the game. So I think it's gonna be an awesome game on Wednesday."
Key should be on how TNT adjusts to Ginebra's defense, which forced the KaTropa to just 34-of-85 field shooting and forced them to commit 22 turnovers, 11 of those off steals.
In any case, Kings import Justin Brownlee said they should be ready. "We know TNT is a tough team," he said.
"They will come out and make adjustments and we just gotta be prepared. Whatever we're running, we just gotta run it with great purpose and do what we want to do."
