Gin Kings, Q'Finalist na haharap sa Tropang Giga

ni Gerard Arce - @Sports | September 26, 2021

Sigurado pa ring magpapatuloy ang kampanya ng defending champion Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel sa quarterfinal round at makuha ang huling silyang 8th spot nang talunin ang Phoenix Super LPG, 95-85, kagabi at patunayan ang kasabihan na ‘Never say Die’ attitude sa PBA Philippine Cup sa Don Honorio Ventura State University sa Bacolor, Pampanga.

Nanatiling buhay ang tsansa ng Gin Kings para sa pagdepensa sa titulo nito sa pakikipagharap sa top seed at may tangan na twice-to-beat advantage na TNT Tropang Giga. Namuno para sa opensiba ng Gin Kings si Prince Caperal na may 19 pts kasama ang 4 rebounds, habang sumuporta sa kanya sa double-double performance si Christian Standhardinger sa 15 pts.

“Sa amin lang 'yung laging sinasabing kapag may down na player next man mentality. Step up at sunod sa game plan. Basta tiwala lang lagi sa sistema ni coach at trabaho lang lagi kahit na gamitin ako o hindi basta ready lang lagi,” pahayag ni Caperal, na dumaan sa marami na ring do-or-die game. “We got one game to play at ipinakita namin yung takagang ginebra ng team na ito.”

Nalimitahan ng Gin Kings ang mga main gunner ng Fuel Masters na sina Jason Perkins at Matthew Wright sa 15 at 14 puntos, gayundin si Chris Banchero sa 14 pts, habang di naman nakalaro para sa Fuels sina Vic Manuel at Justine Chua.

“We just need to get back to make it simple. Started prince and find his way to get his confident back. We really focus our defense until we get tired. But I think we played very good defense. Good defense job on Wright and Perkins [by Christian] today. This is what we expected. Even though we didn’t expect it [position], but we need to get going and hopefully het that attitude to get going against TNT,” paliwanag ni Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone.

Samantala, sisimulan na ang bigating pagtatapat ng apat na q'finalists ng No.3 Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots at No.6 ROS sa 3 p.m. na susundan ng harapan nina unemar Fajardo ng No. 4 SMB at 7-footer Greg Slaughter ng No.5 Northport Batang Pier sa main game ng 6 pm.