Make no mistake about it. The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel will move heaven and earth to take a commanding 3-0 lead and move into the cusp of winning the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup bubble edition.
Game time today is at 6 p.m. at the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) Sports Center and Cultural Arena in Angeles, Pampanga.
Winning the league’s most prestigious crown has been on the crowd darling’s eyesight ever since they won their third Governors’ Cup jewel. After all, it’s been 13 years since they last won the Philippine Cup, known then as the All-Filipino crown.
However, Kings’ coach Tim Cone said they would have to dig deep from their arsenal to win another against the TNT Tropang Giga, who came out guns blazing. RR Pogoy torched the nets with a 38-point production in Game 2 last Wednesday that went for naught.
Cone considered themselves lucky since TNT practically dominated the entire game, had it not been for the late-game heroics of 5-year guard Scottie Thompson. Couple that with the cold-as-ice free throws by the Kings’ veteran guard and acknowledged leader LA Tenorio that finally broke the back of the Texters’ gallant efforts.
Thompson’s three-point dagger from the right side of their court was reminiscent of the same 3-point shot he converted from the left side in Game 5 of their semis series against the Meralco Bolts.
Cone likewise reminded his team not to be lulled into complacency, knowing that anyone in the Texters’ roster can explode any time. They discovered that the hard way in Game 2 when Pogoy took charge in the hot shooting department in the absence of TNT’s other one-man firepower, Bobby Ray Parks, Jr., who sat the game due to an injury.
But Tropang Giga coach Bong Ravena is not about to wave the white flag, no way, not yet. He swears his charges just need to toughen up some more in the face of a 0-2 adversity. He knows what his team has to do in order to achieve greatness and win one against Ginebra.
It will definitely be a big boost for the team should Parks be cleared to play. His presence, together with Pogoy, super guard Jayson Castro, old guard Jay Washington, who recently rediscovered his shooting touch in the series, the streak-shooting Simon Enciso, and Gilas standouts Troy Rosario and Poy Erram and the rest of the Texters, if they decide to show up, will definitely spell trouble for the Gin Kings.