By REYNALD MAGALLON
Games Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5:15 p.m. – San Miguel vs Ginebra
7:30 p.m. – TNT vs Meralco
TNT and Barangay Ginebra have refused to be carried away by their respective Game 1 victories as they brace for the expected big fightback from their semis foes in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
Though the Tropang 5G and the Kings drew first blood in their best-of-seven series against the Meralco Bolts and the San Miguel Beermen respectively, both head coaches agree that there isn’t any reason to celebrate — especially against the last two champions of the all-Filipino conference.
“We actually talked about it. We told them to put yourself in the position of Meralco, they are chomping at the bit to get back at us and you saw that with the kind of energy and execution,” Reyes said after TNT’s 100-95 win over Meralco.
TNT and Meralco figure in the main event at 7:30 p.m. and will come right after the duel between Ginebra and San Miguel in the first offering at 5:15 p.m.
While they certainly want a repeat of the Game 1 outcome, the Tropang 5G do not want to see themselves trailing big again in Game 2.
“Hopefully in Game 2, we are more ready to play from the start because I don’t think we can bring this kind of game to Game 2 and expect to come up with the same result,” added Reyes.
Cone, likewise, sees a different game coming into their second meeting with SMB.
In their first encounter, the Kings defeated the Beermen, 99-90, largely by limiting the supporting cast of June Mar Fajardo who had a big game of 27 points and 23 rebounds.
But the veteran mentor knew they cannot keep a great bench like SMB’s sileny for too long.
“Game 2 is going to be a completely different game. He’s probably going to come out and go 10 for 15 in the next game,” said Cone.
“We’re just going to control what we can control. Luckily, June Mar had a great game and Don had an off game tonight. So it could just flip-flop the next game,” he added.
