Ginebra out for payback

It’s been four conferences since Barangay Ginebra won a PBA championship and for the team’s impatient legion of fans, the wait seems like an eternity. The last Ginebra triumph came in the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup where coach Tim Cone’s troops took down Bay Area in Game 7 to claim the crown before an all-time record of 54,589 at the Philippine Arena. In the last four conferences, Ginebra advanced to the Finals twice, losing to TNT via identical 4-2 counts. So for Ginebra, it’s payback time in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals that reel off at the SM Mall of Asia Arena tonight.

This is only the second Finals between the two rivals in the Commissioner’s Cup with TNT winning the first in 2010-11 when the opposing coaches were TNT’s Chot Reyes and Ginebra’s Jong Uichico. TNT’s import was Paul Harris and Ginebra’s was Nate Brumfield.

The Finals will reprise a duel between Reyes and Cone. They clashed in the previous conference with Reyes claiming the Governors’ Cup title. Reyes and Cone have worked together with Gilas in the past so they’re familiar with each other’s styles. The challenge is to be creative to put one over the other in a series that could go all the way to a Game 7.

For TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the motivation is to establish a legacy in the PBA like Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee who has won six PBA titles and RHJ, two. RHJ, 30, has a long way to go but he’s making headway. TNT team manager Jojo Lastimosa said he has begun talks with RHJ to book him for the Commissioner’s and Governors’ Cups next season. Brownlee, 36, will take a long rest after this conference before reporting for duty with Gilas in the FIBA Asia Cup in August. Since the next PBA season will open with the Philippine Cup, Brownlee will again take a break before playing for Gilas in the first FIBA Asia World Cup qualifying window in November.

If Ginebra has payback in mind, TNT is out to make history as another title will mean one jewel shy of capturing a first-ever Grand Slam. The series will pit two outstanding defensive teams. Ginebra leads the league in defense, allowing 93.9 points a game while TNT is No. 2, giving up 94.7. In TNT’s 12 wins this conference, the Tropa yielded an average of 90.2 points but in five losses, 106.2. Offensively, Ginebra averaged 105.9 points in 14 wins but 98.3 in six losses. If Ginebra scores over 100 in a game, it’s likely to win so TNT’s challenge is to limit the output to 90 or less. The Finals will be a dogfight for sure.