Defending champion Ginebra trounces GlobalPort to enter win column

MANILA, Philippines – LA Tenorio exploded for 29 points on 5-of-7 3-pointers and steered defending champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to a 124-108 rout of GlobalPort Batang Pier and their first win of the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday, July 30, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Justin Brownlee was right behind him with 21 markers and 12 rebounds, while Greg Slaughter came off the bench for 19 points and 8 rebounds, as the Gin Kings appeared to be on the right track to reintegrating their comebacking 7-foot center into their speedy lineup.

“I didn’t think I’d be here,” admitted head coach Tim Cone, referring to entering the press room as the winning coach. “Frankly after our first game I didn’t think we’d figure it out that quickly, but we had a week of practice after that game and we made a lot of adjustments.”

Cone, who shortened his rotation and sat out guard Sol Mercado as well as Kevin Ferrer (rest after his national team stint), Dave Marcelo, and Jayjay Helterbrand, opted to insert his triangle offense here and there whenever Slaughter was on the floor.

“We visited the triangle a bit more because the triangle is a good post offense,” he explained.

“Our bigs aren’t like that, our bigs need the ball, they need to be in position to get the ball down low. That’s what the triangle is good at, it rewards the post guys. We went away from the triangle when we didn’t have Greg. But now we have him, the triangle is valuable at this point and rewards Greg. But we’re still adjusting.”

Joe Devance and Scottie Thompson had 14 and 13 points, respectively, with the young guard dishing out 9 assists.

Ginebra found its fastbreak groove once more with 21 transition points to lead by as much as 107-82 late in the contest.

GlobalPort, which fell to a 1-2 record, had import Murphey Holloway leading the way with 36 points and 18 rebounds.

Terrence Romeo fired 25 markers, grabbed 5 boards, and passed 9 assists to his teammates, as his backcourt partner Stanley Pringle had 18 points while shooting 4-of-9 from deep.

Ginebra began pulling away towards the end of the second frame for a 61-51 lead at the break, before completely running away with it in the third period and leading 93-76 entering the last quarter.

Scores: 

Ginebra (124): Tenorio 29, Brownlee 21, Slaughter 19, Devance 14, Thompson 13, Aguilar 9, Mariano 7, Cruz 4, Caguioa 4, Ellis 2, Taha 2, Jamito 0. 

GlobalPort (108): Holloway 36, GlobalPort 25, Pringle 18, Anthony 8, Arana 5, Maierhofer 4, Cortez 3, Pennisi 3, Aban 2, Guinto 2, Van Opstal 2, Grey 0, Ababou 0. 

Quarter scores: 29-28, 61-51, 93-76, 124-108.

– Rappler.com