Globalport cuts Ginebra down to size with blowout upset

MANILA, Philippines — Globalport Batang Pier erected a daunting 52-31 lead at halftime and dominated offensively the rest of the way for a telling 98-77 upset of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday, November 30 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Globalport’s bench carried the scoring load with 67 of the team’s total coming from the second and third units. 

Terrence Romeo found his rhythm once again, going 9-of-13 from the field for 25 points on top of 5 rebounds off the bench. He also had 7 markers in the pivotal second frame.

Rookie forward Anthony Semerad added 17 points and 5 boards. While starters Alex Cabagnot and Keith Jensen chipped in 15 and 11 markers, respectively.

The Batang Pier arrested their two-game slide for a 5-5 slate while Ginebra dropped their third straight game for a 5-4 record. The Gin Kings are no longer in the running for the top two slots, which entail outright semifinal berths.

Former first assistant coach Eric Gonzales took over as interim coach in lieu of Pido Jarencio, who led the Batang Pier prior to this game.

“I’m very happy and very grateful,” Gonzales said of his first win as coach. “Pati rin kay coach Pido I’m very grateful, marami ako natutunan sa kanya.” (I’m also grateful to coach Pido, I learned a lot from him.) 

Gonzales said he was informed about the coaching change in the Batang Pier’s previous game against San Miguel last November 25 after the coaching staff and management had a meeting.

Jarencio, who was 2-10 as Globalport’s coach in the last two conferences and 4-5 in the Philippine Cup, was appointed as consultant to the team. 

“I’m just a soldier following orders,” Gonzales said. He did not state the duration of his time as interim coach.

Gonzales, who was already with the team since the time of coach Junel Baculi in 2013, admitted he picked up tricks from other PBA coaches by observing them. He said he simply combined all of his learnings to steer the Batang Pier to a confidence-boosting win. 

“Pinag-aaralan ko lang tapos ginagaya ko lang sila coach Norman Black tsaka coach Boyet (Fernandez). Maganda delaying tactics nila,” explained Gonzales, who started his coaching career in 1995 under Binky Favis with UST’s high school team, the Tiger Cubs. (I just studied it and I did what coach Norman Black and coach Boyet did. They have good delaying tactics.) 

Interestingly, Gonzales was not a basketball player in college. He was a varsity in athletics who won championships for UST from 1992 to 1994 in the steeplechase, 800-m run, and 1,500m-run events. 

But the FEU Tamaraws assistant coach quickly showed his basketball coaching flare with the win over Ginebra. 

“Yung nakikita namin is laging mahaba ang minuto ng mga key players so kailangan keep it fresh,” said Gonzales, who also said the win was a collective effort on the part of the coaching staff.  

“Pag inobserbahan mo ang Ginebra, na-pressure din siya ng Barako pero kinapos ang Barako.” 

(We saw that key players always had long minutes so we needed to keep them fresh. When you observe Ginebra, Barako also pressured them but Barako fell short.) 

The Gin Kings had Greg Slaughter as the top scorer with 21 points to go with 15 rebounds. Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio added 14 and 11 markers, respectively.

Globalport uncorked a 16-0 tear bridging the first and second quarters to begin pulling away and manhandle a misfiring Ginebra, who shot a miserable 24% in the first half. The Batang Pier, on the other hand, were much more effective at that juncture with 46% field goal shooting and were 6-of-13 from beyond the arc. 

The Gin Kings finished with just a 30% shooting clip and only 13 assists compared to the Batang Pier’s 23 dimes.

The closest Ginebra came to Globalport was 91-77 on a Aguilar basket late in the fourth.

Scores

Globalport (98): Romeo 25, Semerad 17, Cabagnot 15, Jensen 11, Pinto 5, Buenafe 5, De Ocampo 5, Baclao 4, Caperal 3, Ponferada 3, Pringle 2, Nabong 2, Isip 1, Taha 0.

Ginebra (77): Slaughter 21, Aguilar 14, Tenorio 11, Baracael 10, Yeo 6, Ellis 4, Caguioa 4, Mamaril 3, Helterbrand 2, Brondial 2, Monfort 0, Forrester 0, Urbiztondo 0, Reyes 0.

Quarter scores: 24-16, 52-31, 75-57, 98-77.  

– Rappler.com