‘Most important guy’ Devance directs game plan in Ginebra win

After Barangay Ginebra got blown off the court in their 77-95 Game 2 semifinals loss against Meralco in the PBA, head coach Tim Cone decided to bring out an old face for the long haul, Joe Devance.

The gamble immediately paid off as the 38-year-old bruiser played a conference-high 31 minutes in the 91-84 bounce-back Game 3 win, and directed traffic on both ends of the court.

Although Devance only had modest numbers with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and even a team-worst minus-7 to his name, Cone nevertheless praised the steadying presence he provided to right the ship in the crucial playoff game.

“I think Stanley [Pringle] was the star of the game, no doubt, but Joe is the most important guy in the game,” he said in the post-game presser. “We wanted to come out, and establish some size. We wanted to get a veteran out there who understood our defense a little bit better.”

“We made some adjustments defensively, and he made those adjustments. He can not only make them, but he can lead them,” he continued. “We still struggle sometimes with the adjustments, but it got us off to a good start.”

Sure enough, with Devance starting only his second game of the conference, Ginebra got off to a blazing 27-9 run, and dictated the tempo early in the game.

Thanks to that strong start, Pringle bounced back well from his uncharacteristic, 9-point stinker in Game 2, and this time finished with a game-high 24 markers.

Even as the Bolts got their heads back into the game, and made some key runs, they never had an easy time whenever Devance was on the floor directing Cone’s adjustments on defense.

“It was just Joe’s presence out there, making good decisions. That’s always been his strength, his decision-making,” Cone said. “He’s not gonna score a lot of points, he’s not gonna get a lot of rebounds, but he makes good decisions out there, both on offense and defense.”

“I’ve been relying on him for my last 8, 9 years of coaching, so in a big moment like this, we went to Joe, because we trust him to make those decisions. He was spectacular.”

With momentum secured following the big win, Devance and Ginebra now have the luxury of resting their worn-down bodies, as there will be a two-day break before they play a potential series-clinching Game 5.

“We get two days off, we played our key guys long minutes today, but we get two days off,” Cone said.

“We’ll use that to rest, and try to get our energy back up to a level which we can come back with good force, to meet what we know would be great force [from Meralco].” – Rappler.com