REYNALD MAGALLON

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone doesn’t want his team to fall into the trap of complacency when it takes on NorthPort – a team that hasn’t beaten the Kings since 2019 – in their best-of-three quarterfinal matchup in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Ginebra may have NorthPort’s number in the past years, winning all of their last eight meetings  but Cone is no way looking past the Batang Pier especially with their performance in their lone match in the elimination.

The Batang Pier made the Kings bleed before coasting to a 122-105 victory.

“There’s always the first time and you have the odds and eventually the odds will go in their favor. We had a tough time against them last game until the early part of the fourth quarter when we did a little bit of a breakaway,” said Cone.

NorthPort’s last victory over Ginebra came in the 2019 Governor’s Cup when the Batang Pier trounced the Gin Kings, 124-90 behind high-scoring import Michael Qualls and ironically, now Ginebra big man, Christian Standhardinger to take Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series.

Ginebra, led by Justin Brownlee then went on to sweep the next three games to win the series. The Batang Pier since then hasn’t won a single game against Gin Kings.

Now bannered by Robert Bolick, Arvin Tolentino and Will Navarro along with import Prince Ibeh, NorthPort looks to end the record of futility against the Kings.

“They’re a talented team, they’re a tough matchup because we like to play big and they like to play small and quick and spread the floor,” said Cone.

Tolentino and Bolick did the damage to Ginebra in their last game finishing with 24 and 22 points respectively while Ibeh added a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds. Ginebra, meanwhile, leaned on former Batang Pier Jamie Malonzo who exploded for 27 to support Brownlee’s 31.

“They certainly get motivated when they play us. Luckily, we got a couple of NorthPort players too in Stanley and Jamie, they get motivated as well so hopefully that kinda bounces it all out.”